Welcome to Stories
Dr. Jeff Mattner’s life was an authentic testimony of faithfulness, service, and deep commitment to God’s calling, specifically through Christ-centered education. For 14 years, Jeff served at the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), investing his time, gifts, and wisdom into hundreds of Christian schools. His steady devotion and graceful presence offered reassurance, counsel, and direction.
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Forty-five minutes. That’s all that separates the parking lot of Ocean View Christian Academy in San Diego from the dirt roads, improvised homes, and vibrant faith communities of Primo Tapia, Mexico. But for the students who cross the border each year on the school’s annual mission trip, those 45 minutes may as well be a world away. And that’s exactly why they go.
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ACSI believes that Faith Teaches every moment, every day, every way. It is tremendous to witness member schools putting faith into action. Through teaching students servant leadership by volunteering at The Salvation Army, to raising money in penny drives to support missions overseas, Christian schools are truly showing what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ.
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As Christmas approaches, we reached out to our ACSI leaders across the globe and asked them to tell us how their regions celebrate this joyous season. The traditions they shared rooted in faith, culture, and community paint a rich picture of how Christians everywhere honor the miracle of Christ’s birth. Enjoy this look at Christmas around the world!
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The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) continues to advance its Vision 2030 initiatives with notable progress in Early Education. We asked Dr. Althea Penn, ACSI’s Director of Early Education, to share some of the exciting updates and milestones taking place in this vital area of Christian schooling.
Featured Event
Rooted Educator Worldview Summit '26
June 15–17, 2026 | DoubleTree Hotel | Colorado Springs, CO
Rooted will explore what it means to be human in light of the Christian worldview and how this vision reshapes the aims, practices, and culture of Christian education. Grounded in the biblical narrative—from creation in God’s image, to the distortion of sin, to redemption and restoration in Christ—the conference invites educators to consider how a robust theological understanding of personhood informs formation, teaching, curriculum, and community life. By recovering a hopeful, truthful, and dignifying view of humanity, Christian education can equip students to embrace their identity as image-bearers, their belonging within God’s family, and their call to participate meaningfully in God’s redemptive work in the world.
Blog
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When was the last time you used the word “stakeholder” in the context of your school community? How about constituents? Partner? Client? Customer? (It gets worse from there.) The purpose of these next few minutes is twofold: to ask you to lock on to the word “stakeholder” when you talk about your school community. to view your stakeholders as a basket of real people with real insight committed to the mission of your school. Not surprisingly, “constituent” is a fair word if we hold to the strict definition of the dictionary, meaning, “a part of the whole or a component of something” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). That's who our people are. But the word “stakeholder” ups the ante.
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I promise that I didn’t do it on purpose. I was not snooping around, but one early December day many years ago, in a moment of mindless meddling around the house, I found it. My big Christmas gift that my parents tried to keep hidden until Christmas morning: a full-sized Voltron action figure, the envy of any elementary aged boy in the 1980s. However, as much as I pleaded and begged, they would not let me play with it until Christmas morning. The toy was agonizingly within my grasp, but I had to wait.
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At North Raleigh Christian Academy (NRCA), we believe our mission doesn’t end at graduation. We’ve seen firsthand how alumni continue to impact their communities and the world for Christ — from doctors and pastors to artists, athletes, engineers, and educators. And because of this, maintaining strong, meaningful connections with them isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a vital extension of our mission.
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Joseph saved God’s people from starvation as a high-ranking leader in Egypt. Moses led God’s people out of bondage in Egypt. David led God’s people both as military leader and king. Gideon led an army of God’s people into battle. Elisha relayed God’s words to His people. Peter, Andrew, James, and John led God’s people in the days of the early Church. What do all these men have in common? They each experienced a radical, God-ordained career change. Each of them was “unconventionally prepared” for their leadership roles. Consider David—he had no military experience when he fought Goliath, nor political experience when he was anointed king. Yet God took a humble shepherd and transformed him into a warrior and a king.
Podcast
Simon Jeynes, Co-Founder of Christian School Management, discusses cultural shifts in and around Christian education, and more.
Douglas Campbell hosts an episode with three major contributors to ACSI's Spiritual Formation Network meetings.
Emily Pigott shares how to lead with presence to remind students that peace is not the absence of chaos, it's the awareness of Christ in that chaos.
Rachael Jones sits down with Dr. Edward Bunn to discuss strategies for receiving and implementing healthy feedback as leaders.
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.
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.
