A number of years ago, a group of state independent school associations connected informally to explore ways we could work together to further our offerings to schools. Dating back to the days when SAIS hosted a state executive annual meeting, we 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 our collective numbers, we could find cost savings for our 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. Since that time NCAIS has worked with other states and schools to identify the most used resources/subscriptions, negotiated pricing, and managed registration. To date, more than 200 schools are actively participating with 11 preferred providers.

In 2022, the NCAIS Board of Directors, voted to transition our subscription service into a separate 501(c)3, Independent School Collaborative (ISC) along with other programs that impact multi- states including our Co-branded Workshops and MEP. Other multi-state programs or activities added in the future will fall under the ISC.

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