Schools of Excellence: The No. 1 ECE & Private School Leadership Podcast

Ever given a teacher feedback and watched her shut down right in front of you? This week, Chanie breaks down the real difference between feedback and feed forward, and why one keeps your team stuck while the other actually helps them grow. - Why feedback can trigger fight, flight, or freeze in your team - A real coaching story about a curriculum specialist who was hypercritical with one age group...

Why do your school's systems keep breaking, even after you've built the SOPs and invested in outside help? Chanie explains the real pattern behind it, and it isn't a discipline problem. In this episode: - Why even a $2.1 million consulting investment couldn't fix one leader's system - The real reason caretakers break their own rules under pressure - The four-part framework every system needs to ac...

Two of the trickiest drama symptoms to spot -- and the eight traits of leadership that replace them. In this episode, Chanie finishes the drama symptoms series with a look at manipulation and inconsistent actions and behaviors. Key topics include: The cost framework for deciding when it is time to let a toxic employee go Why grief is a natural and valid part of removing drama from your culture How...

Sharon Jayakumar owns a Reggio-inspired school of nearly 200 children in Philadelphia and a few years ago, she almost walked away from all of it. Not because her school was failing. Because growing without infrastructure was taking everything she had. In this episode, Sharon and Chanie talk about what changed when she stopped going it alone. Key topics include: Building infrastructure that holds a...

Is drama quietly draining your school culture? In Part 2 of the Decoding Your Culture series, Chanie breaks down three signs that drama has taken root in your center, using real stories from real school leaders. In this episode: What drama actually looks like in a childcare center (it's rarely the big blowups) Why criticizing and complaining spreads from one person to an entire team How one direct...

You hired a team so you wouldn't have to carry it all — so why does it feel like you're carrying more than ever? In this episode, Chanie Wilschanski breaks down the ownership gap that keeps school leaders stuck and alone, no matter how big their team gets. You'll learn: Why delegation and ownership produce completely different outcomes The four-part infrastructure — Standard, Ownership, Rhythm, Re...

Your school has a culture right now. The question is whether you actually know what it's saying. In Part 1 of the Culture Decoder series, Chanie Wilschanski breaks down what company culture actually is, what it isn't, and how to start reading the emotional data already showing up in your building. You'll learn: - Why perks and team events are not culture (and what actually is) - How to identify yo...

Accountability conversations going sideways in your school? The problem might not be your staff — it might be where you're starting the conversation. In this episode, Chanie Wilschanski breaks down why most accountability problems are actually identity problems — and why gratitude is the missing foundation. You'll learn: - Why feedback feels like a personal attack (even when it isn't) - How identi...

You survived the school year. So why doesn't summer feel like relief? In this episode, Chanie pulls from her book This Can't Be Normal to talk about why rest alone can't fix exhaustion — and what school leaders really need to recalibrate. - Why your nervous system is still bracing after the school year ends - The difference between achievement and integration - What it means to mortgage your ident...

Summer hits every school. The leaders who make it through without spiraling are the ones who built something before the season arrived. In this episode, Chanie breaks down why summer disruption is completely predictable — and why most school leaders keep getting blindsided anyway. She walks through the real financial cost of enrollment dips and staffing misalignment, explains why better systems an...

If you've ever rebuilt the same staff training from scratch, paid for a speaker who inspired everyone for two weeks and then disappeared, or stayed up late wondering what to train on next — this episode is for you. Chanie breaks down the four training patterns that keep school leaders stuck in activity instead of infrastructure, explains why most staff culture problems are predictable skill gaps (...

If you've ever hesitated to invest in your team, this episode is for you. It's not that you don't believe in professional development. It's that you've invested before, hoped before, and been disappointed before. In this bonus episode I walk through the five specific fears that keep directors and owners from investing in their teams, and why every single one of them makes complete sense. Because u...

You've told them so many times. And nothing has changed. So what's actually going wrong? In this episode, Chanie Wilschanski digs into the part of leadership that most school directors skip entirely: the messy middle between hiring and firing. She introduces the concept of drift, why it's inevitable in every team, and the four-step rhythm that brings everyone back to the standard. Why hiring and f...

What happens when the success you worked so hard to build starts to feel like survival? In this episode, Chanie Wilschanski joins radio host Nachum Segal on JM in the AM to talk about her new book, This Can't Be Normal. They cover the invisible weight of school leadership, why burnout is a rhythm problem not a workload problem, and what it actually looks like to lead a school sustainably, without...

What does it actually look like to triple your income, have your most profitable year ever, and still be home for dinner? In this member spotlight, Chanie sits down with Aliyah Johnson Roberts — owner of two early childhood education centers in Philadelphia — to talk about the real story behind her growth. A few years ago, Aliyah was sitting in her office until six o'clock every evening, not becau...

If a teacher called out tomorrow, do you know what it's actually costing your school? Not just money, your time, too. In this bonus episode, Chanie breaks down why most call out policies collapse the moment pressure walks in the door, what it means to pressure test your school's infrastructure, and how to build a call out standard that holds even when you're short-staffed, short on sleep, and shor...

Your school isn't losing money because of bad teachers or wrong pricing. It's losing it in the patterns you've started to normalize. Chanie Wilschanski breaks down four profit blind spots that quietly drain revenue from childcare centers and early childhood education schools — from the false comfort of high occupancy rates to the $100,000 follow-up mistake one school owner didn't see coming. Get T...

School owner Charlie Marcotty spent nearly 29 years building something remarkable and then watched it fracture under the weight of rapid growth. Eight allegations, four directors in three months, 50% staff turnover. In this episode, Chanie breaks down exactly how Charlie came back from the edge using rhythm-based leadership and what that means for every school leader who feels like they're barely...

Summer enrollment feeling unpredictable? It's not about effort, it's about infrastructure. In this episode, Chanie Wilschanski breaks down why school leaders keep losing leads they already have, why families are waiting longer to commit, and what it actually looks like to build an enrollment system that converts delayed decisions and compounds over time. If enrollment feels reactive, this episode...

Every year, school owners sit down with their accountants and ask the same dangerous question. In this episode, Chanie explains why "what should I cut?" is a shrinking strategy, and walks you through where your school is actually leaking profit right now. Resources + Links Mentioned: Reclaim $2,000+/month by fixing the money leaks without adding enrollment in the Increase Your Profit Workshop: htt...

Consistency sounds so simple. Show up. Do the thing. Repeat. So why does it feel like standing at the edge of a cliff? Consistency isn't boring. It's vulnerable. In this episode, Chanie Wilschanski explores why high-achieving school leaders resist steady rhythms, how perfectionism masquerades as inconsistency, and why return, not perfection, is what sustainable leadership is built on. If you've be...

What if the warmth you've been leading with is quietly stalling your school's growth? In this episode, Chanie Wilschanski challenges the belief that empathy alone creates change — and unpacks why consequence, not punishment, is actually the key to predictable safety, reduced burnout, and a team that rises on its own. A must-listen for school leaders who are exhausted from holding everyone else. Re...

Every September feels like a fresh start. By March, it feels like everything is falling apart. If that cycle sounds familiar, this episode is going to reframe everything for you. Chanie Wilschanski breaks down the real reason school leaders burn out every spring: heroics masquerading as infrastructure. She unpacks what real systems look like under pressure, introduces the five elements of infrastr...

March is the mid-year mirror for school leaders, and it's showing you exactly what needs to change before May amplifies everything. In this episode, Chanie Wilschanski breaks down the difference between circumstantial challenges and infrastructure problems, shares a three-question framework to identify your patterns, and walks you through exactly how to install the standards and ownership your sch...

You finally exhaled. Things at school are good. The team is doing well. No fires. No panicked texts. No impossible parent meetings. And somehow, instead of leaning in, you quietly stepped back — because isn't that the goal? This episode is rooted in the same rhythm-based leadership philosophy at the heart of my book, This Can't Be Normal: What to Do When Success Starts to Feel Like Survival , and...