Where are we headed?
Boyd Chitwood, Headmaster
There are many encouraging answers to the question of where Cambridge Christian School is headed. They include dimensions which were central to Long Range Planning efforts begun earlier in the year – Academics, Spiritual Growth, Arts/Athletics/Extracurriculars, and Facility. There is work taking place in all of these areas, and we will announce program-specific changes as they are ready for implementation. For the current article, I want to focus on directional dimensions of a related, but slightly different nature.
In the final analysis, a school is not its facility, its textbooks or even its programs. They all play a part but, as we say in an ad series about Cambridge Christian, "a school is the stories of its people."
It's the difference which the Lord makes in the lives of children and families through the lives of parents, faculty, staff and school leadership. It is God's work through us and in us. While true, that pushes us to define a more concrete understanding of what that work is in this school, at this time, in these lives. That's where I want to focus for just a moment.
We have led our faculty in two priorities this year and have two additional ones next year. We have 1) formed 20 accreditation committees to conduct our five year cycle self-study for accreditation renewal, and have 2) worked as a faculty on the integration of 12 different Biblical "Truth Strands" into a variety of subject teaching curricula. What difference do these efforts make?
We have a prestigious history of accreditation with Christian Schools of Florida, Florida Council of Independent Schools, and the Florida Kindergarten Council. Accreditation offers opportunities for improvement while also holding us accountable for meeting appropriate standards for excellence in all that we do.
The second point is probably not as well understood as accreditation work. These Truth Strands are not a way to teach any particular church's or denomination's doctrine as normative for all believers and all students. Instead, it is an explicit affirmation that all the teaching we do stands (or falls) based on its foundation of Biblical truth. For our children, we are able to teach them of a world in which truth is absolute, God is alive, values don't pass away and life has purpose because of our Sovereign Creator. When so many children and adults struggle with their worlds falling apart, we help our students know the peace of a world in which all things hold together in Christ.
Those two points will be continued next year, while we also add two key features to them. We are 3) launching a faculty-wide initiative in the teaching of process writing, and we are 4) making a renewed and consistent focus on the discipline and behavior we work for and expect with our students.
From the writing work, you should see our students/your children growing not only in their writing skill but also in their critical thinking ability. Teachers will work to see that students engage and take responsibility for their own learning in ways that help them learn, grow and mature much more quickly and much more fully.
In discipline, we hope to see students better understand the personal responsibility they bear for their behavior and the personal benefit they gain in character from considering and doing what is right. Though it sounds basic, sometimes our discipline systems become impersonal to the degree that some students almost 'traffic in a currency of disobedience.' They decide that the demerit or some other consequence is worth the choice to disregard a rule or disrespect a teacher or fellow student. As that continues, the system itself encourages a loss of character and disarray in behavioral boundaries.
Mainly, we want you to see us deliver on this much more than hearing our words about it. We want you to see the difference. We want to build the partnership by which home and school are involved in the work together, for the benefit of our children.
These really are lofty objectives, but what less should we be striving for when what's on the line are the future for our children and a true witness to the glory of our God?
By God's grace, as we see these objectives pursued and partially achieved, you will see no school in Tampa which makes a better and bigger difference for its students. The performance will speak for itself. The witness will truly burn bright!