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Make
Your Move.

Executive search, inspiring speakers, and practical support for the people leading schools.

Let’s Play ↗Let’s Talk ↗

SIX SERVICES. ONE CONNECTED PARTNER.

What does your school need?

Tap a service to learn more, then close the popup to return here. Choose “Let’s Play” to open the interactive board.

Find your next school leader: ED HunterBook speakers and professional learning: SPARXGet leadership coaching and mentoring: ProSphereBuild a practical strategic plan: R3Plan an event or conference: NexusPublish and share your educational ideas: LuminationLet’s Play: open the interactive School Pro board

ED Hunter

Executive leadership search

Find a leader who fits your school’s next chapter.

Choosing a school leader means understanding both the role and the community. ED Hunter helps schools and boards clarify what they need, connect with candidates, and make a thoughtful leadership decision.

Why it matters

A leadership hire shapes far more than an organizational chart. It influences staff trust, student experience, community relationships, and the direction of the school for years to come. A résumé can show experience; a thoughtful search helps a board understand how a person will lead in its particular setting.

How we help

  • Understand your priorities, culture, and leadership needs.
  • Support recruitment and a purposeful candidate selection process.
  • Bring clarity and communication to interviews and decision-making.

Why School Pro?

School Pro is led by Dr. Eric Skanson, a practicing school leader and licensed superintendent who understands the responsibilities on both sides of the interview table. We begin by listening to the school and board, then help translate their priorities into a clear picture of the leader they need.

Our approach goes beyond posting an opening and waiting. Active recruitment, a personal relationship with the board, and purposeful interviews help bring the right questions and people into the process. We understand the particular demands of small and rural districts and charter schools, where leaders often wear several hats.

The appointment is also the beginning of a new chapter. When useful, School Pro’s coaching and planning services can connect the search to the work that follows: helping a leader establish priorities, build relationships, and move forward with the organization.

Sparx

Speakers and professional learning

Bring fresh thinking to the people doing the work.

Sparx connects schools and organizations with speakers and learning experiences shaped around their audience and goals. The focus is on ideas people can carry back into their classrooms, teams, and leadership work.

Why it matters

Professional learning asks a great deal of schools: time away from instruction, budget, and the attention of people who already have full plates. The right experience should leave a team with more than a good story. It should create shared language, useful ideas, and a reason to try something different when everyone returns to work.

How we help

  • Find speakers whose expertise fits your audience and purpose.
  • Shape professional learning around the needs of your people.
  • Connect inspiration with practical conversations and next steps.

Why School Pro?

School Pro brings the perspective of an educator who also plans learning for his own school community. We ask about your audience, the challenges they are facing, and what you hope will be different afterward before recommending a speaker or learning experience.

Our role is personal and practical. We help you navigate a network of education professionals, consider fit, and coordinate the booking, contracts, and billing. A recognizable name can be valuable, but the connection between the presenter, your people, and your goals matters most.

Because Sparx sits alongside coaching, planning, events, and publishing, the conversation can extend beyond a single presentation. A speaker’s ideas can support a larger learning goal, inform a team’s next steps, or connect with resources that keep the work moving.

ProSphere

Mentoring and executive coaching

Have a trusted thinking partner beside you.

Leadership comes with decisions that are hard to work through alone. ProSphere offers mentoring and executive coaching to help leaders reflect, strengthen their practice, and navigate their next steps with greater clarity.

Why it matters

School leaders spend much of their time supporting everyone else. They also need space to think, ask difficult questions, and work through decisions before acting on them. Whether someone is entering a new role or navigating a demanding season, a trusted partner can help turn the pressure of leadership into more deliberate choices.

How we help

  • Talk through leadership challenges and important decisions.
  • Develop goals that reflect your role and professional growth.
  • Build perspective through an ongoing coaching or mentoring relationship.

Why School Pro?

School Pro understands that leadership development has to fit the real work: staff relationships, board expectations, competing priorities, and the responsibility of making decisions that affect students. Our starting point is the person and the context, rather than a generic list of leadership tips.

Led by a practicing school leader, School Pro connects mentoring and coaching to the situations educators actually face. The goal is to help leaders develop their own judgment, reflect on their practice, and identify steps they can use in their role.

That support can connect with the rest of the school’s work. A newly appointed leader may need help establishing priorities; an experienced team may need coaching alongside a strategic plan. School Pro can help connect those needs so development has a clear purpose within the organization.

R3

Strategic planning

Turn shared priorities into a practical path forward.

R3, Rapid Responsive Roadmapping, helps schools move from broad ambitions to a clearer plan. It brings attention to what matters now, where the organization wants to go, and the next steps that make progress possible.

Why it matters

Schools rarely lack ideas or commitment. The challenge is deciding what deserves attention first, what is realistic with the people and resources available, and how to sustain progress while daily demands continue. A useful plan gives people a shared direction and helps them make choices when everything feels urgent.

How we help

  • Clarify your current needs and shared priorities.
  • Bring people into a focused planning conversation.
  • Translate direction into practical actions and next steps.

Why School Pro?

School Pro approaches planning from the perspective of someone who has to put plans into practice. We understand that a board’s goals, a leader’s responsibilities, and the daily work of staff need to connect for a plan to be useful.

Rapid Responsive Roadmapping creates room for focused conversations about where you are, what matters next, and what action can look like. The emphasis is on a direction people understand and practical next steps they can return to as circumstances change.

Our connected services help schools think about what a plan will require. A priority may point to a leadership need, professional learning, or support for a team. School Pro can help make those connections while keeping the school’s goals at the center of the work.

Nexus

Event and conference planning and management

Bring people together with purpose.

Nexus supports the planning and management of events and conferences that connect people and ideas. Start with the experience you want your audience to have, then bring the program and planning together around that purpose.

Why it matters

An event brings together people’s time, attention, and expectations. The schedule and logistics matter because they shape whether participants can connect, learn, and leave with something worthwhile. For school and association leaders, creating that experience often becomes another major responsibility on top of an already full workload.

How we help

  • Clarify the event’s purpose, audience, and desired experience.
  • Coordinate program ideas, speakers, and planning needs.
  • Keep the details connected to a meaningful experience for participants.

Why School Pro?

School Pro understands educational gatherings from the perspective of the people organizing them and the educators attending them. We begin with the purpose of the event and the experience you want to create, then help bring the program and planning into alignment.

Nexus connects that planning with School Pro’s speaker and professional learning network. Rather than treating the agenda, speakers, and participant experience as separate decisions, we help you consider how they work together.

The value can continue after the closing session. Ideas introduced at an event may connect to resources, ongoing learning, or a wider organizational goal. School Pro’s range of services makes it easier to explore those next steps with a partner who understands the original purpose.

Lumination

Publishing and thought leadership

Help your educational ideas reach others.

Lumination supports educators and educational thinkers as they develop and share their ideas through author development and publishing. It is a place to begin turning professional experience into work that can inform and inspire others.

Why it matters

Educators develop valuable ideas through years of trying, reflecting, and adapting. Too often, that knowledge stays within one classroom or one school because the path to sharing it feels unclear. Thoughtful publishing helps an educator turn experience into a message that other people can understand and use.

How we help

  • Clarify the idea, audience, and purpose behind your work.
  • Explore author development and publishing next steps.
  • Connect your expertise with opportunities to share and support learning.

Why School Pro?

School Pro begins with respect for the work behind the idea. Led by a practicing educator, we understand that credibility comes from experience, reflection, and a clear connection to the needs of readers. The first conversation is about what you have to say, whom it could help, and what you want it to accomplish.

Lumination connects author development and publishing with the wider School Pro community. An idea may become part of a book, a professional resource, a presentation, or a learning conversation. We help you explore a direction that fits the work and your goals.

With speaking, professional learning, and events under the same School Pro umbrella, publishing can be part of a broader way to share expertise. The purpose is to help useful educational ideas reach people who can bring them into their own practice.

WHY SCHOOL PRO?

One partner who sees the whole school.

Led by Dr. Eric Skanson, a practicing educator and school leader, School Pro connects leadership search, professional learning, coaching, planning, events, and publishing. We understand how one need connects to the next, and bring the right people and support together around your school’s goals.

Meet School Pro ↗

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PARTNERSHIPS

Good connections. Real experiences.

1 / 10

School client

“School Pro K12 is a one-stop shop for all of your staff development needs and I will definitely be using their service again.”

Judith Brockway

Principal, New York Mills

Speaker partner

“Working with School Pro K-12 nourishes my soul, as our common goal is student success.”

Danny Brassell, Ph.D.

Speaker · Bringing JOY Back into Education and the Workplace

Professional learning partner

“SchoolProK12 is the simplest and most responsive professional collaboration I’ve experienced this year!”

Amy Pierce, M. Ed.

The Collaborative Coach

School client · Leadership search

“School Pro K12 did an incredible job managing our search for a new Superintendent. Their professional and comprehensive approach made the process seamless. We felt supported at every step and ultimately found the perfect leader for our district. I highly recommend School Pro K12 for any educational leadership searches.”

Dale Negen

School Board Chair · Renville County West Schools

School client · Leadership search

“If you are a school looking for a new Executive Director I would overwhelmingly recommend using the Ed Hunter Search Process. This process produced a far richer pool of talent we would have otherwise had access to, provided a turnkey curated process to adhere to which saved significant time for the Board members, and allowed the Search Committee to focus on the specific items that mattered most to our school.”

Wes Whalberg

School Board Chair · Seven Hills Preparatory Academy

School client · Leadership search

“I will admit, I initially questioned why our school was paying to have a company do this process for us. However, after my experience with School Pro, I am so happy to say that it was money well spent! The experience from beginning to end was flawless. I can’t say enough great things about the experience. I feel that great care and thought was put into finding candidates that fit our school. Additionally, the amount of work that went in to prepare the interview team was outstanding. I think too often that that part of the process is overlooked. I have been on several interview teams and have never once been taught how to be an effective interviewer. Thank you so very much for selecting me to be a part of the team.”

Nicolle Gilbertson

Teacher/Staff Member · Moose Lake Community Schools

School client · Leadership search

“Eric with School Pro K12 was instrumental in helping our nonprofit board navigate the challenges of finding new leadership for our school. His willingness to talk through challenges, recognize our strengths, and help us address our weaknesses made him an invaluable partner during a critical time of transition. His insight, support, and collaborative approach helped our board move forward with greater confidence and clarity.”

Kari Stumvoll

Board Member/Director · Central Minnesota Montessori School

School client · Leadership search

“Partnering with School Pro K12’s Ed Hunter Search was one of the best decisions we made. Their team delivered a diverse, high-quality slate of candidates and guided us with professionalism and care. We found a leader who is both highly skilled and aligned with our vision.”

Lisa Barnidge

Board Member/Director · Seven Hills Preparatory Academy

School client · Leadership search

“Eric did an absolutely phenomenal job working with our group. The care given to diagnose our main objectives and needs went above my expectations. The involvement and communication in the process were swift and transparent. The product was unique to any hiring I have ever been a part of before.”

Christopher Lamprecht

Teacher/Board Member · Seven Hills Preparatory Academy

School client · Leadership search

“School Pro starts by truly listening to the specific needs of the district, and that makes all the difference. Never underestimate the importance of listening first. Their interview process is thorough and carefully designed to give the team unique insights into each candidate’s thinking. We partnered with School Pro for both Principal and Superintendent searches, and in both cases, the results were excellent.”

John Engstrom

Former Superintendent · Moose Lake Community Schools

YOUR NEXT MOVE

Let’s start with what your school needs.

A leadership opening, a day of learning, or a challenge worth talking through. You bring the context. We’ll help you find the next step.

Talk with Eric ↗