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ISACS 2024-2025 Parent Series

ISACS 2024-2025 Parent Series

Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 7:30 PM (EST) to Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 8:30 PM (EDT)

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Event Details

ADVIS is grateful and excited to offer our member schools access to the ISACS 2024-25  Parents Series presented by ISACS (Independent Schools Association of the Central States), an association that serves more than 240 member schools in thirteen states. 

The Parents Series -- consisting of six one-hour webinars led by experts in the fields of education, parenting, and child development -- is designed to strengthen partnerships with parents in support of essential school/home relationships. View the brochure here. The full schedule with session descriptions are below.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Lynn Lyons, Psychotherapist & Author
Recording available until December 31, 2024
We all benefit from knowing effective, active, and creative strategies to confront worry and anxiety. Families need clear direction on HOW to respond when anxiety or worry flares up. Parents are an instrumental part of the process and benefit greatly by collaborating directly with the school. Based on current research and years of clinical experience, learn a strategic approach based on skill-building, with emphasis on prevention that benefits students, their families, and educators. There is great opportunity to learn what works and what doesn’t. What are the mistakes we continue to make? How can we take advantage of a new school year’s positivity? What are the myths we need to bust, the paradigms we need to shift, and the skills we must build? This webinar is for parents and caregivers of grades 1–12.
Presenter: Lynn Lyons, LICSW, is an internationally recognized psychotherapist, author, and speaker with a special interest in interrupting the generational patterns of anxiety in families. Lyons is the co-author with Reid Wilson of Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents and the companion book for kids Playing with Anxiety: Casey’s Guide for Teens and Kids. Her latest book for teens and adults is The Anxiety Audit. She co-hosts the popular podcast Flusterclux and is a featured expert in the 2023 documentary Anxious Nation. 
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Jennifer Wallace, Author & Journalist
Recording available until December 31, 2024
Join award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Wallace as she explores the roots of toxic achievement pressure and gives a practical framework for how parents, educators, and communities can fight back. This session is for caregivers and parents of school-aged children—primarily adolescents and teens—educators, school counselors, and school administrators.
Presenter: Jennifer Wallace is an award-winning journalist and author of the New York Times bestselling book, Never Enough: When Achievement Pressure Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It. She contributes to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and appears frequently on television to discuss her articles and relevant topics. Wallace is a BCG BrightHouse Luminary and consultant with The LEGO Group. She began her journalism career at CBS 60 Minutes and is a journalism fellow at The Center for Parent and Teen Communication at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
 Phyllis L. Fagell, LCPC & Author
Recording available until June 30, 2025
Tweens and teens need to feel a sense of belonging in order to take social and academic risks, manage social setbacks, cope with intense emotions, and make smart choices online and offline. Fagell will share practical ways to boost your child’s social skills, scaffold risk-taking at an age when they fear embarrassment, and help them find their place in the pack. While the strategies apply to all kids, she will concentrate most on kids in grades 3–10.
Presenter: Phyllis L. Fagell is a licensed mental health therapist at Chrysalis Group, Inc. and certified school counselor at Landon School. She is the author of Middle School Matters, The 10 Key Skills Kids Need to Thrive in Middle School and Beyond – and How Parents Can Help, and Middle School Superpowers, Raising Resilient Tweens in Turbulent Times. Fagell also is a contributor to The Washington Post, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, and her ideas have been shared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Chicago Tribune, and NPR.
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Hasan Merali, MD, MPH, McMaster Children's Hospital, McMaster University & Author
Toddlers hold the secrets to having more fun and living a fulfilling life. These are secrets we once knew and ones that a Harvard-trained physician can help us rediscover. Terrible twos, temper tantrums, and grocery store meltdowns are usually the first things that come to mind when people think of toddlers. But Merali has long thought toddlers are among the best people in our society and adults could do well to learn from them. Toddlers excel when it comes to kindness, laughter, play, teamwork, risk-taking, and so many other habits that could objectively improve our lives as adults if we were to act a bit more like them. Join us as we go through the important life lessons we can learn from our youngest teachers and leave with simple, actionable steps to improve the well-being of the entire family. This webinar is for those who parent students of all ages as well as all non-parents.
Presenter: Hasan Merali, MD, MPH, is an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at McMaster University, and a pediatric emergency medicine physician at McMaster Children’s Hospital. He has published more than 25 peer-reviewed journal articles, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, Science, Medium, The Boston Globe, NBC, CBC, and Popular Science. His first book, Sleep Well, Take Risks, Squish the Peas: Secrets from the Science of Toddlers for a Happier, More Successful Way of Life, was published in March 2024. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and master of public health degree from Johns Hopkins University.
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Ken Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia & University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Parents are critically important in the lives of adolescents. The security of your love allows young people to launch successfully into an uncertain future. Your high expectations hold them accountable, keep them safe, and shape them to become their best selves. The best way to protect your child is to prepare them to manage life’s complexities while establishing clear boundaries. Open communication about emotional wellness and distress positions you to support them to be emotionally intelligent and navigate life’s curveballs. Modeling self-care and healthy stress management strategies teaches them to get through tough times. Listen to remind yourself how much you matter. If you have younger children, now is the time to invest in building wise, strong children who will thrive through adolescence and beyond. 
Presenter: Ken Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, is a pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the founding director of The Center for Parent and Teen Communication at CHOP. His mission is to prepare adults to be the kind of people that adolescents need and deserve in their lives. He has more than 150 publications, including research and clinical practice articles, books, and chapters. His books include Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings, Congrats-You’re Having a Teen!: Strengthen Your Family, and Raise a Good Person. He has appeared on CNN, NPR, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The CBS Morning Show, FOX and Friends, and ABC, NBC, and CBS Nightly News.
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Michael Thompson, Clinical Psychologist, Author & School Consultant
For most parents, planning a summer for their children is a complex mix of their own work demands, requests to visit extended family, the ages, temperaments and interests of their children, pressure on children from sports coaches, and the goals parents have for summer family time. For children, summer is a time to grow and develop in new ways. Thompson will address the conflicting pressures on summer planning, while suggesting that goals for summer should include relief from the stress and anxiety of school, opportunities to make new friends in a different context, and chances to take (supervised) risks and master new skills.
Presenter: Michael Thompson, PhD is a clinical psychologist, author, and school consultant. He has worked in schools for 50 years, starting out as a middle school teacher and later training as a counselor and psychologist. Now the supervising psychologist for the Belmont Hill School (MA), he has worked with more than 700 schools in the US and internationally. Thompson is the author or co-author of nine books. His newest book Hopes and Fears: Working with Today’s Independent School Parents, co-written with Rob Evans, was published by the National Association of Independent Schools in February 2021 and the second edition was released in 2024.

PROGRAM FEES

ADVIS Member School - $675 per school
Entire school community has full access to 6 one-hour webinars, open to parents, caregivers, faculty, and staff.
  • ADVIS member schools can register for the 2024-25 Parent Series at the ISACS member rate - a $100 savings off of the non-member rate!
  • Not sure if your school is a Member?
    Check our list of ADVIS Member Schools. 
REGISTRATION DETAILS

Only ONE REGISTRATION is needed PER SCHOOL to access the 6, one-hour live webinars and recordings for the entire school community.

DESIGNATED CONTACT

The person who registers will become the Designated Contact Person for their school. This Designated Contact Person will be the only contact to receive communications from ADVIS regarding Zoom pre-registration links, important reminders to encourage your school community to pre-register on Zoom, Zoom recordings, and post webinar resources. The Designated Contact Person will share all details, including Zoom pre-registration links, with all parents, caregivers, faculty, and administrators who plan to attend the live webinars.

ZOOM PRE-REGISTRATION

All parents, caregivers, faculty, and administrators who plan to attend the live presentation(s) MUST pre-register on Zoom for each webinar in the series. The Zoom registration links will be delivered to the Designated Contact Person about 1-2 weeks prior to each session for each school once the school has registered, as noted above.

RECORDINGS

Webinars will be recorded and available to registered schools. Please see the available until date under each session title. Links to all recordings and materials will be shared with the Designated Contact Person who will be responsible for sharing this document. Recordings must only be accessed by schools that registered for the 2024-25 Parent Series. Please do not share the recording links with others outside your school community. No refunds will be provided for the Parent Series.

ISACS reserves the right to revoke the registration and end the participation of any registrant who does not follow the

ISACS Policies & Disclaimers for Professional Learning Events.

ACCESSIBILITY

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. Please feel free to request an accommodation on the registration form. For inquiries about accessibility, please contact Membership and Outreach Manager Candyce Wilson. At least two weeks' advance notice will help us to provide seamless access.

EVENT CONTACT

Tasha Hillery, Director of Communications & Marketing

Event Policies and Procedures