August 2010 Newsletter

In This Issue:

Getting Your School Year Off to an Excellent Start ~The Necessity of a Christ-Honoring Board and Head of School Relationship

August 2010

Newsletter

Excellence in Christian School Leadership

Volume III Issue 6

August 2010

	As Christian school leaders, it is most important how we spend and invest our lives this upcoming school year. Excellent stewardship will begin with the complete authority of the Lordship of Christ in our mind, heart, time and efforts. Couple this with a passionate fellowship with our Almighty and personal God along with the encouragement and wisdom of the Holy Spirit and we have the personal foundation that makes us more like Christ and indeed a Christlike leader. We will then have wisely set the foundation for our Christian school's leadership and vision. Throughout this school year, the Imago Dei Group will find it a Christ-honoring privilege to serve you and your school community in further attaining your vision and mission. We encourage all school leaders to be seeking righteousness and holiness in their hearts and the blessing of God's revealed, absolute truths in their minds. As we daily walk with our Almighty personal God, then we can relate properly to others as we fulfill the Great Commandment at our school. This month's newsletter (to the right) encourages the optimizing the Board/Head of School relationship under the authority of Christ.

	The Imago Dei Group is very pleased to announce that it operates from an economy of grace. It is our vision from this economy of grace that no school be unable to afford Christian school consulting but to realize that such consulting is a flexible resource of insights, best practices and Biblical excellence. Such stewardship is proactive, cost-effective counsel that pays for itself with your school moving forward. God is glorified as your school grows academically, spiritually as well as numerically in the Great Commission. How may we serve you? "As iron sharpens iron - so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

The Necessity of an Excellent Board and Head of School Relationship

How Thriving Christian Schools Establish a Foundation of Stable & Christ-Honoring Leadership

As a new school year convenes, the freshness of a new start is a very evident and welcome throughout Christian school communities. However, why is it that many Christian schools do not finish the school year on such a positive note? Will the atmosphere in May be as encouraging as you find it now? In this month's newsletter, we will offer encouragement and proactive means for beginning and completing the school year in excellence to the glory of God.

While it should go without saying that the Board and Head of School relationship is vital to school leadership, it is sadly with this breakdown that many Christian schools struggle and encounter difficult times. In proactive schools, when measures are taken to ensure that proper and Biblical best practices for boardmanship are honored, then the school is likely to achieve school leadership that glorifies God and finds His long term strategic favor.

To ignore the Board/Head relationship and to break this trust through poor practices or communications will then often see the school searching for a new leader for the following school year. Whereas, schools that value and invest in how God has ordained the Board/Head of School relationship will reap stability and growth.

If proactive and/or corrective measures are not put into effect by and with the Board leadership, the cycle of seeking a new leader will continually repeat itself and can become the routine every couple of years. Boards rarely if ever remove themselves or individual members but all too frequently "dismiss" their head of school. This begs some more questions: Are Christian school boards competent and straddled with a glut of incompetent administrators? Have we failed to recognize that God still gives the spiritual gift of leadership and calls leaders to serve His schools? Might school board members despite sincere a desires be under equipped for the prodigous responsibility of leading excellent Christian schools?

Unfortunately, public school administrators have much longer tenures than Christian school heads. Just the opposite should be the prevailing case. Once a Christian school falls into this perpetual cycle, its reputation both on and off campus are tarnished. Strategic growth and planning are stalled by the repetitive turnover and prospective school leaders are hesitant to apply. The school never gains momentum for fulfilling its vision and mission. Surely, neither the board or head of school desires such an outcome. This especially being so when both desire to see the school thrive and each gives much time and effort.

However, it is just August, and most likely all who are reading this desire the best for their schools and themselves. Our Lord Jesus Christ also desires the best for you and your schools in light of these days. By His wisdom, and grace, we have the God given means to develop schools of excellence. In addition, the best gift a Christian school board can give its head of school is the blessing that they believe in their God ordained leader and desire to see them thrive and develop the school further after the mind and heart of God.

Such a school proactively invests in developing its board and leadership by seeking the wisdom and counsel of best practices found in highly effective schools and their boards.

If you are either a school board chair, board member, head of school or administrator, we trust that you will find this the needed and proactive words for speaking the truth In love. We encourage you to forward this newsletter to your colleagues as we hold each other accountable and serve as iron sharpening iron so that we sharpen one another and our Christian school leadership to the glory of God.

In the a next couple of days, the Imago Dei Group will be sending you further information on how to hold a board training event for your school board and leadership. The goal of this training being to further develop your school to experience a full school year after the heart and mind of God.

It remains the Imago Dei Group's calling to encourage and develop Christian Schools to be exacting in obedience to Christ and His Word. Such schools hold a razor sharp vision and mission in carrying out their calling to serve their community with excellence in Christian education.

The Imago Dei Group would consider it a Christ-honoring privilege to further serve with you in such an endeavor of a well developed and Christ-honoring board leadership team.

You are most welcome to contact us for more information.

Imago Dei Group at: 912-656-7567 or info@ImagoDeiGroup.com

Imago Dei Group

Christian School Consulting