NESA Fall Leadership Conference 2015

October 22-25, Senior Associates Ralph Jahr, Dr. David Cramer, and Ray Sparks attended the annual Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA) Fall Leadership Conference held in Abu Dhabi, UAE. They enjoyed attending keynote presentations and connecting with administrators, many of whom they have helped place in overseas schools. Ralph, David, and Ray–with about 100 years’ aggregate experience in international education–found networking with the constant stream of visitors to the Search Associates table productive and rewarding. They enjoyed meeting new administrators in the NESA region and reconnecting with administrators they have known previously. Search Associates was also pleased to sponsor Thursday’s lunch buffet, served in three different areas of the conference hotel.

NESA was created in the 1960’s when the newly-formed Office of Overseas Schools (A/OS), began assisting an informal group of administrators from Greece to Bangladesh. By 1968, Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools was established and incorporated. Currently, NESA comprises more than 42 member schools, serving 6,400 professional educators, working with 24,000 students.

The NESA Fall Leadership Conference attracts more than 400 heads of school, principals, curriculum coordinators, trustees, business managers, and others in leadership positions. Specialists offer keynote presentations and/or three-hour workshop sessions on current topics. Some of this year’s sessions included crisis management, creating a culture of inclusion, resilience in leadership, literacy, and working productively with school boards. Keynote presenters included Douglas Reeves, Jay McTighe, and Giselle Martin-Kniep. Saturday’s Keynote Speaker was Sharnell Jackson who spoke on the topic “Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision-Making.”

The NESA Conference provides a wide variety of professional development opportunities for educators and board members/trustees of schools in the NESA region. Search Associates is proud to be a sponsor of the 2015 NESA Fall Leadership Conference.