Hawaii Association of Independent Schools

7 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 Officers, all the Advancement Development Officers, the chaplains, the nurses, and we called them constituency groups,” Bossert recounts. “We introduced them all to each other and that evolved into monthly constituency group meetings via Zoom, where they could all share information with each other. That transitioned us from primarily being a professional development provider to being a convener of other groups within our school system. Now that’s become a major focus of our efforts and it appears to be very well received.” Every other week, HAIS also sends out their E-News blast, an amalgam of information supplied to them by their schools and intended for general distribution. “That currently goes out to about 2,500 recipients,” Bossert remarks. “We advertise scholarships from foundations, we advertise theatrical events that are open to anybody, professional development opportunities provided by other schools, and so on. We also have an annual report that goes out, along with a couple of publications just to talk about who we are and what services we offer. That way, if people are trying to decide whether they want to start a new school, they’ll know who to contact.” As for how he sees Hawaii’s private schools moving into the future as a sector, Bossert confirms HAIS will continue to play the role of convener, host, and facilitator for public events, diving back into the business of professional development programs with a wider perspective. “Private education in Hawaii has a very good future,” he insists. “Because of our cultural history, I would say probably 50 to 60% of our schools are religiously affiliated in some way. That’s a lot. And it’s often very difficult for the public schools to deliver that same kind of quality education. To move fast enough into the future with new practices like project-based learning and social emotional learning. I think a lot of parents really make great sacrifices to send their kids to private schools as a result.”