September 2020
Remaining on Mission
If you are new to Prince, you can expect a letter from me once a month that focuses on a topic germane to our PreK-12 community; the school’s academic dean, principals, and the co-curricular department heads in fine arts and athletics will also alternate in sending letters to you every other month. The purpose of these letters is to share with you topics and issues relative to your investment in a Christian education, thereby helping to strengthen the bond between home and school. This leads me to the topic I am going to speak with you about this month as we begin this unusual school year: Prince Avenue Christian School’s mission and vision statements and their purposes.
Mission statements today are legion, and their prominent display in many organizations speaks to an awareness of their importance. The carelessness by some leaders of yesteryear’s great Christian organizations allowed “mission drift” to chart new courses, resulting in destinations their founding members could have never imagined. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in our nation’s schools, with the majority promoting the belief that empirical knowledge is acquired solely through the mastery of content. Too often, school leaders discard the vital role that non-cognitive core ethics and our Christian faith play in shaping the moral character of students.
Our mission statement captures our nonnegotiable core principles of biblical discipleship, pursuit of scholastic excellence, and the recognition of the critical role the arts and athletics play in the cognitive and social development of students. Our mission statement is prominently displayed throughout our campus and reads as follows:
xxxx“To partner with Christian families to provide scripturally based
xxxxdiscipleship while pursuing excellence in academics, fine arts,
xxxxand athletics from a biblical worldview.”
Seasoned leaders are replete with advice on the perils of confusing mission and vision statements and emphasize the latter should contain guidance and inspiration concerning what the organization wants to achieve in the future. Our vision statement defines the foundation of our beliefs, our objective, and the method to accomplish that objective in the following statement:
xxxx“Guided by God’s Word as our foundation, we aspire to be the
xxxxpreferred choice for Christian families in the greater Athens area
xxxxby providing a premier college preparatory education while discipling xxxxstudents to grow in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.”
