GENERAL REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

 Registering a group of 10 or more? Please visit our Group Registration page.  

Announcing Keynote Speaker 

Back By Popular Demand!

Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath 

Neuroscientist, Educator, and Author of the Best-selling Book Stop Talking, Start Influencing: 12 Insights from Brain Science to Make Your Message Stick

And Announcing Featured Speakers

Explore The Full Array of Conference Sessions Here

More than 75 sessions to choose from! 

Learn More About Conference Speakers Here

About Our Theme

TEACHING AT THE INFLECTION POINT: Designing learning for a changing world

Independent schools are at a defining moment. Rapid advances in neuroscience, evolving understandings of pedagogy, accelerating technological change, and an urgent commitment to access, equity, and inclusion are reshaping what it means to teach and learn well. This is an inflection point for our profession.

This year’s conference invites educators to examine how we design learning experiences that are responsive, research-informed, and rooted in purpose. Together, we will explore how to align what we know about how students learn with how we teach, ensuring that every learner benefits in a changing world.

We will focus on four interconnected strands:

Neuroscience → Deepening our understanding of how learning works in the brain and what that means for memory, engagement, motivation, and belonging.

Pedagogy → Evolving teaching practices to meet the needs of diverse learners and designing instruction that is inclusive, responsive, and intellectually rigorous.

Technology & AI → Examining how emerging tools shape learning environments—leveraging innovation thoughtfully so that technology supports, rather than dictates, meaningful learning.

Access, Equity & Inclusion → Ensuring that advances in research, practice, and technology expand opportunity and belonging for all students.

As we engage these strands, participants will leave with research-based insights, practical strategies, and renewed clarity about how to design learning that is both future-oriented and deeply human.

Join your NWAIS colleagues this October as we explore how to teach at this inflection point—and how to design learning that prepares students not just to navigate change, but to shape it.

New This Year! Connection Sessions - Connect to Colleagues and Content Through Facilitated Reflection

These sessions are designed to complement the formal programming of the day by creating space for connection, reflection, and practical application. Rather than continuing the lecture-and-listen mode, the connection sessions invite participants to slow down, share what they are noticing, and learn from one another in a relaxed, coffeeshop-inspired atmosphere. Drawing on the World Cafe tradition, each table designates a host — someone who holds the thread of the conversation, welcomes participants, and synthesizes emerging insights.

Connection Session 1: Early Childhood and Lower School Educators and School Leaders(9:00-10:00am)

Connection Session 2: Middle School and Upper School Educators and School Leaders (12:15-1:15pm)

Connection Session 3: Co-Curricular Educators and Specialists (1:45-2:15pm)

Leave with connected with a new group of association colleagues to support your learning and growth.

Presenter Discount and Process

Presenters will receive a 25% reduction in conference registration fees. All presenters will need to register themselves using a discount code to confirm their attendance and their session. Instructions will be provided with your acceptance.

Pre-Registration Now Open For Breakout Presenters: Please only register at this time if you submitted a breakout proposal that was accepted by the event steering committee. 

Reserving Space

If you are interested in facilitating a meet-up, affinity or discussion session, please contact Emily McGrath to sign-up.

Conference Overview  

8:00-8:30               Registration, Light Breakfast and Coffee

8:35-8:45               Opening Remarks

8:45-9:30               Keynote Address

9:30-10:00             Coffee Break and Book Signing

10:00-11:00           Session A: Featured Speakers and Breakout Sessions

11:00-12:00           Lunch        

12:15-1:15             Session B: Featured Speakers and Breakout Sessions 

1:30-2:30               Session C: Featured Speakers and Breakout Sessions 

Join Us In Person

Valuing our time together, we have sunsetted our asynchronous participation options. This year join your colleagues in person to experience all that the Fall Educators Conference has to offer. 

Pricing and Registration

General registration is NOW OPEN.

Registering a group of 10 or more? Please visit our Group Registration page.  

Conference Policies  

Substitution, Cancellation and Switching Policy 

Substitutions may be made any time prior to the conference. Written cancellations received by October 2, 2026 are eligible for a refund after a $25 cancellation fee. Cancellations received after October 2, 2026 are ineligible for any refund. 

Clock Hours / STARS Credits

Attendees are eligible for 4 WA clock hours, STARS Credits, and/or in-service hours. There is no cost for professional credits. 

To remain in compliance with OSPI regulations, attendees are required to opt-in for clock hours prior to or on-site at the conference on Friday, October 9, 2026. 

Any opt-in submissions received after October 9, 2026 will be deemed ineligible. 

NWAIS May Help Cover Travel Costs

The NWAIS travel reimbursement policy is designed to reimburse candidate and accredited member schools for some travel costs. This policy applies to a school’s total travel expenses (not the cost of rooms and meals), no matter how many people the school sends to the workshop. If your school spends more than $150 dollars on travel for this event and is traveling a distance greater than 250 miles you will be reimbursed a percentage of your expenses.