So You Might Want to Be a Headmaster?

Posted on by Paul Drake

Are you willing and able to consider the wild possibility that you can and should be a headmaster in the future? If you have ever wondered, then please attend this workshop. Or perhaps you know that you will not be, but your humble colleague needs you to plant the seed about his or her future. Twenty years ago, an older man told me that he saw something in me that I did not see. Maybe God is calling you to lead a school or a division of your school in the future. Come to this workshop, and together we can explore the possibilities of the future.

Rod Gilbert

Rod Gilbert is the Headmaster for Regents School of Austin. He assumed this position three years ago a er serving as the Head of Upper School for four years. Prior to his career at Regents, Rod was a founding member of Trinity Academy of Raleigh, NC, and served as the Assistant Headmaster.

Leading Your Team Through a Strategic Organizational Structure: Principles and Guidelines for All Sizes of Schools

Posted on by Paul Drake

Leading a team of visionary adults through changes and organizational patterns can be daunting. Everyone has opinions. All opinions need to be heard. And then somebody has to make a decision to “go” or “no-go” on a change or advancement. Come to this workshop, and I will share the ways that I have done this well, and ways that I have fallen short. Leading a group of people through changes at your school can be challenging. Why? Because of the seven-word creed of many institutions: “We’ve never done it that way before.” By prayerful steps and key principles, you can lead your school through new changes.

Rod Gilbert

Rod Gilbert is the Headmaster for Regents School of Austin. He assumed this position three years ago a er serving as the Head of Upper School for four years. Prior to his career at Regents, Rod was a founding member of Trinity Academy of Raleigh, NC, and served as the Assistant Headmaster.

The History of Regents School of Austin and Lessons Learned

Posted on by Paul Drake

Hear the story of Regents School of Austin, one of the most prestigous and highly acclaimed classical schools in the U.S. From capital campaigns to building to staff development and board relations, Rod Gilbert will share the Regent’s story and take questions and answers so that the lessons he learned are shared and make a difference for your school.

Rod Gilbert

Rod Gilbert serves as the Head of School at Regents School of Austin. He was the Head of Upper School for four years, and then he became the Head of School ve years ago. Prior to his start at Regents, he was the founding Assistant Headmaster of Trinity Academy of Raleigh in North Carolina. He and Angie have two children at Regents School. When he is not working with Regents, you may nd his family tending their Alpine dairy goats. They tend the goats, and enjoy delightful milk and cheese. In formal training he completed a B.S. in Economics and an M.Div. Currently he is completing requirements toward a Ph.D. in Education.

Building an Effective and Healthy Parent Organization

Posted on by Paul Drake

Since parents are the primary educators of their children, then your school must connect with them. I guess that every school at this conference started because a group of parents wanted more for their own children and their city. In your school’s beginning, parents painted walls, mopped floors, bought used furniture, led the board meetings, and did most other things that just needed to get done. Overtime, the flaming visionary parents morph into a support structure whereby paid administrators and paid teachers carry many of the burdens. As this morphing takes place, your school grows in strength as you continue to give parents an effective and healthy way to partner with the administration and teachers. Roles and responsibilities are the key. Join me and one of our former Regents Parent Council Chairs, Carla for this lively discussion that exposes the lessons we learned and the ongoing challenges that await our school in parent organization advancement.

Rod Gilbert

Rod Gilbert serves as the Head of School at Regents School of Austin. He was the Head of Upper School for four years, and then he became the Head of School ve years ago. Prior to his start at Regents, he was the founding Assistant Headmaster of Trinity Academy of Raleigh in North Carolina. He and Angie have two children at Regents School. When he is not working with Regents, you may nd his family tending their Alpine dairy goats. They tend the goats, and enjoy delightful milk and cheese. In formal training he completed a B.S. in Economics and an M.Div. Currently he is completing requirements toward a Ph.D. in Education.

Building a Healthy School Community

Posted on by Paul Drake

A vibrant classical school must also be a vibrant community of teachers, parents, students, administrators and school supporters. Weaving and building a meaningful community of all these people is an art that requires ongoing effort, planning, assessment and adaptation. It also requires that love animates all our relationships and professional interchange. In this seminar we will explore the ways leaders and teachers can build a school that lives up to the name “community.”

Rod Gilbert

Rod Gilbert serves as the Head of School at Regents School of Austin. He was the Head of Upper School for four years, and then he became the Head of School ve years ago. Prior to his start at Regents, he was the founding Assistant Headmaster of Trinity Academy of Raleigh in North Carolina. He and Angie have two children at Regents School. When he is not working with Regents, you may find his family tending their Alpine dairy goats. They tend the goats, and enjoy delightful milk and cheese. In formal training he completed a B.S. in Economics and an M.Div. Currently he is completing requirements toward a Ph.D. in Education.

Leading Your Key People

Posted on by Paul Drake

Explore the educational practices of the ancient and medieval worlds in this hasty overview of the curriculum, pedagogies, and philosophies that preceded conventional approaches.

Rod Gilbert

Rod Gilbert serves as the Head of School at Regents School of Austin. He was the Head of Upper School for four years, and then he became the Head of School ve years ago. Prior to his start at Regents, he was the founding Assistant Headmaster of Trinity Academy of Raleigh in North Carolina. He and Angie have two children at Regents School. When he is not working with Regents, you may nd his family tending their Alpine dairy goats. They tend the goats, and enjoy delightful milk and cheese. In formal training he completed a B.S. in Economics and an M.Div. Currently he is completing requirements toward a Ph.D. in Education.

Thriving Not Surviving: A Real Life Plan for Teacher Development

Posted on by Paul Drake

Teachers who thrive as individuals and as professionals inspire students. So, build your teacher development program around the objective of developing teachers within their specific needs for improvement. Most teachers find themselves often in a ‘just survive’ mode that is not healthy for themselves, their families, nor their students. You must demonstrate enough care and investment in them in order for them to trust you with a spirit of vulnerability. Then, give them specific, practical, time-based goals of personal growth that reflect your school’s mission. And, the image of God is more likely to emerge from each lovely teacher who wakes up every day to invest in children, and to impact eternity.

Rod Gilbert

Rod Gilbert is the Headmaster for Regents School of Austin. He assumed this position three years ago a er serving as the Head of Upper School for four years. Prior to his career at Regents, Rod was a founding member of Trinity Academy of Raleigh, NC, and served as the Assistant Headmaster.

Peeing in the Bushes

Posted on by Paul Drake

The female teacher burst into my office and said, “I need a man to speak to one of the first grade boys.” I complied, and as we emerged toward the confrontation she told me about the boy she caught peeing in the bushes on the edge of the playground. What was he thinking? How could he be so crude? The teacher did not know what to make of it.

“If you come up on him quickly, you will scare him,” she announced. I peeked around the corner from my office. The boy was visibly shaking—he had never been to the principal’s office before.

Walking up to him, I grabbed a football and said firmly but welcomingly, “Follow me outside, Jon.” We made our way to the center of the playground far from others’ ears and threw the ball for a couple of minutes. When I felt that he was breathing again, I said, as I threw the ball, “Been peeing in the bushes, huh?”

Amazingly, he caught the ball, then sheepishly answered, “Yes, sir.”

“Hmm,” I intoned with undetectable meaning, and we kept throwing the ball. “Did anyone see you?”

With wide eyes he said, “I hope not! I tried to get behind the bushes.” Passing the ball for another minute, I asked him, “If you hadn’t gone in the bushes would you have made it back to the bathroom without having an accident?”

“No, I really had to go.” He held the ball to see what was next.

“As odd as this sounds, Jon,” I replied, “it seems to me you made the right call. Good job.” He smiled. I suggested, “How about we go find the bathroom, so that you know where it is? And you promise to go the bathroom on your way to recess every day, so that this doesn’t happen again.”

As we walked back toward the buildings, we were two men with a secret agreement about manhood that seemed to make sense to both of us.

Built for Stories

Posted on by Paul Drake

I love a good story. Nothing beats an adventure with intrigue, plot twists and tension. Humans are built for stories of epic heroes. And the greatest of all epic stories really happened. Last year, before the release of the final Harry Potter novel, I discusses the various options for the book’s outcome with a group of middle school students. Would Harry kill Voldemort? Would Voldemort kill Harry? Would Harry kill Voldemort, and then die from his wounds? Or, better yet, maybe the school’s headmaster Dumbledore never really died, and he will return, Gandalf-like, to join Harry in a final battle.

We argued over the various options for several minutes, then one said, “What if Harry kills Voldemort, then dies. Later, though, Harry rises from the dead – that would be awesome!”

Jesus is the ultimate epic hero. His is the story we were all designed to love. Any other adventure that grabs our imagination ultimately glimmers with the truth of our redemption— Christ’s victory over evil and the grave.

“Do you think Rowling would do this?” I queried.

She should. It would be the greatest story ever—but I don’t think it will happen.”

I asked, “Has any other book ended this way?”

After a few seconds they exclaimed enthusiastically, “No. It would be too great!” We all agreed.

This conversation became the link the next week in chapel to a challenge I made to the assembled students and faculty: Take the time to read the Gospel of Mark through in one sitting. If you read it like the story it is, the first chapter alone will send chills down your spine and make the hairs on your neck stand up. Jesus is the ultimate epic hero. His is the story we were all designed to love. Any other adventure that grabs our imagination ultimately glimmers with the truth of our redemption – Christ’s victory over evil and the grave.

That’s an epic that even Harry Potter can’t stand up to.