The 5 Gears: Your School’s Operating System
We know the feeling of trying to juggle everything at once and feeling overwhelmed when we aren’t able to.
That’s why this episode introduces a Schools of Excellence proven framework that will revolutionize your school’s operating system. It’s called the 5 Gears, and it explores the idea that it’s impossible to work on everything at once.
Today we’re kicking off a 6-part series during which Chanie will break down each of the gears: enrollment, staff retention, parent engagement, financial health, and strategic growth.
In this first episode, you’ll learn
- Focused improvement leads to better outcomes than juggling multiple objectives.
- Strategic maintenance is crucial while working on active improvement.
- Every gear requires multiple people working at different levels.
- Identifying the priority gear is essential for effective leadership.
Remember: long-lasting change happens when you focus on just 2 gears at a time while the rest are in strategic maintenance mode.
Download your 5 Gears Diagnostic here! It only takes 10 minutes and will show you exactly which gear you need to focus on to create momentum across your entire school.

Discover your school's hidden breaking points
Stop Guessing & Start Knowing
with The 5 Gears Diagnostic
Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ:
CLICK HERE.
Click here to listen on your podcast platform of choice
More about the show:
If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life.
Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.
In addition to weekly solo episodes, she’ll also be inviting industry leaders and the changing makers of the landscape of education to give listeners the inside knowledge of what it takes to sustain excellence.
Don’t miss an episode, subscribe today for everything you need for your leadership journey!