Helping small schools make a big impact
Helping small schools make a big impact
About LUCAT
LUCAT was built around a simple observation: school leaders are doing extraordinary work with inadequate support. The tools and guidance available to them are either priced for large institutions or disconnected from the realities of running a small school.
We started LUCAT because we’ve been in those roles ourselves. We know what it feels like to navigate board dynamics, budget shortfalls, personnel crises, and campus decisions without a clear playbook. LUCAT exists to be the resource we wished we’d had.
Honest conversations
What We Believe
Good consulting isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about asking the right questions, sharing what has worked, and being honest about what hasn’t. We don’t come with a corporate playbook. We come with experience from schools like yours.
LUCAT was built for schools that are developing resources and have leaders who are very much in it, day to day. Schools generally have the same challenges, and smaller or newer schools often have a lower bandwidth to address them. Working with LUCAT is accessible because we believe small schools deserve good support.
We work with people, not institutions. The relationship matters as much as the deliverable.
We’ll tell you what we actually think. That’s more useful than what you want to hear.
Every recommendation comes with something you can actually do on Monday morning.
Small schools shouldn’t have to pay big-firm prices for good consulting support.
Areas of Expertise
Across the team, LUCAT covers the range of challenges school leaders face. Here’s where our experience runs deepest.
Head of school coaching, board relations, new leader onboarding, management training, and personnel decisions.
Montessori-aligned space planning, interior design, classroom environment consulting, and capital project guidance.
Adding levels, expanding programs, building a teaching team, and growing enrollment with mission fidelity.
Enrollment modeling, tuition strategy, five-year planning, reserve fund management, and board-ready financial communication.
Family and board messaging, crisis response planning, media guidance, and communications under pressure.
Hiring, retention, handbook and policy development, difficult personnel decisions, and building a healthy school culture.
The Team
Every LUCAT consultant has worked inside schools — as a head, a teacher, a designer, or an administrator. No one on this team is a career consultant who came to education from the outside. We’ve all done the work.
Reach out at he**@*****at.com if you want to know who would be the best fit for your specific situation.
Principal/Founder · LUCAT
Strategic financial planning, enrollment modeling, campus architecture, data and analytics, program development, board relations.
Senior Consultant · LUCAT
Development, communications, parent partnerships, marketing, design, strategic philanthropy, community partnerships.
Senior Consultant · LUCAT
Interior design, classroom environment design, toddler and primary consulting, architecture, teacher development.
Senior Consultant · LUCAT
Team growth, program expansion, teacher preparation, coach development, leadership pipeline.
Senior Consultant · LUCAT
Employee life cycle, organizational culture, culture and policy alignment, leadership development.
Senior Consultant · LUCAT
Team building, materials design, school communications, graphics and visual identity, community engagement.
Senior Consultant · LUCAT
Team building, materials design, school communications, graphics and visual identity, community engagement.
Senior Consultant · LUCAT
Leadership coaching, personnel management, school growth strategy, difficult conversations, professional development.
Senior Consultant · LUCAT
Leadership coaching, management, legal and compliance, crisis communications, personnel decisions, board dynamics.
For expert classroom environment design and teacher-facing workshops, visit our partners at Studio June. If you’re looking for Montessori environment consulting, materials work, or teacher programs, check it out.
Direct Consulting
For schools facing a specific challenge — a financial crisis, a personnel situation, a campus project, a communications problem — LUCAT offers direct consulting engagements. We work with your school on your timeline, on your problem.
Consulting engagements are scoped to what you actually need. No retainers, no long contracts. Contact us to describe your situation and we’ll tell you honestly whether we’re the right fit.