Welcome to Stories
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As the landscape of education rapidly evolves, so do the challenges faced by educators, particularly those working with young children. In a recent conversation with consultant and speaker Elisabeth Jochum, we delved into the intricacies of early childhood education and the critical role faith plays in navigating its complexities.
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Imagine you’re a Christian teacher, eager, confident, and sensing a call of God. You’ve earned your degree and your teacher license, you have a couple of years in the classroom under your belt, and most recently, you landed that dream job of teaching abroad in an English-speaking, western-curriculum, international Christian school this fall.
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How should a school leader prepare for faculty members missing time? Filling personnel gaps is rarely easy, whether it’s a teacher missing one day or several staff members taking jobs elsewhere. And what if the staff member that will be missing time is yourself?
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In May 2024, Christian educators from Central Africa gathered in Kinshasa, DR Congo, for a roundtable discussion. Dr. Sosthene Maletoungou, Divisional Director for Africa at the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), led the event by highlighting the importance of recognizing God's calling for public action at various levels.
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More than 500 educators learned from respected speakers and discussed how to establish a biblical worldview in their Christian schools at the Rooted Educator Worldview Summit, held in Black Mountain, North Carolina, from June 24-27. The Summit, hosted by ACSI and The Colson Center, provided resources for facilitating spiritual formation in Christian schools and consistent application of a biblical worldview, especially on topics like sexuality, mental health, and personal identity.
Featured Event
Public Policy & Advocacy Summit
Washington, D.C. | September 16-18, 2024
Join us in Washington, D.C.! Our annual Public Policy and Advocacy Summit will be held in Washington, D.C., September 16-18. This year's special professional development summit will include panel discussions
on important legislative issues, special guest speakers, and so much more. Limited seats are available, so register now!
Blog
Succession Planning
Dr. Benjamin P. Thomas | July 22, 2024
June 7, 2024, served as my final day of service as the director of the Kigali International Community School (KICS). I am thrilled to share that Dr. Dean Verwey began his service as Head of School at KICS on June 8, 2024. This didn’t happen by accident or without a determined effort. Now, I would love to share what succession has looked like for us at KICS in this process.
Podcast
Grafted Together Ep 7: God's Calling and Your Work
Jerry Nelson | July 22, 2024
This episode features an interview with Jerry Nelson on the Rooted Rhythms Podcast, hosted by Josh Leonard, the Campus Life Director at North Raleigh Christian Academy. Josh and Jerry discuss incorporating God's calling into the classroom.
Stay Informed on ACSI's Events and Resources
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. Also, don’t miss the International Schools Job Fair.
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.
Follow ACSI on our social channels: Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram
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.
