2025 New & Aspiring Leaders Institute

Speaker: Marsha Little, Carney Sandoe & Associates

In this highly participatory session, you will learn the basics of structuring meetings consistent with the principles of adult learning, share tools for fostering emotional safety for your participants, and think about how to leverage the unique strengths of your colleagues. Drawing on the work of Elena Aguilar and Priya Parker and experience as a school leader, leadership coach, and team coach, Marsha will share practical tools you can implement immediately. After completing this session, you will be prepared to lead meetings in a meaningful way, leaving the adults in your community with the understanding that meetings matter.

Build resilient communities that inspire positive change in independent schools. This session will equip you with essential coaching skills to develop high-performing leadership teams. You will learn practical coaching frameworks, effective feedback techniques, and strategies for fostering a growth mindset among your team members and faculty. Through role-play scenarios and case studies, leaders will practice coaching conversations that enhance team performance while navigating the unique dynamics of independent school communities.

Speaker: Dr. Brett Jacobsen, SAIS

Explore how to effectively manage polarities - those persistent, interdependent tensions that exist within independent schools. You will learn to identify common polarities (such as tradition vs innovation, individual vs community needs, and academic rigor vs student well-being), and develop strategies to leverage these tensions for institutional growth. By leveraging the upsides and mitigating the downsides, you'll ensure both organizational health and mission alignment for your school by leveraging the upsides and mitigating the downsides.

Speaker: Dr. Brett Jacobsen, SAIS

Learn practical decision-making skills using the WRAP framework (Widen options, Reality-test assumptions, Attain distance, Prepare to be wrong). Through interactive exercises and real-world scenarios, you will learn to avoid common decision-making traps and lead your teams through complex choices. This workshop emphasizes both individual leadership growth and collaborative problem-solving techniques essential for building high-performing teams in educational settings.

Speakers: Moderated panel featuring Scott Schamberger, Indian Springs School; Cecil Stodghill, The Altamont School; and Kavita Vasil, Highlands School

Join experienced independent school leaders for an insightful discussion on building inclusive school communities. This moderated panel explores the essential elements of effective community leadership, from nurturing authentic relationships to creating spaces where diverse perspectives thrive. Our distinguished panelists will share practical strategies and lessons learned from their leadership journeys, addressing

• • Building trust and meaningful engagement across their community,
  • Cultivating a collaborative culture that empowers faculty and staff,
  • Navigating challenging conversations and decisions with empathy, and
  • Creating sustainable structures for community involvement and feedback.

Speakers: Trish Bogdanchik, The Mount Vernon School, and Dr. Stacey Lee, The Mount Vernon School

Learn how to foster meaningful dialogue and navigate challenging conversations in your school community through the Dialogue Across Difference Framework. This interactive workshop demonstrates practical strategies for creating spaces where diverse perspectives can be shared respectfully and productively. Drawing from The Mount Vernon School's implementation, participants will explore concrete tools for

• • Establishing shared vocabulary and ground rules for difficult dialogue;
  • Building trust and psychological safety among stakeholders;
  • Moving beyond polarization to find common ground;
  • Empowering student, faculty, and parent voices in community conversations.

This session provides immediately applicable approaches to strengthen your school's capacity for authentic dialogue and inclusive community-building.

Speaker: Dr. Brett Jacobsen, SAIS

In a rapidly changing educational landscape, the ability to anticipate and adapt to future challenges is critical for emerging leaders. This interactive workshop invites leaders to explore the significant shifts shaping education today through the lens of a plausible futures framework. Participants will engage in scenario planning, strategic thinking, and collaborative dialogue to identify opportunities and challenges within these shifts. By the end of the session, attendees will leave with actionable insights to help future-proof their leadership and their schools, ensuring alignment with mission-driven goals while embracing innovation.

Brett joined the SAIS team in July 2024, having most recently served as the chief executive officer at The Mount Vernon School in Atlanta. During his tenure, the school experienced exponential growth in enrollment and gained a national reputation for innovation in education. Illustrating this, Mount Vernon’s upper school launched a school-within-a-school model, Innovation Diploma, whose students have served as consultants for Delta, Mercedes, AT&T, Porsche, and the National Center for Civil & Human Rights. In 2012, Brett started an R&D lab known as Mount Vernon Ventures, serving educational communities throughout the world. Over the past decade, Ventures has welcomed more than 1,000 teachers and administrators to education visitation days, workshops, and summer conferences. Recently, he founded Mount Vernon Online, an online high school, enrolling its first cohort of students in August 2022.

The transformational story at Mount Vernon was recognized in 2021 by NBOA, when Brett received the inaugural Jeffrey Shields Innovation in Operations Award. Additionally, he was highlighted by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the 2017 Most Admired CEOs in the education category. Prior to coming to Mount Vernon, he served as head of school at Second Baptist School in Houston, Texas, where he began his teaching career and deepened his expertise as division head, dean, and development director.

Stacey has served educational organizations across higher education, boarding, and PK-12, with a passion for designing environments that optimize growth and potential for all. With expertise in residential learning, human development, and program implementation, Stacey inspires individuals and communities to seek engagement, education, and experiences to build capacity necessary for maximizing the impact of educational experiences.

Stacey earned her A.B. in Sociology at Bowdoin College and her M.A and Ed.D. of Educational Leadership at The University of New England.

Marsha Little joined Carney Sandoe after two decades at The Lovett School, a K-12 school in Atlanta, where she served as Assistant Head of School, Upper School Dean of Academics, and Director of College Counseling. In addition to her search work at Carney Sandoe, Marsha has consulted with schools on a range of topics, including strategic planning, retention, and effective transition. She also coaches senior administrators and particularly enjoys designing and facilitating retreats for administrative teams and boards. Internally, Marsha serves as the Director of Professional Learning and Development for CS&A’s Search and Consulting Practice, designing professional learning experiences and supporting the recruitment and onboarding of new consultants. Marsha has lived in Atlanta for 25 years.

Elizabeth joined the SAIS team in July 2021. She began her career in education in 2005 as a leadership program faculty advisor for middle school students at Envision EMI in Washington, D.C. She continued there as a program coordinator and professional development manager. In 2012, she joined Woodlynde School as an upper school learning specialist, then was appointed head of lower school in 2014 and assistant head of school in 2016. She holds a B.A. in communications from NC State and an M.S. in education from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Scott Schamberger became the seventh head of Indian Springs School in July 2020. Prior to that, he served as the assistant head for admissions and college counseling at Woodberry Forest School, director of institutional advancement at Randolph School, and associate dean of admissions at Emory University. He serves on the board at the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals (AISAP), including as board president from from 2018-2022.

Scott holds a Master of Education from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Science in biology from Emory University. He has completed his coursework for a doctoral degree in educational policy studies from Georgia State University.

Cecil Stodghill graduated from the McCallie School in Chattanooga and earned a BBA in Marketing at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL and a M Ed. in school leadership at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

In 1998, he accepted a position as director of multicultural affairs at the McCallie School and has since served as associate director of admissions at the Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, FL; as director of graduate support for the Academy Prep Foundation in St Petersburg, FL; and as director of admissions and enrollment management for Providence Day School in Charlotte, NC.

In 2019, Stodghill was named head of school of the Doane Stuart School in Rensselaer, New York. In November 2021, he was chosen as Altamont's sixth head of school.

With nearly 30 years of experience as an independent school leader, Kavita Vasil is a forward-thinker and life-long learner who understands the ever-evolving educational world. As the leader of an independent school with over 350 students and nearly 60 faculty members, her focus is always forward.

She joined Highlands School in 2014, while previously serving in a similar position in a K-8 school in Florida. Vasil holds an undergraduate degree in developmental psychology from the University of Florida and a graduate degree in child development/education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She also has a Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership (CAEL) from Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). In addition, she served as an assistant professor of education at the University of Maine, where she focused on early and elementary education. Vasil also serves as an officer on the SAIS Board of Trustees.