Excellence is the process of becoming better than we once were. This was a Wheaton College professor’s definition of excellence that I affirm. How does a school define excellence, or better yet, know when it’s achieving it? Furthermore, what differentiates a Christian school from others as it pursues excellence in every area?
In 2010, I joined a group of 40 Christian school leaders in Boston to explore these questions and more. The
Council on Educational Standards and Accountability (CESA) was birthed from that lively conversation, and I had the privilege of serving on its Board of Directors the last 6 years. From the beginning, CESA has been a council of Christian schools with each striving to attain high institutional standards while benefiting from collegiality and accountability from peer schools. CESA has sought to raise the “Christian school bar” setting a higher standard and marketing that brand to selective and highly selective colleges and universities. It’s non-denominational but does ask each school’s faculty and school board to ascribe to the tenets of the historic Nicene Creed.
VCHS has been preparing to move from Candidate School status to become a Member of Council, joining a national cohort of exemplary Christian schools. At a recent meeting, the VCHS Board of Directors unanimously agreed to pursue CESA membership. When we attain CESA Member of Council status, we will join over 30 of the strongest U.S. schools, including Valor Christian right here in Colorado.
What will it take for us to do this? Over the last 3 years, we have been working hard to strengthen our compliance with CESA’s standards and will need to demonstrate at least 100% and 85% with their primary and secondary standards, respectively. This will need to be completed prior to a CESA institutional review team visit in late February. Shortly after that, we will learn the outcome. Gaining Member of Council status will provide an accreditation “stamp of approval” to our current accrediting
Why join? What will this do for our school, faculty, and students? Pursuing excellence or “becoming better than we once were” will strengthen our school in every way with academics, leadership, finance and operations, governance, and Christian faith commitment. Excellence, however, is not for us, but rather a stewardship principle – “from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded” – God deserves our very best. CESA also places our faculty and administrators in relationship with some of the best educators in the country helping us strengthen our performance and stay on the cutting-edge. Finally, the CESA designation will give our school and students cachet among colleges and universities as they seek to land our exemplary, college-ready, ethical students.
