Getting Your Mission from Print to Sprint

William D. Walner has served the ACSI Southern California Region as Associate Director since 1991. He earned his MA in Christian school administration at Biola University (1985) and his Ed.D. in institutional management at Pepperdine University (2000).

It is well known that a clear mission profoundly affects a school’s success. Proverbs 29:18 declares that “where there is no vision, the people perish.” J. Abrahams (1995), rephrasing this maxim for the business world, said, “without a purpose or a mission, both a person and a company will flounder.” A school’s mission shapes its identity (reason for being, purpose, focus, goal), gives a sense of direction and purpose, unifies the school community, and provides a foundation on which to build its future.

Picture a runner in the starting block facing a quarter-mile race. Surveying the chalk-striped lane before him, he tenses, anticipating the sound of the gun that will spark the explosion of muscular strength in the sprint to victory at the finish line. Like the running lane, your school’s mission statement is a “print” version of the direction and central focus of everything that happens in your Christian school ministry. But getting the mission from the “print” on the plaque in the school office to the “sprint” of concerted forward progress can be a challenge. Let me share some practical insights gleaned from Christian school leaders across the country that participated in my recent research study, Sustaining the Mission of the Protestant Evangelical Christian School.

The Head Administrator

Every team has a captain, a member whose role is to understand clearly not just the immediate play but the total game. An effective captain not only calls the plays; he inspires each player to “give it all you’ve got.” In eighty-one percent of schools, the head administrator is the primary mover in the development and implementation of the school's mission. Nearly a hundred percent of school leaders indicated that what most enabled their success in accomplishing their school’s mission was the strong commitment by all segments of the school community—board, administration, faculty, parents, students, and pastors. How your school’s mission is actualized will depend on how it is communicated, how it is applied in day-to-day operations, how it is funded, and how it is evaluated:

Communicating the Mission

Consider the following ways that school leaders have practically, creatively, and effectively communicated their school’s mission to the various segments of their school communities:

1. Post the mission. Emblazon the school’s mission statement prominently throughout the school. In addition to the office, some schools post the mission in classrooms, hallways, and the gymnasium. One church-related school has its mission statement prominently displayed in the church foyer beside the church mission statement, highlighting the integral relationship between the church and school.
2. Publish the mission. Ensure that the mission statement appears in all school publications: handbooks (board, teacher, and student), promotional materials, newsletters, school newspaper, and yearbook. Imprint the mission on school letterhead, note cards, and the backs of employee business cards. Use key phrases of the mission statement on school coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets, and pens and pencils.
3. Pray the mission. Just twenty-five percent of schools identified prayer and reliance on God as an enabling element in their school’s success. Apprehend the power of prayer. A founding pastor in one school spent a night in prayer under two palm trees outside the church praying for the school before it opened. Fifty years later the school thrives as a monument to his vision and prayer. At another school the board members begin their weekly 6:30 A.M. meeting on their knees in teams of two, praying for the school.
4. Proclaim the mission in print. Write brief articles about various parts of the mission statement for weekly staff memos, quarterly newsletters to parents, and annual reports to alumni, church, and donor constituencies. Writing helps you finely craft your own “talking points” and leaves others a record of your compelling passion for the mission. Submit similar articles to your local newspaper for exposure to the wider community.
5. Proclaim the mission in speech. People expect school leaders to talk about the mission of the school. There are several key opportunities throughout the school year for speaking with passion of your school’s mission.
   
   
   1. Enrollment interviews. Enrollment offers an excellent opportunity to speak about the school’s mission. As you interview prospective parents and students, let them see how the mission will impact every part of their student’s experience in your school. You will also be better able to determine whether the family is a match for your school (and vice versa!).
   2. Board interviews. As you talk with prospective board members, discuss how the school’s mission plays out in day-to-day operations. Make sure they understand and support the mission before they are officially invited to serve or run for election. Make sure they share the vision before they are signed on to the team.
   3. Orientation meetings. It is easy for the annual fall orientation meeting to become a “reading of the rules.” Use the mission statement to inspire teachers, board members, and parents to understand their dynamic role in supporting the mission. Hold small-group discussions among faculty members to share how they will see the mission impacting their work next year. One school uses various hands-on activities to encourage all employees to memorize the mission statement.
   4. Other meetings. Throughout the year, share the mission with members of the extended school community: grandparents on Grandparents Day, alumni at homecoming events, and donors at fund-raisers and banquets.

Applying the mission

One Christian school administrator observed, “The mission literally inheres all that we do.” Unfortunately, only nineteen percent of administrators believe their school community understands the relationship between the mission statement and “why we do what we do.” Another nineteen percent believe that most of the school community understands, thirty-three percent believe that some understand, twenty-two percent believe that their school community does not understand this relationship, or they did not know whether or not the mission is understood. If it is true that the school mission “literally inheres all that we do” (and it should!), it ought to be apparent in our day-to-day decisions and operations. Remember, “if you don’t use it, you lose it!” Consider the following practices of effective administrators and boards as they approach the decision-making process.

1. Weigh each decision against the mission statement. Ask, “Is this decision consistent with our mission, our vision, our core values, our philosophy of Christian school education?” A number of schools print their mission statement at the top of the agenda for every board, faculty, or administrative staff meeting. One board instituted a policy that all policy revisions and new policies must go through a “mission check” requiring them to be compared with the foundational statements. This brings consistency to school policy documents.
2. When you announce a new policy, make the link to the mission evident. One board holds a monthly Parent Forum in which they respond to questions from parents. They have found that when school policy is based on the mission and the foundational philosophy, they are able to communicate to parents the heart and purpose of their decisions.
3. When you make decisions on hiring or firing an employee, or on enrolling or “disenrolling” a student, use the mission as a reference point. Does the employee, or do the parents, support the mission? Can a resolution consistent with the mission be worked out? Such decisions are never about money—they are about mission.

Funding the mission

The school budget is the board’s primary means of putting feet to the mission. As indicators of the school’s mission and philosophy, the percentage alignments of expense items speak clearly about the board’s priorities and its vision for the school. After an honest comparison of their proposed budget with the school’s mission, one board realigned the amounts allotted to athletics, the library, and the arts. (Guess which had had the largest piece of the budget pie!) Some schools realized they were under-funding their efforts in spiritual formation of students, although it was a key component in their mission statement. By adding a full-time school chaplain and prayerfully increasing their funding of quality chapel speakers and spiritual life retreats for students, they observed a steady improvement in the school’s spiritual climate.

Evaluating the Mission

There is truth to the adage, “You get what you evaluate!” Schools that consciously and honestly weigh the outcomes of their programs against their mission have tangible information on which to base decisions for effective growth. A key finding of my study was that Christian schools struggle with evaluating their accomplishment of the mission. In fact, thirty-six percent of schools make no attempt to formally compare their school’s declared mission with actual outcomes. As one administrator confessed, “[Our] school needs to strengthen its more formal or structured evaluation . . . because you always want to believe, ‘Oh, our school is doing great!’” Here are some practical methods that schools employ to ensure that their declared mission is being actualized:

1. Listen to alumni. Surprisingly, only 33 percent of schools survey their alumni regularly, yet a school’s alumni are the most visible evidence of its success.

• Take a formal survey of all graduates at least every other year. The survey can be conducted by a consulting firm or by the alumni association.
• Collect anecdotes from alumni. One school has faculty members host tables at annual alumni luncheons. They collect alumni comments and compile them in a document that is reviewed by a joint committee of faculty and board members.
• One school has developed an online survey. Graduates receive email messages inviting them to respond to a series of questions on the school website.

2. Listen to parents. They see the impact of your school on their child better than anyone else.

• Conduct an annual survey of parents. If you have communicated the mission well, they will be able to respond in a helpful way.
• Talk informally with parents. Create opportunities at school barbecues and ball games for administrators and board members to talk with parents.
• Establish parent focus groups or conduct periodic lunchtime forums to discuss school programs with parents.

3. Consider the mission when evaluating your school’s curriculum and instructional program. Your mission may proclaim “biblically integrated instruction,” or “academic excellence,” or meeting your students “social, physical, spiritual, and emotional needs.” Is your academic and spiritual life program accomplishing that mission? As you guide and counsel teachers and staff, strive for a vital connection to the school’s mission. For example, leaders at one school were not satisfied with their success in biblical integration. They applied for and received a $10,000 grant to study and identify effective methods of biblical integration in their school. Another school makes “biblical integration questions” a requirement on all tests and expects biblically integrated concepts to be highlighted in each teacher’s weekly lesson plans.

4. Use the mission to evaluate the head administrator. The annual evaluation of the head administrator should be, in effect, an evaluation of the success of the school’s mission. By going back to the mission statement and core values, the evaluation moves beyond personality issues and focuses on accomplishment. Done well, the evaluation experience should affirm both the administrator and the board.

Taking your mission statement from “print” to “sprint” is a rewarding challenge. Of course, it is really more marathon than a sprint. And, like the Apostle Paul, we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” By breathing life into your school’s mission statement, you will deeply influence our culture by impacting the lives of the students you send into it. 

Getting Your Mission from "Print" to "Sprint" 3.5