Can Brentwood Christian School students change the world? What will it take to equip and inspire our graduates to be salt and light in their 21st Century global environment? At Open House last spring, we launched a year-long self study to prepare for our 10-year accreditation review with the National Christian School Association and AdvancEd (formerly SACS). Thirteen committees composed of parents, teachers, staff, advisory board members, school trustees, and church elders began detailed studies of everything from instruction and personnel to physical facilities and finance. Surveys went out to every school family, the faculty and staff, and students. We wanted to uncover our blind spots and map out an aggressive plan for BCS to reach out and grab the stars. How could BCS do a better job of leading students to love God, nurturing them in a Christ-centered academic environment, emphasizing excellence, and inspiring them to use their God-given talents for life-long Christian leadership and service? Here we are twelve months later. The surveys have been studied, the committees have done their research, and their reports have been submitted. The administration has worked through all the details and developed a five-year improvement plan. The board has studied the report and approved the plan. All that is left is for the NCSA/AdvancEd accreditation team to visit and inspect the school April 26-28. The school’s highest rankings in the survey were for its efforts to lead students to love God and for its Christcentered curriculum. But to equip our students to change the world, we agreed that we must do more. We are excited about the plan, which we believe represents the united goals of the entire school community.

Here are a few of the key commitments:

• Quality, caring teachers are the pivotal ingredient in achieving our mission. We have adopted a comprehensive plan that includes funding for top-quality training, increased certification requirements, financial assistance for pursuit of advanced degrees, and emphasis on research-based teaching techniques that address skills students will need for the 21st Century.
• Close communication between home and school and community is essential. We will make better use of new technology to improve communication.
• We will expand on our strong college preparatory curriculum by adding opportunities for students to gain college credit in high school.
• We will build facilities for science and fine arts.
• The administration and school board will focus on continued improvement and goal-setting through an ongoing strategic planning process that will be representative of the school community.