Current reality check Christian school leaders are caught in a painful tension. On one hand, we know our students will enter a world where AI is ubiquitous. Banning it entirely feels like sending them ill-equipped into a reality we’ve refused to acknowledge. On the other hand, we’ve watched technology erode attention spans, facilitate academic dishonesty, and replace deep thinking with … Read More
An Invitation To Re-Imagine: Radical Accessibility and Deep Belonging
What if every family who wanted their child to experience a Christian education could? Or, perhaps more pointedly, what if every family in your community who wanted the Christ-centered education you offer was given access? Does this opportunity happen already? We, as Christian educators, may say that any student is welcome, but if we are honest with ourselves, there are … Read More
An Invitation To Imagine: Communities of Courageous Hospitality
I thought that I belonged here. It was a December basketball game, and my husband and I were visiting our alma mater. We had both graduated high school from the same place: a predominantly white, Dutch-reformed, Christian school. We were high school sweethearts, the Homecoming king and queen, recipients of similar high school accolades. It was both awkward and sweet … Read More
An Invitation To Imagine: Christian Education in 2035
Listen in on the conversations of friends who lead Christian schools, dialogues that happen over coffee, during late-night calls, and in ongoing virtual discussions about this uniting mission we call Christian education. What you will find is that these conversations keep circling back to the same questions: Where are we going? What’s in store for our future? We’ve come so … Read More
The Quiet Power of Gratitude: What New Data Tell Us About Schools, Formation, and Flourishing
Gratitude may seem like a soft virtue: one that would be nice to have, but hardly essential for living in today’s fast-paced, media-driven, and tech-saturated world. Yet for centuries, philosophers and theologians have argued the opposite. Cicero famously called gratitude not only the greatest of virtues, but “the parent of all the others.” Karl Barth wrote that gratitude and grace … Read More
Civic Formation in Christian Schools
Do Christian schools produce good citizens? In an era of heightened political polarization and increasing interest in politics among young people in the U.S., it is vitally important that Christian parents show their children how citizens of heaven live in their temporary homes. Christian schools are partners in this work. My colleagues at the University of Arkansas and I conducted … Read More
Working in (Good) Community Tension: Lessons from a Bridge, a Tent, and the Trials of Leadership
Tension is present in every community. Though I would like to say that Christian School communities might get a break in managing it, Christian schools are not exempt from experiencing tension. On the surface, a Christian School attracts families that want the same thing for their children and therefore should be of relatively like mind. Even so, we find many … Read More
What Helps Students Love Their Christian School?
What helps students truly love their school? Is it the high-quality teaching, the depth of the friendships, the beauty of the campus, or the way faith and learning intersect? Every Christian school leader has pondered these questions, often relying on instinct, observation, or anecdotal feedback. But what if students themselves—across many schools—could tell us, with data to back it up, … Read More
What Parents Value Most: Strategic Insights for Christian School Leaders
Listening as an act of faithful leadership Christian school leaders often navigate competing demands. On one hand, we are called to remain deeply faithful to mission: to form students spiritually, intellectually, and relationally in ways that reflect the gospel. On the other hand, we steward institutions that depend on trust, enrollment, financial sustainability, and parental partnership. Wise leadership requires both … Read More
Glorious Finitude, Part II: The Case for a Biblical Worldview
As discussed in Part I of this series, since the Fall, the realities of the curse have blurred our understanding of the nature of man and of God, as well as the proper application of freedom. This fallen aspect of our nature is first introduced in Genesis 3, where it demonstrates one of the implications of our humanity—the desire to … Read More