“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29) Jesus is offering us a blessed trade: we give him our weariness and our burdens and he … Read More
What Does It Really Mean to Graduate from _________ Christian School?
An interesting piece in the New York Times prompted me to think about this question. The title of the editorial was As Graduations Rates Rise, Experts Feel Diplomas Come Up Short. I am guessing this editorial was a response to the Education Department’s release, noting that high school graduation rates were up a percent from the previous year (82%) and … Read More
Bright Promise Fund and Chicago: An Innovative Approach to Fundraising in the City
In an introductory entry for CACE on the topic of Christian schooling in the city, Dan Olson highlighted the cultural, missiological and visceral reasons why urban Christian education will continue to grow in importance. His piece presents the foundational reasons why cities need Christian education. This entry in the discussion focuses on the issue of affordability and sustainability in urban … Read More
Praying for Time
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds … Read More
The Financial Tsunami: The Effect on Cost and Price
In the last post on the CESA heads surveys, conducted in the spring of this year, we looked at this group of school leaders’ views of the educational marketplace, primarily its effect on enrollment and re-enrollment. We examined the phenomenon that despite the fact that 70% of the surveyed schools have grown in the past five years, some quite dramatically, … Read More
Peace Preparatory Academy and Atlanta: Pursuing Shalom in the City
Atlanta is a historic city. A city that has been the center piece for major movements in the Civil Rights era, a city considered to have the most African-American wealth in the country, and a city in the top 20 of cities visited by international travelers. Yet it is also a city that has the largest rich and poor divide … Read More
Bored Boards?
“Are board meetings interesting?” At a recent board training session with one of our CACE Schools, I posed this question to the board and enjoyed their responses. There was some initial laughter that only these board members could fully appreciate due to their familiarity with the changes this school is in the midst of. Change makes for interesting board meetings. … Read More
Redefining Smart – A Book Review
Quality educators who have operated from their heart, from relationships with students, and who have seen themselves as coaches and designers of learning, will be greatly heartened by a new book, Redefining Smart: Awakening Students’ Power to Reimagine Their World (Corwin, 2016). I found it difficult to put the book down. As a psychologist, educator, and disciple of positive psychology, … Read More
Restoration Academy and Birmingham
In 1983 the five funerals in his first year of planting a church were too much. Dr. Anthony Gordon, a young African American pastor, was weary and broken from burying teenaged boys from his community- casualties of gang and drug violence. He recognized that his Sunday morning and midweek services could not compete with the predatory forces devouring his community. … Read More
Christian Education for “Normal” People
This article originally appeared in the Ontario Christian School Administrators Association newsletter, The Rudder. In June, I read Evangelism for “Normal” People by John Bowen. I expected that it might make me consider how I understand evangelism; I didn’t expect that it would make me reconsider how I understand the movement of Christian education. Bowen shares the ideas of a … Read More