Accelerating the Work of Residential Life Design​

St. Andrew’s School

Boca Raton, Florida

 

2024 Dates to be announced soon!

Reimagined around the skills you need to lead thriving residential and student life programs in 2023 and beyond, TABS Lab provides experience utilizing leadership frameworks and techniques that enhance your ability to craft a compelling residential life vision, create alignment within your team, and implement projects and initiatives that allow your students to thrive. In the process, you’ll build your personal toolbox of skills and resources and your capacity as a leader.

In two and a half days of workshopping and reflection, you’ll participate in interactive presentations and work sessions with colleagues from across the industry, creating space to share and synthesize resources from a variety of schools and gather and leverage feedback as you design and refine elements of your school’s programming.

TABS Lab provides an ideal setting for residential life teams and leaders engaged in design work focused on residential life and character curriculum, advisory, inclusivity and belonging, student leadership, and social-emotional learning to convene with like-minded practitioners and leverage their ideas during the design process. You’ll have time to workshop program drafts, gather feedback, and share policy resources with other leaders engaged in similar projects.

What will I take back?

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE?

WHAT should I BRING?

“Develop and refine your residential life program mission, strategy, and programming that creates campus cultures where students thrive”

WEDNESDAY

Schedule Subject to Change

8:30am

Arrival and Registration

9:30am

Welcome and Introductions

Get to know your program faculty and participants with icebreakers designed to build community and share the purpose and goals you bring to the program. Walk through the desired outcomes and structure of our time together.

11am

Leadership Fundamentals: The Emotionally Intelligent Leader

Take a deep dive into the habits of mind and key practices for leaders prioritizing EQ. How might you leverage each interaction in your day as an opportunity for leadership?

Noon

Lunch at St. Andrew's School

1pm

Leadership Framework Part I: Crafting Vision

In this interactive workshop, you’ll craft and refine the vision for your residential and student life program in direct alignment with your school’s mission. Learn how to prioritize big picture thinking, test assumptions, and build community in the process.

2pm

Case Studies: Building Vision and Community

Discuss scenarios including methods for engaging your community to develop and cascade vision, evaluate the boldness and “elevation” of your vision, and testing assumptions.

BREAK

3:30pm

Team and Individual Work Time: Refining Vision

Work in school teams and/or individually to workshop and refine the vision for your residential life program or project.

4:30pm

Tour of St. Andrew's School

5:30pm

Reception and Dinner at St. Andrew's School

THURSDAY

Schedule Subject to Change

8:30am

Breakfast in St. Andrew’s School Dining Hall

9am

Leadership Framework Part II: Alignment

How do we get everyone rowing in the same direction? Building alignment around vision requires skillful communication to build buy-in with a variety of stakeholders (students, colleagues, even parents), navigating nay-sayers who may mourn the loss that comes with change, and reflective responses to feedback.

10am

Case Study Discussion: Opportunities and Challenges in Alignment

Discuss scenarios including communication strategies, handling resistance to vision, offering intentional encouragement at just the right moment.

BREAK

11:30am

Leadership Framework Part III: Execution

Presenter: Ryan Pagotto and Program Faculty

Leaders who execute effectively set conditions and lay the path for achieving vision. Explore the key components for providing the resources and environment necessary for your team to bring vision to reality.

12pm

Lunch St. Andrew's School

1pm

Execution Case Studies: All-Gender Housing and Restorative Discipline Practices and Q+A

Presenter: Ryan Pagotto and Program Faculty

Understand the journey from vision to alignment to execution, including challenges and lessons learned along the way, as two school leaders share the path to establishing All-Gender Housing and Restorative Discipline Practices within their school communities.

2:30pm

Team and Individual Work Time

Work in school teams and/or individually to assess alignment and refine the execution strategy for your residential life project.

BREAK

4pm

Unconference Session #1: Hot Topics in Residential and Student Life

Participate in discussions and resource-sharing sessions focused on topics generated in pre-arrival surveys. Example topics might include student mental health support, life skills curriculum, student leadership, team development and morale, technology policies, weekend activities, international student support, and collaborating with parents.

6pm

Enjoy dinner on your own with your team and new friends!

FRIDAY

Schedule Subject to Change

8:30am

Breakfast in St. Andrew’s School Dining Hall

9:00am

Leadership Fundamentals: Gathering and Synthesizing Feedback and Assessing Efficacy

9:30am

Project Share-Out and Feedback Gathering Session

In small groups, participants will use feedback and discussion protocols to workshop challenges faced by program participants in their residential life work, brainstorming solutions and learning a problem-solving strategy they can take back to their teams.

BREAK

11am

Team and Individual Work Time

Work in school teams and/or individually to plan strategies for gathering feedback and assessing efficacy of your residential life project.

12pm

Lunch St. Andrew's School

1pm

Unconference Session #2: Hot Topics in Residential and Student Life

Participate in discussions and resource-sharing sessions focused on topics generated in pre-arrival surveys. Example topics might include student mental health support, life skills curriculum, student leadership, team development and morale, technology policies, weekend activities, international student support, and collaborating with parents.

2pm

Bringing It All Together

MEMBER

INDIVIDUAL
$ 1,675 PER PERSON
  •  

MEMBER

TEAM
$ 1,575 PER PERSON
  •  

NON-MEMBER

INDIVIDUAL
$ 2,175 PER PERSON
  •  

NON-MEMBER

TEAM
$ 1,875 PER PERSON
  • Save when you register
    a team of two or more

MEMBER

INDIVIDUAL
$ 1,675 PER PERSON
  • Save when you register
    after DATE HERE

MEMBER

INDIVIDUAL
$ 1,600 PER PERSON
  • Save when you register
    by JANUARY 13
EARLY BIRD

MEMBER

TEAM OF TWO
$ 1,575 PER PERSON
  • Save when you register by the early bird deadline, DATE HERE

MEMBER

TEAM
$ 1,500 PER PERSON
  • Save even more when you
    register a team of two or more
    by JANUARY 13
EARLY BIRD

NON-MEMBER

INDIVIDUAL
$ 2,175 PER PERSON
  • Save when you register by the early bird deadline, DATE HERE

NON-MEMBER

TEAM OF TWO
$ 1,875 PER PERSON
  • Save when you register by the early bird deadline, DATE HERE

Wyndham Boca Raton

1950 Glades Rd
Boca Raton, FL 33431
(561) 368-5200

Directions

to Wyndham Boca Raton from Ft. Lauderdale Airport

Program attendees will stay together at the Wyndham Boca Raton Hotel, where conversations from the program will spill over to provide additional inspiration and collaboration. TABS has reserved a block of rooms at the reduced rate of $209.

Reservations can also be made by calling (888) 404-6880 and supplying TABS group code 020823TAB and your date of arrival.  February is high season in Boca Raton so book your room early! Reduced room rates will be available until midnight on January 13, or until the room block is sold out.

Transportation

Transportation will be provided between the Wyndham and St. Andrew’s School each morning and at the completion of the program each day.

Emily Williams

Please contact Emily if you encounter any problems reserving a room.

FACULTY

Susan Baldridge

Executive Director,
The Association
of Boarding Schools

William Gilyard

Dean of Class of 2023,
Associate for Alumni Engagement,
Choate Rosemary Hall

Ryan Pagotto

Associate Head of School,
Blair Academy

SUSAN BALDRIDGE

Susan served as a professor and leader at Middlebury College for over 25 years, most recently as Executive Vice President and Provost, leading Middlebury’s academic programs across multiple campuses – Middlebury, Bread Loaf, Monterey – as well as study abroad locations around the world. Prior to her Provostship, Susan served as Vice President for Strategy and Planning, Dean of Planning and Assessment, and Dean of the Faculty. She is a tenured Professor of Psychology and taught throughout her time at Middlebury.

Susan began her consulting firm in 2018, advising schools, colleges, non-profits and foundations in the areas of strategy, planning and governance; and coaching senior administrators to build leadership capacity and support change management. This led her to partner with TABS in 2019, in the development of TABS current strategic plan.

In addition to consulting, Susan co-authored the book, The College Stress Test, an analysis of educational markets and tools for helping schools to identify their place within market trends. The book was named one of the best books on higher education in 2020 by Forbes Magazine. Susan has presented extensively on topics relating to human sexuality, social psychology, and the psychology of women and gender. She received her B.S. with highest honors in Psychology, Phi Beta Kappa, at Denison University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology at UCLA.

WILLIAM GILYARD

Will Gilyard is in his 19th year of working in independent schools. In 2020, he returned to his alma mater Choate Rosemary Hall to take on the roles of Form Dean, and Alumni Engagement Associate. Will joined Choate after nine years at the Kingswood Oxford School (KO), a 6-12 independent day school located in West Hartford, CT, where he served as Dean of Students, an upper school math teacher, assistant football coach, and faculty advisor for the United Students club and Boys of Color group. At Choate, Will is the faculty adviser to Choate Afro Latino Men (CALM), and Girls Who Code (GWC).

Will also serves as a core faculty member and helped create the curriculum for the Institute for New Teachers of Color in Independent Schools, created in 2020, the Interschool Leadership Institute, created in 2013. Will also served as a core faculty member of the Kingswood Oxford Leadership Institute for Educators of Color (KOLIEC) from 2011-2018 and helped create the curriculum for the mentoring/advising circles for institute participants.

Before joining KO, Will was the Head of the Upper School at the Cathedral School of St. John the Divine in New York City. He serves on the board of advisors for the IDEAL School, also located in New York City. He is passionate about the role of educators in independent schools, specifically in the lives of students of color. Will has attended numerous workshops, conferences, and institutes related to leadership in independent schools and anti-racist education. Will had the honor of being a member of a think tank for the CARLE institute. 

Will has his B.A. in Psychology from Williams College and his M.A. Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of St. Joseph. Will is thrilled to be a part of the TABS (The Association of Boarding Schools) team and looks forward to working with energized and focused individuals who are interested in being change agents in the residential life sphere.

Will and his wife, Afton, ALP/Enrichment Teacher in Stratford Public Schools reside in Wallingford, CT with their two sons, William (10) and Maxwell (8).

RYAN PAGOTTO

Associate Head of School Ryan Pagotto ’97 joined Blair’s faculty in 2002 and is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the School on matters related to student and residential life, including health and counseling services, athletics and co-curricular programs. He runs Monday School Meeting and, among other things, is known for greeting students in the morning at the Clinton Hall doorway and offering freshly picked apples from his office during the month of October. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Ryan serves as a member of the history department and teaches Global Issues. He also authors the monthly e-newsletter From Hilltop to Home, a communication designed to help new boarding-school parents navigate the ins and outs of the Blair experience.

Over the course of his time at Blair, Ryan has served as a history teacher, head tennis coach, a dorm head and Dean of Admission. He completed his undergraduate work at Dickinson College, where he captained the men’s tennis team, and earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from Columbia University. Before joining the faculty at Blair, Ryan taught at the Taft Summer School in Watertown, Connecticut, and Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He also spent three summers as program director of the Cambridge Prep Experience at Peterhouse College, Cambridge University.

In addition to his roles in schools, Ryan has served as a faculty member for the TABS (The Association of Boarding Schools) Summer Session and is a regular presenter at national boarding and independent school conferences on student and residential life.

Ryan and his wife, Jennifer, performing arts department chair and Director of Instrumental Music at Blair, live in Grullon House with their children, Jack, Will, Ella and Addison, and their dog, Teagan. The Pagottos enjoy opening their home to Blair students, faculty and staff members throughout the year.

patricia sasser

Patricia previously served as the Head of the Upper School at the Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, Florida. She also worked at the Loomis Chaffee School as a dean of students and was heavily involved in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion at the school. Prior to Loomis Chaffee, Patricia worked at The Madeira School in several roles, including as a major gifts officer, director of student activities, special assistant to the head of school on diversity, and the assistant dean of students for residential life.

Before transitioning into education, Ms. Sasser worked at ESPN as an associate producer, where she was a two-time Emmy® nominee and a 2006 Emmy® award winner.

Raquel majeski

Raquel Majeski began working at Lawrence Academy in 2017 and is the Assistant Head for Equity and Community Life. She has a BA from Eckerd College in communications and human development and an MA from Nova Southeastern University in reading and special education. Raquel lives in Brazer with her two children, Lauryn and Wade. She loves spending time with the students at LA, participating in book clubs and bible study groups, and attending Dave Matthews Band concerts. Raquel is also the Chair of the diversity task force for the town of Groton.

MARQUIS SCoTT

Marquis Scott joined The Lawrenceville School in 2018 and has made significant contributions in various leadership roles. He has implemented a technology-focused strategic plan to enhance cyber security practices, improve employee portal utilization, and streamline campus-wide technology support. Marquis has also played a pivotal role in advancing the School’s initiatives on diversity, equity, and inclusion, implementing best practices and leading senior staff efforts in this area. Additionally, he has led strategic communication and institutional marketing committees, ensuring consistent communication, website strategy, and brand identity aligned with the School’s mission. Marquis has been instrumental in the marketing and branding of Lawrenceville’s Gruss Center for Art & Design and collaborates with the Lawrenceville community to prioritize and execute strategic projects. 

In addition to his role as the assistant head of school, Marquis has successfully undertaken various acting leadership positions, including chief technology officer, director of communications and external affairs, dean of diversity, inclusion, and community engagement, and director of human resources. Currently, he leads a student-centered Wellness Team, working collaboratively with the medical director, dean of students, and dean of campus well-being to prioritize a holistic approach to student well-being.

Scott holds a Master of Business Administration from Rutgers University’s School of Business in Newark, NJ, a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ, a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Computer Science from Union College in Schenectady, NY, and he is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Management from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa, with an anticipated completion date of Winter 23-24. Scott recently completed the National Association of Independent Schools’ Fellowship for Aspiring School Heads. He is an alumnus of the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Hotchkiss Board of Governors.