The Future of NCA

The Future of NCA

Presentation delivered by Jerry Nelson on August 27, 2009

For the past six years I have sought to discover the principles that contribute to the best operation of a school. I have independently read hundreds of books and articles on topics ranging from the philosophy of Christian education to international school reform. My investigation has led me to draft a new philosophy of Christian education, create a new vision for the school, revise the school's mission, and outline a new set of core values. From these documents we have developed a five-year strategic plan (available on our website) that has the intention of producing students who are Christian thinkers and communicators.

Now if you came tonight expecting to be wowed by all of things we plan to do, I am deeply sorry. I accidentally shattered my crystal ball earlier this week, so all I can tell you is what I hope will happen.

Before I begin, let me remind of you two verses. Proverbs 16:3 - Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed" and Proverbs 16:9 - "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Again, all I can do is tell you what I hope this place will become, but this hope is not frivolous because these very same verses urge us to 'do something,' which is, commit to the Lord whatever we do. The key to success is in committing whatever we do to the Lord. Now the catch is whether what we are doing is something that God would approve of. If he approves, then our plans will succeed; if our plans do not succeed, then maybe it was not the Lord's will.

When I think about the future of this institution in light of the information I have read, studied, dissected, and critiqued, combined with what I understand scripture to teach concerning planning and the future, I am taken back by the ultimate powerlessness I have over the future, (don't get me wrong I believe planning is necessary but again I don't know if I am going to be alive tomorrow. This is all a matter of probability. Don't worry I am not a fatalist, just a dedicated realist) however, I am awed by the real power I possess in the here and now.

Two weeks ago we spoke about the Matthew 6.33 principle which teaches that we ought to seek first and foremost the kingdom of God AND his righteous, then all these things will be added to our fold. This verse is found within a passage that has one central message: Don't worry about your life!

25Therefore 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 most important than food and the body more important 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 them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 So do not worry saying, "What shall we eat? Or What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6.25-34)

The greater context of this passage is the Sermon on the Mount, which is Christ most famous exposition on holy living. Now if we understanding the church and the school to be made up of people, then the success of these institutions depend on the success of the people. If we all agree that everything starts with God and that Scripture is our final rule in faith and practice, then the only type of success God is wholly concerned with is the spiritual success of his people. In God's economy, holy living (spiritual success) is what is rewarded. As the Matthew 6:33 principle teaches, if we are concerned with holy living, then there is nothing else we need to worry about. This should be our focus. It says it plain and clear in this verse: "But seek first…his righteousness…and all these things will be added.

Hence our focus and the direction we will take at NCA. We will do our best to provide your child with a quality education, because the Scriptures teach us to work as unto the Lord not unto man (Colossians 3:23) and Love the Lord your God with all your mind, body, soul, and strength (Mark 12:29). If we are not giving our all every day then we are in essence violating God's law. But more importantly, we are expected to be holy, biblical, and righteous people. Christ said be perfect, because your father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5.47). If this is all that we have to do to receive God's blessing, then why is it not happening -we are selfish, self-seeking, and self-loving. I commend you for sending your child to a Christian school, yet is holy living exemplified in your home as defined by the Bible? Or are you making it up as you go along? Just because your parents did it a certain way does not make it right. We have to discover for ourselves what the Scriptures teach about holy living. If we as teachers, parents, and community leaders learn this principle, everything else that we desire will be given to us, but the key is to align our priorities with God's. Otherwise we are doing our own thing.

Why do I start with this?—because we are eternal being, not temporal. We will spend our lives in one of two places when we die—heaven or hell. What we do on earth will echo in eternity. The places we go, the things we do, the choices we make will all come to bear on us. We have subliminally bought into the Epicurean philosophy of "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we died." We are seeing the results of this myopic view of life. However, if we begin to see life as the Bible outlines, then this changes the entire dynamic of how we live. We will then begin to live according to the Matthew 6.19-20 principle which teaches us to store of treasure in heaven where moths and rust cannot destroy. How do we store up treasures in heaven?—by doing good deeds. But, who will teach our children to do good deeds? How will they know what a good deed is if they have no examples? Who will they follow? There is no evidence that Jesus gave an immediate grand scheme of how he was going to change the world as he recruited his disciples, He simply said, "Follow me."

I am not Jesus, I am not the Savior of the world, nor do I have a messianic complex. In fact, I wonder at least once a week why God has me in the position when there are less stressful things I could be doing with my time. Notwithstanding, I am here, this is where God has placed me and I am going to do whatever I can to make sure that God is pleased with my actions and the way that I live my life. It boils down to "How close can I get to God's standard of excellence? How much can I please him and show my appreciation for what he has done?

If we pursue holiness and practice godliness daily, we will bear much fruit and experience God's increase in the areas he sees fit. Everything else I say does not matter unless we are holy people, pleasing to God. Many schools claim to have the answers you are looking for. They promise that they are the best in math, science, English, music, you name it, yet they do not offer what is most important to Christian families. The bottom line: if you are Christian and you have children, you should want a Christian education for them, hands down!

So let's take the premise that we will strive to be holy people and practice godliness day in and day out.

What can we expect God to do in the days ahead? First of all let me remind you that it will take the entire community to improve the community—this includes parents, teachers, students, and community leaders. How are we going to do this is the question.

Let's connect the dots from our previous presentations:

1. First of all, The Case for Christian Education is made on the foundation of what Jesus commissioned before His ascension. (Matthew 28.19-20). There are five main parts to this passage. First, 1) Christ affirms he sovereignty (all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore…) Secondly, 2) Christ commands all of the church to preach the gospel, Thirdly, 3) every believer is commanded to make a public profession of faith administered by church officials. Fourthly, 4) the church is charged with educating its disciples in the doctrines of Christ. Fifthly, 5) Christ affirms his providence (lo, I am with you always to the end of the age.)

2. God expects parents to train children. Creating an environment for success must begin at home. The Christian school only refines what the parents began sculpting at home. (Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 11.18-20)

3. Therefore, the Christian School is nothing more than an extension of the home and the church, supporting learning in those areas essential for a child's development.

 
The Plan

Remember that the genuine Christian School has four important elements in place:

1. Competent and Committed Teacher (Related NCA Program: Professional Teacher Institute)
2. Respectable and Supportive Parents (Related NCA Program: Parent Association for Student Success)
3. Reflective and Active Students (Related NCA Program: The A Plus Program)
4. Active Church Community (Related NCA Program: Marketing and Educational Development Group)

These are our target groups—the areas we will focus our attention in order to improve our school. If we can established these programs and each fulfills its function, then this school will establish itself as one of the top schools in Florida and possibly in the nation. Our ultimate goal (aside from those mentioned earlier) is to be a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award Winner.

Many of the standards that we have and will set to improve our school are based on the Blue Ribbon Schools Program for Excellent American Schools.

The Goal

(The following excerpts are taken from The Blue Ribbon Schools Program Recognizing Excellent American Schools pamphlet and Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, Inc. webpage (www.blueribbonschools.com )

In 1982, the Reagan administration, under the leadership of Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell, launched two recognition programs to bring the best U.S. schools to public attention. The program was initially designed to honor public secondary schools, but after the first year, the program was opened to private schools. Beginning in 2003, the Blue Ribbon was awarded to both secondary and elementary schools in the same year.

The Blue Ribbon Schools program served both as a means of annually recognizing outstanding schools and as a school improvement process. Originally, schools nominated themselves for Blue Ribbon awards through their state departments of education. Schools applied for Blue Ribbon recognition through a self-evaluation process that brought teachers, students, parents, and community representatives together to assess the school's strengths and weaknesses and develop improvement plans.

The program's focus shifted somewhat under each federal administration (under the federal administration it only recognizes those schools that serve students from disadvantaged backgrounds). In reaction to the shift in the program’s focus the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, Inc. has been established as a private non-profit organization dedicated to educational success. The Awards name now reads "The Blue Ribbon Lighthouse School Award" which is a recognition program for schools of excellence offered by Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence. School are identified and selected for this award based on achievement of excellent performance in all nine major categories of the Blueprint for Excellence (which is the blueprint we will be using). The Blueprint for Excellence is designed to be a positive school improvement process that covers the following nine categories of critical performance elements found in excellent schools:

1. Student focus and support - This category focuses on how the school's established goals and objectives accurately reflect the school's vision, student needs, and high aspirations for all students.
2. School organization and culture - This category focuses on the school culture exemplifying a caring community that supports continuous learning.
3. Challenging standards and curriculum - This category focuses on the establishment of a rationally designed curriculum to ensure high levels of achievement of the school's goals and objectives by all students - including significant content learning, citizenship, and interpersonal and workplace skills.
4. Active teaching and learning - This category focuses on purposeful decision-making governing all aspects of the teaching and learning program.
5. Technology Integration - This category focuses on the use, mastery, and application of technologies that promote teaching and learning to provide opportunities that produce technology-capable students.
6. Professional community - This category focuses on continuous professional development to support improved student learning.
7. Leadership and educational vitality - This category focuses on dynamic leadership engaging the school community in continuous school improvement focused on high levels of student achievement, current needs, and future challenges.
8. School, family, community partnerships - This category focuses on a commitment to and recognition of the important role that families, partnerships, and community play in supporting learning.
9. Indicators of success - This category focuses on student achievement of high academic standards.

The Question

Are you up for the challenge?

This endeavor will take the entire community's time, talent, and treasure. All the while I must remind you that if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteous…he may add this to our fold.