A number of years ago, a group of state independent school associations, spearheaded by the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools (NCAIS), connected informally to explore ways to work together to further offerings to schools. Dating back to the days when SAIS hosted a state executive annual meeting, leaders appreciated the value of connecting with colleagues, sharing ideas, asking questions, discussing trends, etc., a practice that has continued long since SAIS stopped hosting. NCAIS had the idea of expanding our collaboration to include services and programs to our schools. By leveraging collective numbers, associations could find cost savings for schools while at the same time adding benefits without adding staff time. In 2017, the Southeast Collaborative was born and its first offering was discount subscriptions and classroom resources. Over the next 5 years, NCAIS worked with those peer associations to identify the most used resources/subscriptions, negotiated pricing, and managed registration. resulting in more than 200 participating schools and 11 preferred providers.

Recognized nationally for its foresight and innovation, NCAIS decided to launch a 403(b) Multiple Employer Retirement Plan (MEP) in 2022. That news quickly spread to our Southeast Collaborative colleagues, several of whom wanted to partner on this endeavor in a way similar to the subscription program. After careful consideration and legal counsel, the NCAIS Board of Directors, voted to transition the subscription service into a separate 501(c)3, Independent School Collaborative (ISC) along with the MEP and other multi-state initiatives.

The ISC is most appreciative of the leadership and vision of NCAIS that led to the establishment of the ISC which is now able to provide support to independent schools across many states and leverage collective numbers in a way that individual states never could. Recognizing that we are better together, the NCAIS leadership established an informal tag line that continues to serve both NCAIS and peer associations well through collaboration with the ISC.

For information on association membership, contact Linda Nelson, Executive Director at: lnelson@independentschoolcollaborative.org.