About Inspiration Lab
What is Inspiration Lab?
Inspiration Lab is a collection of stories about independent schools that are members or subscribers of the National Association of Independent Schools. Schools submit stories about unique or innovative classes and programs going on at the schools that challenge their students, spark their creativity, and help them develop into global citizens. The goal of Inspiration Lab is to tell the story of each school profiled and to demonstrate the value that independent schools bring to the wider educational community.
What are independent schools?
Independent schools are part of the K-12 private school community. They include boarding and day schools, coed and single sex schools, religiously affiliated and non-affiliated schools. They are called “independent” because they are governed by an independent board of trustees, and as non-profit organizations are primarily are funded through tuition and charitable giving. Each school is driven by its own unique mission.
How can I find out more about a school that has a story on Inspiration Lab?
Next to each story on Inspiration Lab, you’ll find the website of the school. We encourage you to visit that website to learn more about the school and to find contact information for its admission office. For more information about independent schools generally and about the process for applying to independent schools, please visit the NAIS Parents’ Guide.
Submitting Stories
Who can submit stories?
Any individual connected to an NAIS member or subscriber school may post a story about that school. This could be a teacher or administrator from the school, a parent, student, or board member. On the submission form, you’ll find a pull-down list of all NAIS member and subscriber schools.
How often can I submit stories?
There is no limit to how often you can submit stories. We encourage you submit a story each month to ensure your school’s most recent programs are seen by the wider educational community. At the same time, we request that you don’t submit any more than five stories at a time so as to allow for a diverse mix of schools represented on Inspiration Lab.
What if I want to co-post with another school?
The story submission form requires that you align your story with just one school. If the program you are describing involves a partnership with another school, we encourage you to clearly identify that school in the description of your story. Your colleague from that other school may also choose to post a version of the story under his or her school’s name.
Why doesn’t my school show up in the submission form?
Only schools that are members or subscribers of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) are included in the submission form selection menu. If you believe your school should be on that list, please send us an email at inspirationlab@nais.org. We will usually reply within two business days.
Can I edit or delete a post I have already submitted?
Once you press submit on your story, it is live, so please review your post carefully. If it is critical that your story be removed or changed, please email us at inspirationlab@nais.org and we will attempt to remove or change it as soon as possible.
Why is my story or comment not showing up?
Inspiration Lab is an open forum in which the community can voice its feelings about a school. However, per the Inspiration Lab Terms of Service, NAIS reserves the right to approve or reject stories for publication, or to later remove stories and accompanying photos or comments, at its sole discretion. If your story or comment included profane or offensive language or if it attacked an individual person at a school, or otherwise breached practices of online common decency, we may have removed it. (Note: Generally, we will not remove a comment that includes generally negative information about a school or program, as that is part of an open exchange.) In addition, if the number of stories you posted on a given day exceeded our suggested limit of five stories, we may have temporarily unpublished the stories beyond the five; we hope you understand that these limits are in place to allow many schools to showcase their programs. If you have specific questions, please contact us at inspirationlab@nais.org.
Posting Videos and Pictures
What size should my photos be to post?
For optimal results, we recommend that you upload a JPG or PNG photo that is landscape in orientation, sized to 660 pixels by 440 pixels. Images can be no larger than 1 MB each. Inspiration Lab will accept photos that are not of those dimensions, but these dimensions will render best.
What formats of photos may I post?
We recommend you post a JPG/JPEG image for the best visual quality. However, Inspiration Lab will also accept PNG or GIF files.
Why can’t I upload my video?
We do not accept video files for upload. You should upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo, then enter the URL for the video on the submission form.
Sharing Stories
What are some good ways to share my submission with my community?
The story you have posted on Inspiration Lab can strengthen the pride that your current community has in your school, and can introduce what is special about your school to prospective families. After you submit your story, in your confirmation email, we’ll give you the unique URL for your story. We encourage you to post that link on your school’s Facebook wall, tweet your story via your school’s Twitter account, and share it via other social media. You can also post a message on any school listserves (e.g., parent listserves) encouraging members of your community to read, comment on, and share the story. You may also find ways to share your story with prospective families at in-person events.