I have heard the phrase, “It’s a new day at Parkview” several times as we are moving forward as a school, particularly since the beginning of this school year. I have been so encouraged at all that has been accomplished in less than two years of me being back on campus as an Eagle. The positive spirits of our students, staff and parents have really been uplifting to me as the school continues to improve. One area in particular that I am so proud of is the relationship between Parkview Baptist Church and Parkview Baptist School – a relationship that has never been stronger or healthier.
In my parent meetings when I first arrived on campus, there were some concerns about how the school, the school board, and the church all related together. At the time of those meetings during my first few months of employment, I already knew the school board was committed to charting a new course, and I had also felt that commitment from the church. In fact this attitude of the board who hired me was a deciding factor to my accepting the superintendent position at Parkview. I knew we would be able to work together. Now that some time has passed, I can give an update on that relationship. I will do so in the context of three different verses.
Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The church and school both truly believe it is a “new day.” There is a sense of forgetting what is behind and moving forward with lessons learned. There is no need to cling to or dwell on the past when there is so much potential here and so much to do today. It is amazing to me how quickly we have been able to focus on cooperating on the future. From day one, our board has been unified and supportive of school administration. This has continued through two board elections. This same spirit has been in the church staff and congregation as well. I believe cooperation between the church and the school is at an all-time high and that is great because we are better together, and we really are ONE ministry serving ONE mighty God.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him – a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
When the bond between the church, home, and school is strong, Satan cannot easily break it. There are so many forces against our youth today that it is imperative that we fight from a united front. Division in the church, school, or home relationships weakens what we are able to accomplish in the life of a student. The Bible says godly relationships WILL be attacked by the “spiritual forces of evil” (Eph. 6:12). Knowing that these important relationships will be attacked means we need to constantly work together to remain united. Humans are not perfect and neither are the church, home, or school. At times we have to give each other leeway to be human, but always come back together as a strong three strand cord. I see this happening today and it is a factor in the current strength and success of our school. It is truly a “new day” with respect to how the church has been completely open and ready to partner with the school ministry. I see and feel it every day.
Proverbs 29:18a Where there is no vision the people perish…
The importance of vision in a church or in your own personal life cannot be underestimated. If we do not have a goal to attain, we get pulled in many directions and can find ourselves running in circles. Parkview Baptist School has renewed its vision, aligned it with the church and home and has a direction to passionately follow.
When I arrived at Parkview, we were in the middle of an approved strategic plan. It was a good plan and it reflected the areas that our constituents wanted to improve. The three areas addressed in the strategic plan were the spiritual life of our students, academic excellence, and improving the campus. In a short period of time we aligned our resources to make improvements in these areas. We are developing a document now that lists all of our improvements over the past two years, and we will publicize it at the end of the year.
Our current strategic plan expires in 2015, so we are in a process now of developing a new strategic plan which includes a master plan of our campus. You will be receiving information about both of these processes in the future.
The bottom line is we are not just treading water. We have direction and purpose and plenty to be focused on as we move forward together. I felt it was important for you to know this because many of you may not see the picture I see day to day and week to week.
I see a difference on many levels. It is a “new day” at Parkview and we could not be in a better position to accomplish our mission in the lives of our students. That is what it is all about – making an eternal difference in the lives of our students. Let’s continue to move forward as a church, school, and home so that people will see the difference at Parkview.