Heads of School:

The  Louisiana Association of Independent Schools is gearing up for another  good year.  The officers met earlier this month at Mason Lecky’s school in  New Orleans to begin planning.  Melanie Ezell has agreed to continue as President (Parkview) Mason will continue as Vice President (St. Andrews) Peter Barnes will continue as Secretary (Christian Life), and Sean Preston (Cypress Heights) will replace Brett Richard who took another job.

We will expand the board this year to extend beyond the current officers and Charlie Skipper (Episcopal School of Acadiana).  Invitatiions are being extended and we will report on those later.    Connie Bradford retired from Cedar Creek  in Ruston.   I will continue as the Executive Director.

Our next meeting will be January 20,m 2012.   Mark your calendar.  We plan to meet in New Orleans, but details will follow.    Actions since last year include:

  1.  LAIS  is now the recognized are of the Council for Advancement of Private          Education (CAPE) for our state.  I attended the summer meeting in San Francisco and submitted the application.  At our meeting the officers and board member ratified the action.
  2.  We are following the lead of some CAPE states and considering naming a                  Louisiana Private School Teacher of the Year.   Your membership will include the      opportunity to submit potential recipients from your school if and when we get this    done.
  3.  It is our hope to land a major  national speaker for  one meeting.  We discussed Wendy Mogul, so let us hear from you if you have “ins”.
  4. Parkview graciously accepted the challenge of getting the website up.

These are tenuous times filled with many challenges.  It is no time to be an island unto ourselves.  We ask that you send the $400 dues to Patty Hannaman’s attention at The Dunham School,  11111 Roy Emerson Drive, Baton Rouge, 70810.  We need you to help us advance the cause of our schools as well as protect them from anything that might be detrimental.  Call me at 225-953-1111 with any questions or suggestions.

 

Cordially,

Robert  W. “Bobby” Welch

Executive Director