The BJA administrative team has spent considerable time over the last year reviewing the organizational goals of the school and have focused on three primary goals: (1) Grow Our People, (2) Expand Our Reach, and (3) Tune Our Economic Engine. While we could write page upon page about these, let me present you with an overview of each of these goals.
Grow Our People
Research indicates that the most significant factor influencing school growth is faculty engagement. Intuitively, this makes sense. When a school has engaged, well-qualified, effective faculty members, students learn better and parents are supportive. The satisfaction and reputation extend to prospective families who want their children to benefit from the productive environment.
A number of verses provide a biblical basis for this goal. 2 Timothy 2:2 admonishes, “And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
In light of this, we have added a number of programs this year to enhance growth. Each month, we have held BJA Briefings where administrators, available teachers, and parents meet to discuss the topic for the month. This has provided insightful two-way communication and feedback that have enabled us to improve our program as we listen to our parents. This year, each teacher has had opportunity to learn from another teacher as we facilitated peer-to-peer observations. At the high school level, we have been equipping teachers for 21st century teaching by providing professional development over the past year and a half to implement one-to-one Chromebook integration in the classroom.
Expand Our Reach
As a Christian school, we recognize our commission from the Lord to go and teach all nations—“teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20).
Therefore, we look inwardly to examine the programs we offer at BJA, and we look beyond our borders to other opportunities outside our local school. We have strengthened our onboarding process with new families by instituting the parent ambassador program this year to connect new families with current families, who warmly welcome them into the BJA family. We also constantly review our course offerings to determine if we can meet the needs of each individual student in other ways. For example, because not all students are preparing for college, we are researching the area of vocational technology training and hope to beta test a vo-tech program in the fall.
In addition, we continue to look for ways to help other Christian schools by sending teachers to speak at conferences, serving on accreditation review teams, and partnering with international leaders to encourage Christian schools in other countries. Likewise, we continue to consider the possibility of starting other schools if the Lord leads.
Tune Our Economic Engine
Most people choose a car based on its features and mileage, not on the size of the engine. However, they definitely want a car with a reliable, well-tuned engine. Similarly, BJA’s primary mission is one of ministering to students and parents by providing biblical worldview education. At the same time, it is essential that we have a financial engine that is reliable so that we can pay the bills and provide salaries and benefits for our most important resource—our teachers.
Four major controls affect the economic engine—tuition, enrollment, expenses, and donations. We work diligently to dial these in to maintain a well-tuned engine. We work to keep tuition affordable but sufficient to meet the needs. We promote the tremendous value of a BJA education to attract right-fit families. We attentively regulate expenses to provide excellent educational materials and adequate salaries. We are introducing ways for people who share the vision of Christian education to contribute to the needs of others less fortunate.
Each of our three goals depends on the other two. An excellent faculty draws in more students, thus expanding our reach inward and enabling us to extend our reach outward to others. Maintaining a well-tuned economic engine enables us to more fairly compensate our faculty and staff and provide additional professional development to support their continued growth.
These goals propel us toward achieving our mission to challenge students to love Jesus Christ, embrace God’s truth, exercise integrity, pursue excellence, and serve others.
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