The first jop of a leader is to define reality. -Max De Pree. School and district leaders are constanlty constantly developing practical strategies, solving real problems, and learning lessons worth passing on. But too often the tools for publishing those ideas slow you down and the next crisis needs attention. That is exactly why we…
Imagine rolling out a new district-wide Learning Management System (LMS). The goal is clear and highly beneficial: to have one centralized platform for assignments, content, assessments, data, and communications. You present the vision, and it seems like everyone is on board. But within weeks, the resistance begins. Teachers are skipping the training sessions or constantly…
Imagine rolling out a critical new initiative—perhaps a district-wide shift to the science of reading or a new equity-based grading policy. During cabinet and staff meetings, everyone nods along. They agree to the timelines and give the initiative enthusiastic lip service. But months later, the rollout stalls. Behind closed doors, teachers are continuing to teach…
For the very first time, my grandson will walk into a public preschool classroom next week. He is three and a half, still learning how to form certain sounds, still convinced that dinosaurs are real, and still offering hugs to everyone without hesitation. He is joyful and innocent and loving, and I am feeling the…
I’ve been a fan of Cart Narcs for a long time. Staged or not, their videos are a mix of comedy, sociology, and chaos. It’s like parking lot theater that reveals more about human nature than most textbooks ever could. I watch them endlessly, curious (but no longer surprised) about the behavior of people when…
“We certainly use the least privilege access control. So far so good. Also network segmentation.” That is how Mark Parsons summarizes the heartbeat of Inter-Lakes School District’s network posture. Chapter 5 of the K-12 Cybersecurity Framework calls this move “default to isolation,” a shift from trusting the internal network to allowing only what you explicitly…
As schools opened their doors in September 2025, the cybersecurity landscape shifted beneath our feet. While educators were starting to explore the wonderful things AI can do in the classroom, a Chinese state-sponsored group was demonstrating what AI can do in the hands of attackers. In mid-September, Anthropic (Claude.ai) detected and disrupted a sophisticated espionage…
Caroline Lightfoot still remembers the first time Dickinson ISD tried to push a security control that touched every classroom. “MFA has been one of the easiest to implement,” she told us. “Our dedicated networking team took a very hands-on approach. They made it a priority to train each campus staff during faculty meetings.” Every teacher,…
This weekend, I went to the Massachusetts National Cemetery to volunteer for Operation Flags for Vets. Since 2011, my husband (and sometimes family) and I volunteer together, placing flags on veterans’ graves or returning to collect them after holidays. It’s a tradition we’ve honored, done with care and reverence. But this time, it was just…
If you’ve gone through any degree of cynbersecurity assessment, this is likely your experience: Once you have a snapshot of your current situation, how do you know what to do next? How do you compare to other schools or districts? And what should your highest priorities be.
And then, how do you make any improvements when you have two IT staff, a shrinking budget, and a superintendent who needs to see results before their next school board meeting?
