People

Alexandra Penry

Senior Director for Finance and Advancement

Headwaters School

Austin, TX

Alexandra Penry is the senior director of finance and advancement at Headwaters School, a toddler-12th grade school in Austin, TX that serves over 500 students. Penry brings over a decade of expertise in independent school finance and leadership. Prior to Headwaters, she served as the director of external affairs at Cambridge Friends School in Cambridge, MA, and as the director of admissions at La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. She is also a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. She has prior experience in higher education fundraising.

Online Courses

Budget Meets Mission: School Finance for Non-Business Leaders

Understand the independent school business model, learn to be a good steward of your school's financial resources and work more collaboratively around financial issues.
Considerations for Employee Benefits: Taxability, Compliance, Culture

Discover the most common benefits programs and structures as well as emerging ones, best practices to stay in compliance, and cultural considerations for implementation.
Engaging in Difficult Conversations with Employees

Learn to engage with employees in an empathetic manner while still clearly conveying important information and safeguarding your school from liability.
Essentials of the Business Office

Explore the many responsibilities of business office professionals — from day-to-day finance, operation and risk management to strategic leadership — and how to manage key relationships with the greater school community.
Human Resources Fundamentals for Independent Schools

Learn how to address day-to-day human resources challenges such as evaluation and termination, FMLA, the ADA and employee classification.
Leave Law Boot Camp

Learn about best practices related to employee leave and how federal leave laws intersect and overlap.
Long-Range Financial Modeling

Learn how to customize and manipulate NBOA's Long-Range Financial Model, a powerful financial planning tool for your school.
Measuring Financial Health with the Composite Financial Index

Calculate your school's Composite Financial Index (CFI) score — a tool trusted in higher education for decades — and learn how you can use the score and its 4 underlying ratios to think strategically about your school's financial strengths and weaknesses.
Payroll Best Practices for Independent Schools

Learn about best practices related to payroll including employee classification and overtime pay, deductions and taxability and the complexity of calculating a faculty member’s final paycheck when they leave mid-year.
Stewarding Donor Dollars: Financial Principles for Contributions

Learn best practices related to gift reporting, compliance and donor stewardship, as well as how to develop a successful and strategic partnership between the financial and development functions at your school.
Strategic HR Leadership

Learn to develop and communicate your school's personnel management strategy and to be responsive to a changing market.
The Business and Art of Financial Aid

Learn tactical best practices related to the financial aid process to enhance the strategic partnership between the business and admissions offices and ensure long-term success.
Wage and Hour Boot Camp

Learn the ins and outs of wage and hour law, including the aspects that are unique to educational environments.

Past Webinars

Defining Roles and Responsibilities for a Successful Construction Project This item is protected

November 14, 2024

Construction project are more complex than ever. Learn the different management roles of a construction project from the owner and architect to the construction manager and other key facilitators.
Inflation in Independent and Higher Education: The Case for the HEPI This item is protected

November 1, 2024

Access to reliable inflation data and using the most appropriate inflation measure is critical to accurate budgeting and planning. That's why Commonfund produces the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI), an inflation index.
Trends in Tuition Discounting: Insights from NBOA Research This item is protected

October 25, 2024

Learn about the research findings from the Tuition Discounting Report for PK-12 Independent Schools: 2021-2023, NBOA's recently released multi-year data analysis.
Addressing Student-to-Student Issues This item is protected

October 17, 2024

Research shows sexual incidents between youth make up approximately half of sexual abuse incidents. Through research and collaboration with leading experts, this session explores how schools leverage research to update policies and procedures.
2024’s Back-to-School Legal & Regulatory Update This item is protected

September 27, 2024

Join Grace H. Lee, NBOA’s legal counsel & partner at Venable LLP, and Michael C. Blacher, chair of LCW’s Private Education Practice Group, as they review recent changes to the law and answer questions about how those changes will impact your school.

Net Assets Articles

Overtime Threshold Increases Were Overturned. What Now?

November 18, 2024

The overtime rules that many schools have prepared for will revert to earlier thresholds. Here's how leaders can prepare.
Remission Accomplished? This item is protected

November 14, 2024

Tuition remission is on the rise. What does that mean for schools’ sustainability and culture?
The Circle of (Estimated, Useful) Life

November 14, 2024

Nothing teaches adaptability quite like chasing the school’s runaway rabbits, as this business officer discovered.
Managing Underwater Endowments Amid Market Volatility

November 11, 2024

A well-crafted policy will help meet both donors’ and the school’s long-term needs.
Making Work Meaningful at Your School

November 5, 2024

To retain talent, school leaders must cultivate clear purpose, mutual trust and opportunities to grow.

FEATURED

Complimentary Resource for NBOA Members: Job Description Resource Center

Access expert guidance and samples to help your school develop clear, comprehensive, and effective job descriptions for every role.

RECENT DISCUSSIONS

NBOA CAREERS

Director of Financial Aid and Associate Director of Upper School Admission

Saint Andrew's School
Chief Financial/Operating Officer (CFO/COO)

San Diego Jewish Academy
Staff Accountant

Culver Academies

VISIT CAREERS

Alexandra Penry

Online Courses

Budget Meets Mission: School Finance for Non-Business Leaders

Considerations for Employee Benefits: Taxability, Compliance, Culture

Engaging in Difficult Conversations with Employees

Essentials of the Business Office

Human Resources Fundamentals for Independent Schools

Leave Law Boot Camp

Long-Range Financial Modeling

Measuring Financial Health with the Composite Financial Index

Payroll Best Practices for Independent Schools

Stewarding Donor Dollars: Financial Principles for Contributions

Strategic HR Leadership

The Business and Art of Financial Aid

Wage and Hour Boot Camp

Past Webinars

Defining Roles and Responsibilities for a Successful Construction Project This item is protected

Inflation in Independent and Higher Education: The Case for the HEPI This item is protected

Trends in Tuition Discounting: Insights from NBOA Research This item is protected

Addressing Student-to-Student Issues This item is protected

2024’s Back-to-School Legal & Regulatory Update This item is protected

Net Assets Articles

Overtime Threshold Increases Were Overturned. What Now?

Remission Accomplished? This item is protected

The Circle of (Estimated, Useful) Life

Managing Underwater Endowments Amid Market Volatility

Making Work Meaningful at Your School

FEATURED

Complimentary Resource for NBOA Members: Job Description Resource Center

RECENT DISCUSSIONS

NBOA CAREERS

Director of Financial Aid and Associate Director of Upper School Admission

Chief Financial/Operating Officer (CFO/COO)

Staff Accountant

Become an NBOA Member