Close Up Radio Spotlights Brooke Caroll of Acies Strategies

Gaithersburg, MD – Brooke Caroll is the founder of Acies Strategies, where she supports small independent school leaders and board members to lead with clarity. Caroll typically works with heads of schools who are new to the position.

“Acies is the Greek word for insight,” says Caroll. “What I do is 70 percent coaching, 20 percent mentoring and 10 percent therapy. It's helping school leaders and board members articulate their concerns and reach into themselves to identify their strengths to address their challenges.”

Prior to launching Acies Strategies, Caroll served as the head of a small elementary school with about 150 students for nine years. During her tenure, the school would earn the distinction of an international baccalaureate school.

“Being the head of a small school is an amazing education in school leadership because you have to be involved in everything,” says Caroll. “Of course, there were many challenges. But I actually was able to be much more hands-on and collaborate with my teachers and students. It was everything I thought was right about education.”

Caroll says most of her work is about helping everyone understand their roles by distinguishing between governance, leadership and operations.

“The board is responsible for overseeing the overall long-term health and sustainability of the school. The head is responsible for making sure the school is running well this year and next year and overseeing operations such as admissions, fundraising, accounts receivable- everything that goes on within the school. Those are three distinct layers that must work in concert, to collaborate and know what each other is doing.”

For more information, visit www.aciesstrategies.com