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Expanding the reach of Christian education into a community requires vision, but that’s not all it requires. Expansion also requires resources… resources to develop and grow that vision into a reality. The leaders at ACSI-accredited Stillwater Christian School in Kalispell, Montana, are taking steps to bring their vision to life with the support of recent grants totaling millions of dollars. Early in 2025, the school received a $1 million grant from the Gianforte Family Foundation. This gift follows a $5 million donation from local businessman, Paul Wachholz, which was announced in September 2024.
The ACSI 2025 National Convention of Christian Educators, “Ven & Ve,” was nothing short of remarkable. This gathering in the Dominican Republic not only met but far surpassed its attendance goal, with 972 participants coming together from across the country. coming together from diverse regions across the country.
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The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) continues to advance Vision 2030, a strategic plan designed to strengthen and expand Christ-centered education around the world. We recently asked Jerry Nelson, ACSI’s Chief Ministry Officer, to share some of the most exciting updates related to the Ministry Team’s initiatives.
Our ACSI Africa team recently experienced a powerful reminder of why they do the important work that they do. They attended a local church service together with ACSI Senior Director of School Improvement Dr. Debbie MacCullough, and near the close of worship, the congregation sang the hymn “Fight the Good Fight.” On the way back from church, they reflected on how this beautifully captures the heart of Christian schooling. The mission is not only to educate but to continually point students to Christ—Who is both the way and the ultimate goal.
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The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) continues to make great strides toward Vision 2030, a strategic initiative designed to strengthen and expand Christ-centered education worldwide. We recently asked Cindy Dodds, ACSI’s Chief School Improvement Officer, to share some exciting updates related to the Center for School Improvement.
Featured Event
Public Policy and Advocacy Summit 2025
September 15–17, 2025 | Washington D.C.
Join us in Washington, D.C.! Our annual Public Policy and Advocacy Summit will be held in Washington, D.C., September 15-17. This year's special professional development summit will include panel discussions on important legislative issues, special guest speakers, and so much more.
Blog
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When the Lord said to Joshua, “Go up and attack Ai” (Joshua 8:1), I’m pretty sure he wasn’t talking about ChatGPT. Yet sometimes, it seems like that’s how we treat Scripture—searching for a proof-text answer to contemporary issues. Is the Bible telling us that we should take up arms against algorithms? Smash the supercomputers? Obliterate the large language models? Clearly not. (Though I’ll admit the mental picture here was too good to resist!)
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Artificial intelligence has entered our classrooms and staff meetings, sometimes in big ways, sometimes in subtle ones. It’s changing how we write, research, grade, plan, and even how we imagine what teaching could look like in the future. For Christian educators, this new reality brings both opportunity and challenge. The question isn’t whether AI will be part of education—it already is. The deeper question is, how will we, as Christian teachers and school leaders, engage it faithfully?
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Artificial intelligence is not just arriving at our schools’ doorsteps; it’s already in the classroom, the teacher’s lounge, and the administrative office. For educators, this moment can feel equal parts thrilling and unsettling. Is AI the solution to our most pressing educational challenges? Or will it erode the very human connections at the heart of teaching? The truth is that AI is neither a magic wand nor the end of education. Like any powerful tool, AI’s impact depends on the imagination, wisdom, and discernment with which we use it.
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With over 5,000 member schools (2,200 of which are U.S.-based), ACSI is the largest Protestant Christian private school membership association in the world (ECFA, 2025), serving over 650,000 K–12 students (ACSI, 2025). With a renewed emphasis on school choice, ACSI has undertaken a counterfactual thought exercise with implications for U.S. policymakers: If all ACSI students were to enroll in local or regional publicly funded schools suddenly, what would the immediate economic impact on each U.S. state look like in terms of spending and funding?
Podcast
Hear about the 2025 Public Policy & Advocacy Summit that just wrapped up in D.C., get to know ACSI's new Board Chair, Elisa Carlson, and enjoy a spotlight on an ACSI school seeing a revival in its student body.
Billy Sparacio brings nearly 30 years of experience in high school athletics, and he uses sports as a platform to mold young men and women for life beyond the game.
Jerry Nelson led this devotional at The King's Academy (FL), an ACSI Exemplary Accredited School, on August 7, 2025. He challenged TKA's faculty to be more like Jesus the teacher, speaking from John 20.
Even if students know they're meant to stand for truth, are they equipped to do so? Emily Pigott shares ways to equip students to actually follow through on their mission to impact their community with courageous influence.
President's Office
“I can think of no greater cause than to partner with you to advance Christ-centered education.” Dr. Larry Taylor, ACSI President & CEO
Dr. Taylor has been serving in education for over 30 years. He is passionate about training up this generation of disciples for Jesus Christ through Christian education.
Prior to accepting the President position at ACSI, Dr. Larry Taylor served twenty years as the Head of School at Prestonwood Christian Academy (PCA) in Plano, Texas. Prestonwood Christian Academy serves more than 1,600 students enrolled at four campuses as part of its school system.
Click the link below to read more.
ACSI's Mission
ACSI exists to strengthen Christian schools and equip Christian educators worldwide as they prepare students academically and inspire them to become devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
ACSI's Foundational 3 Pillars
Advancing
Leading Christ-centered education toward excellence and flourishing
We want all schools to aspire to, achieve, and remain committed to a biblically-based philosophy of education, standards that are measurable, and flourishing-related criteria. ACSI strives to lead, support, and serve Christian schools, and educators, by placing them on a path of growth and flourishing using the research-based Flourishing Schools Initiative. This model should link leadership and faculty professional development accreditation, and every culture-driving component of a school. A common philosophy, and a flourishing-based metric, would unify our efforts of advancing Christian schools and educators.
Access
Making Christ-centered education available and obtainable
ACSI is committed to making Kingdom education available to as many children and families as desire it, believing that such an education offers students an opportunity to grow in a loving relationship with their Creator, come to know His saving work through Jesus, and flourish in His Ephesians 2:10 calling for their lives. This commitment requires removing barriers to access for those who traditionally have not benefited from Christian school, as well as seeking out new ways to create access points to Kingdom education and the ability to thrive and be successful in that education—for all those who desire it.
Advocacy
Promoting and protecting Christ-centered education for today and tomorrow
As the largest evangelical Christian school association in the world, ACSI is by default viewed as the spokesperson for Christian schooling in the public square. In order to discharge this responsibility with excellence and seasoned speech (Colossians 4:6), and to equip our member schools to do the same, ACSI must invest in developing public-facing resources and forming strategic relationships with those working in the area of advocacy for Christian Education and for religious liberty.
Stay Connected to ACSI
The ACSI Community online forum exists to provide connection, collaboration, and networking with Christ-centered education advocates, educators, and influencers in a protected online environment.
ACSI Community offers Christian educators opportunities to Connect, Collaborate, Compel, Captivate, and Comprehend. Join thousands of like-minded education professionals around to globe to grow in knowledge, sharpen skills, and deepen your faith, in a safe, authentic virtual environment.
ACSI provide helpful tools for you to find the next position God has for you through a resume review search and career planning portal. You can also discover ACSI positions.
Thinking about serving internationally? PFO2Go will provide the confidence to enter a new culture in which to both work and live outside the United States.
ACSI Releases New Tool to Measure Spiritual Formation in Students
Colorado Springs, CO- The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) is glad to announce a new, research-validated tool, the Flourishing Faith Index (FFI), which measures the biblical worldview and spiritual formation in Christian schools and their communities.
ACSI Director of Research Rian Djita explained how this new research tool functions and why it is beneficial.
“The Flourishing Faith Index is ACSI’s new, rigorously developed research instrument. The research model identifies an inner core and an outer core. The inner core, ‘The Flourishing Faith Core,’ organizes measures of flourishing faith into the three domains of Head, Heart, and Hands. The outer core, 'The Biblical Worldview & Spiritual Formation Ring,’ measures the Christian school community’s impact on faith formation in three further domains— Intellectual, Nurture, and Practical."
ACSI began researching how to measure these indicators in 2022. The domains provide a picture of the areas in which Christian schools can focus their efforts and resources to support spiritual formation in their students. In an increasingly secular world, the challenge of preparing students to develop a strong foundation of faith is perhaps more critical than ever. The FFI complements ACSI’s Flourishing School Culture Instrument (FSCI). The FSCI is a more comprehensive roadmap that measures five domains and 35 research-based constructs. The FFI focuses on one of the five domains— the Purpose Domain—as a deeper concentration of a school’s spiritual formation indicators.
In total, there are approximately 60 questions in FFI. About 20 questions are related to Flourishing constructs, 25 questions are related to Propositional Faith, and about 15-20 are related to demographic information.
Cindy Dodds, ACSI Chief of Flourishing Initiatives, shared how the FFI will aid in strengthening Christian schools and communities.
“Christian schools are not just great places to get an excellent education, they are places where faith is often birthed and should always be nurtured,” she said. “Most Christian schools clearly define elements of faith formation in their expected student outcomes. When leaders administer the Flourishing Faith Index, they will be able to identify growth opportunities and highlight their strengths as they engage their community in collectively nurturing the faith of their students.”
ACSI’s leaders believe that the FFI will reinforce faithfulness, efficacy, and school improvement as Christian schools carry out their mission.
Learn more about the FFI at acsi.org/ffi.
About ACSI:
Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, ACSI exists to strengthen Christian schools and equip Christian educators worldwide as they prepare students academically and inspire them to become devoted followers of Jesus Christ. ACSI advances excellence in Christian schools by enhancing the professional and personal development of Christian educators and providing vital support functions for Christian schools through multiple services, including teacher and administrator certification, school accreditation, legal/legislative assistance, and curriculum publishing. Serving more than 25,000 schools in 108 countries, ACSI helps more than 5.5 million students worldwide connect to Christian education.
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Strategic Partners
ACSI proudly presents the Strategic Partnership Program, which includes companies, organizations, and ministries who have been carefully chosen to benefit you—our member schools—and to assist you in accomplishing your life-changing mission.
