Academies & Institutes
Check the “Events” page of the BCSL for upcoming learning opportunities.
In a typical summer, The BCSL hosts a three-day academy featuring facilitated workshops hosted by scholars and skilled practitioners. The Academy workshops specifically encourage and encompass practices through which teachers and administrators influence colleagues, policymakers, and others to improve teaching and learning. The Academy specifically supports teachers and administrators working together toward shared organizational goals and strategic implementation of those goals in the service of the primary purpose of schools—student flourishing. The strength of the Academy consists in the opportunity for schools to bring their team to join with other teams from likeminded schools to tackle shared problems of practice and adaptive improvement.
At the conclusion of the Academy, each school will depart with a goal and specific action steps for the upcoming school year, a broader network, and tools to facilitate ongoing growth at your school.
Teams of no fewer than 3 and no more than 5. Representation of the team should include head of school, an administrator, an emerging leader, and at least one teacher leader.
Institutes of the BCSL
The Institutes are leadership learning communities dedicated to improving schooling conditions and outcomes. The Institutes consist of individuals and leadership teams attending advanced development seminars that will examine critical issues, challenges, and opportunities to participate in intensive workshops in select areas of leadership competencies.
Specific institutes will focus on the development of leadership expertise around the organizational, financial, strategic, instructional, and missional facets of these schools. Topics include vision casting, board development, fundraising, financial management, talent and staff development, instructional leadership, innovation, and creativity.
Institute for School-Wide Improvement
The Institute for School-Wide Improvement will consist of teams from schools working within a Collective Leadership Improvement Community (CLIC). These schools will commit to working together employing collective leadership development for school improvement.
Institute for Effective Christian School Leadership
(Heads of School and Board Chairs)
This advanced leader development seminar, which is expressly intended for those who already serve as heads of school, will examine issues, challenges, and opportunities for the improvement of schooling conditions and outcomes, as well as provide intensive workshopping for leaders in select areas of leader competencies. Additionally, boards of directors of Christian K-12 schools play crucial roles in ensuring fiduciary integrity, sound policy direction, and leader effectiveness, many members of boards (especially, ones newer to their service) often lack a deep understanding of important trends in and needs of the sector as a whole, of innovative practices occurring throughout the industry, of evidence-based research on “what works” in the sector and of the norms attendant to effective board service. This institute will serve as the primary such convening, anywhere, endeavoring to meet these and like needs of Heads of Schools and board members.
Institute for Division Leaders
(School Principals, Academic Deans, and Directors)
This institute is specifically designed for those that lead from the middle. This program is designed for division heads, directors, and other administrators who are not heads of school or superintendents. The institute focuses specifically on the unique challenges facing these roles. This institute will offer networking, skill-building, and resources for administrative leadership at all grade levels and years of experience. This institute will be focused on topics such as personal and relational leadership, supervision of adults, teacher evaluation, curriculum, assessment, scheduling, working with faculty, and communicating with parents.
Institute for Diversity and Inclusion
(Heads of Schools, School Principals, Directors of Student Life, Spiritual Formation, and Diversity)
The Institute for Diversity and Inclusion is rooted in Scripture. Because all that we do is grounded in Christ, we believe that the biblical story testifies that image bearers ought to reflect the unity and diversity of the Godhead. The fall, recorded in Genesis 3, introduced sin into the world and works against the unity that God intended for humanity to experience. The Institute for Diversity and Inclusion will seek to encourage conversations that represent God-honoring dialogue across cultural contexts. By providing resources, training, and curriculum, we will endeavor to equip every educational leader to serve people of different ethnic backgrounds as Christ did.
Institute for Marketing and Enrollment
The Institute for Marketing and Enrollment is designed for schools to collectively work together with other schools on problems of practice that are addressed best through facilitation, research, collaboration, and feedback from experts who are actually in the field doing the work. Institute attendees will learn best practices, share ideas, and further develop your school's current plan. You'll also receive templates, proven strategies, and relevant practices to help your school maximize effectiveness in a changing environment.
Institute for Financial Directors of Christian Schools
This institute will address a significant need many schools face – the lack of expertise among financial directors in the area of non-profit financial management and strategy. The BCSL will partner with experts at Baylor in the areas of non-profit management and also with faculty and staff (notably, in areas of management, finance, entrepreneurship, and accounting), in design and delivery of a curriculum melding critical insights from the for-profit and non-profit sectors in service to the needs of finance and budget directors in Christian school settings.