2 min read

332: How the Largest Christian School Continues to Grow and Make an Impact

Best Christian Workplaces : April, 10 2023

Educators Culture

332: How the Largest Christian School Continues to Grow and Make an Impact

Are you dealing with an organization that's flat and stagnant? Dr. Jason Rachels is the president of Calvary Christian Academy, the largest Christian school in the United States, with nearly 3,000 students. Listen as Jason outlines several keys that have led to the creation of their flourishing workplace culture and how their culture is the foundation for their growth and impact.

Listen to the Audio

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher Radio | Listen on Google Podcasts

In this episode:

What has changed over the years more broadly in Christian education and some of the core strengths and values that remain unchanged (02:39)
Christian schools have begun to focus more on intentional discipleship and biblical worldview (02:55)
How Calvary Chapel Academy (CCA) has nurtured diversity in the school and continues to grow in this area (04:07)
Hire the best people for the job and diversity should happen fairly naturally (04:41)
How to build trust and bring your staff together around your shared goals (05:39)
There's strength in having longevity of each of the leaders (05:58)
Leaders must be true to their word and show a long obedience in the same direction (07:16)
How to keep the culture consistent in growing and new locations (08:15)
CCA has intentional about focusing on its mission to make disciples and on its core values that lay out how employees work together as believers on a mission. (09:33)
How CCA's staff built a cohesive culture around the parent-student community (11:35)
"We work to build a cohesive culture by expecting students, staff, and families to treat each other with that kind of love and respect. And most of that is an enjoyable time of caring for each other, and we work hard, but we have a lot of fun doing what we do." (12:25)
Challenges Christian schools are facing today. How CCA is equipping leaders, faculty, and staff to meet these challenges. How a flourishing culture makes a difference for CCA to face these unique challenges (15:45)
"So I'd say that having a flourishing culture makes such a difference because staff are that much more engaged in what's going on, they’re more likely to be with you, and again, rowing in that same direction versus against you, and they’re more likely to trust your leadership through the storm." (17:06)
Why a Christian school should focus on having a flourishing workplace culture. What difference does it make for students, for their education, their discipleship, and possibly even the financial health of the organization (20:15)
"The way that you guys disaggregate the data is just something that I wish a lot of other organizations can learn from, because sometimes I'm a part of a survey that just sort of mushes it all together." (24:23)