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2026 Annual Conference

Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 4:00 PM (EDT) to Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 12:00 PM (EDT)

Chattanooga Marriott & Convention Center

2 Carter St
Chattanooga, TN
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Join peer independent school leaders at the 2026 SAIS Annual Conference in Chattanooga, TN. Over three days, you’ll discover innovative strategies for success and gain insights into emerging trends from top-tier speakers. 

Through keynotes from Tessa Forshaw, Rebecca Winthrop, and Muriel Wilkins, plus 32 breakout sessions across four learning journeys, you’ll discover new strategies for success and learn about emerging trends, all while connecting with other independent school leaders.

Join us and expand your network, exchange ideas, and stay at the forefront of educational excellence.

Keynote Speakers
Tessa Forshaw Rebecca Winthrop Muriel Wilkins

Conference Day 1: The Exchange

The Exchange is a 90-minute, high-engagement opening experience designed to move leaders from reflection to action. Grounded in research, sector data, and real-world practice, each session invites participants to test ideas, challenge assumptions, and strengthen their leadership in real time. This is not a message delivered from a stage. It is leadership work done together.

The Exchange has four different pathways, covering timely topics across the education sector.

  • The Heads Forum: Exclusively for heads and trustees, this forum examines SAIS sectorwide data and emerging signals shaping the independent school landscape.
  • Designing Future-Ready Learning Today: Discover how we intentionally set the conditions today for deep and transferable learning in an evolving educational landscape.
  • Sustaining Faculty Motivation & Engagement: Unpack what's driving teacher burnout and attrition in our schools by diving deeper into data from the SAIS motivation & engagement surveys and focus groups.
  • Mapping the Parent Journey: Learn how the decisions and emotions of parents, combined with the experience of interactions with your school, shapes the family journey.

The Exchange is included with conference registration. Please select your session when registering. 

Conference Days 2& 3
  • 3 keynotes
  • 32 breakout sessions across 4 learning journeys
  • 2 evening receptions + karaoke

View full schedule.

Registration: Opens April 13

  • By June 19: Members $595 | Non-Members $689 | Consultants $750
  • By August 21: Members $695 | Non-Members $789  | Consultants $850
  • By Sept. 25: Members $795 | Non-Members $889  | Consultants $950
  • By Sept. 30: Members $925 | Non-Members $1,029  | Consultants $1,125
  • After Sept. 30: Members $1,125 | Non-Members $1,229  | Consultants $1,325

                                   

HOTEL RESERVATIONS:

Chattanooga Marriott Downtown, 2 Carter Plaza | connected to the Chattanooga Convention Center

  • Group rate: $189
  • Cut-off date: September 10 or earlier if the block sells out 
  • Reservation link here

If you receive an error message or if the block is full, please contact info@sais.org.

NOTE: Neither SAIS nor the hotel will call you to make reservations over the phone. Occasionally unauthorized third parties may attempt to coordinate your reservations. Please use only the link provided to secure your reservation directly with the host hotel.
Sponsors

Check out the 2026 SAIS Annual Conference sponsors. 

Interested in sponsorship? Review opportunities here. 

Event Policies & Acknowledgments

Payment may be made by credit/debit or ACH. The form defaults to credit/debit but ACH is selectable.

Cancellations received before September 10 via this form will receive an 80% refund. After that date, replacement registrants are welcomed but no refunds are available. Extenuating circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis following the conclusion of the event.

Participation in SAIS events signifies an attendee’s acknowledgment of infectious and other diseases and voluntary assumption of the risk of exposure or infection by attending the event. Attendees agree to comply with all guidelines and procedures, including distancing and/or masking, that may be implemented by SAIS, in accordance with recommendations from the CDC and other public health authorities.

Participants expressly acknowledge the intellectual property of the presenters of this conference and these other terms that are conditions of attendance. This acknowledgment includes the understanding that creating any form of recording, including but not limited to video or audio is a violation of the intellectual property of the speakers as well as a violation of the terms of participation in this event. Participants expressly agree not to independently record, or knowingly let anyone else record, any of the conference sessions in which they participate. Participants will also not share their unique link to the conference platform or the content therein with anyone else. The unique link to the conference platform will be used solely by the participant.

Registration, attendance at, or participation in SAIS meetings and other activities constitutes an agreement by the registrant to SAIS’s use and distribution (both now and in the future) of the registrant or attendee’s image or voice in photographs, videos, electronic reproductions, and audio of such events and activities.