FINAL NLSA Best Practice Webinar

On Tuesday, November 29, West Portal Lutheran School, located in San Francisco, California, will present the school’s best practices in the final webinar in our series of seven NLSA Best Practice webinars. This event will be conducted for one hour beginning at 1PM Eastern Time. Login to the webinars on the public page of the Lutheran School Portal: http://www.lsportal.net/

It is not necessary to pre-register.  Participation is limited to the first 100 people who enter the viewing room.

 

West Portal Lutheran Church has provided a presence of Lutheran Ministry in San Francisco since 1947. The school began in 1952 to serve a growing number of Post‐World War 2 baby boomer children of Germanic families located in the community surrounding the congregation. Through the years, shifting community demographics have changed the cultural composition of the school. Today more than 90 percent of the children attending the school are the children of Asian parents. Most of the families coming to the school do not have an affiliation with the Lutheran Church and enroll their children at the school seeking high standards of academic preparation.

This webinar will allow staff members to share information about their Partners in Faith program where Church and School come together to share our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with our non-churched families.  This portion of the webinar has significant implications and applications for schools and congregations that hope to work together effectively to their school for outreach and evangelism into their community. It would be most effectively viewed by pastor and school leaders together.

In addition, WPLS will present how they prepare their students for their unique and challenging High School application process.  Although the program is designed for elementary students, our Lutheran High Schools it would benefit as well as they prepare students for their college application process.

This is the webinar that was cancelled and postponed on October 4.

GREAT NEWS FROM WISCONSIN!

Today, Wisconsin State Senate Bill 234 formally recognizes National Lutheran School Accreditation (NLSA) as a viable accreditation choice for the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program! Praise God and thank everyone who was involved in making this important legislation reality for our urban schools in Wisconsin.

Exemplary School Visit #2

A team of NLSA validators had the extreme pleasure to visit our second school nominated for Exemplary consideration. Hales Corners Lutheran School, located in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, is an excellent school located on two campuses. Validators had the opportunity to interview excited pastors, teachers, parents and board members and hear about some amazing best practices that are having a dramatic effect on student learning at the school.  All were impressed by the Christ-centered culture and intentional teamwork that has driven the school to grow and improve.

Five more visits will take place before the final selections are made in February. It is quite an experience to visit some of our best schools and experience first-hand what makes them schools of choice in their communities.  Those schools selected as NLSA Exemplary Schools for 2012-13 will be formally announced during Lutheran Schools Week in March

Visit #1

The first of seven NLSA Exemplary School validation visits concluded yesterday at Loving Shepherd Early Learning Center in Golden Valley, Minnesota. It was a pleasure to observe this excellent early childhood center and see the dedicated efforts that are being extended to the children of their community.

Director, Brenda Lovehaug, her staff and many school stakeholders and constituents did an outstanding job of explaining the school’s mission, vision and programs in detail. We are grateful for the way the efficiently handled the details of our visit and provided us with information and support that allowed us to complete our work at the school.

Six visits remain before selections will be made by the national accreditation commission in February. We eagerly anticipate each visit for we continued to be amazed at the dedicated efforts and amazing Best Practices that can be shared with others. We all benefit when we play well together!

Exemplary School Visits

Tomorrow, three NLSA visitors will conduct the year’s first Exemplary School Validation Visit at Loving Shepherd Early Learning Center located in Golden Valley, MN. During the time of the visit, validators will investigate the school’s demonstrations and evidence surrounding six (6) questions.

1) Is this school Christ-centered and service driven.

2) Does this school have an established record of academic success by its students?

3) Has this school earned a positive perception in its greater community?

4)  Are the stakeholders of this school satisfied customers?

5) Is this school near or at its enrollment capacity.

6) Does this school demonstrate innovative leadership through “Best Practices.”

The school’s application form calls for it to affirmatively answer and provide evidence for each of the questions.

Documentation, evidence, interviews and observations must validate that the school the school is a school of excellence and that it has Best Practices worthy of sharing with others.

Through the years, visits at Exemplary Schools have uncovered significant Best Practices that have been shared via webinar and print so that every LCMS schools can consider the practices and implement when practical.  Some of these practices have already been considered and implemented by other Lutheran schools. When we play well together in this way everyone benefits.

This year two preschools, one high school and four elementary schools have been nominated for exemplary consideration. It is a pleasure to visit these schools and see the energy they invest in sharing the love of Jesus with children and families and preparing student for success with academics in our world.

Our class of 2012-13 Exemplary Schools will be selected at an electronic breeze meeting on February and the public announcement will be made during Lutheran Schools Week. We will keep you informed about our progress as we visit the schools who were nominated for recognition this year.

The Choice is Yours!

It’s the time of year when our office sends out billing statements and receives annual payments from schools. Every year, at this time, we receive notes from schools complaining about paying their fee and stating that they do not receive “value” from their annual payment.  Recently I have shared the parable below that lends itself to a defense of why we have accreditation. Feel free to share it with those who complain about the cost or benefits of accreditation.

I once knew a person who was aging and overweight. He was prone to malaise, body aches, sleepless nights and anxiety. He was racked with the pain of arthritis. These symptoms caused the individual to be crabby and irritable and actually resulted in the inability to see the good in many situations. Feeling bad resulted in how others perceived him. The person felt it best to ignore the symptoms, put up with them, and perhaps they would simply go away. Besides, who has time for a doctor’s visit? And the cost, oh my, who would ever want to pay that required co-pay. In fact, the visit might result in recommendations for a dramatic change of lifestyle and accountability.  This individual despised change and it was simply not an option. In fact, this person would rather die than face diagnosis and resulting required changes.

What symptoms are displayed in your Lutheran school?  Are you healthy? Do you need a diagnostic checkup? Is it time to undertake some changes that will lead to enhanced ministry opportunities or improved student learning at your school? Can you effectively deal with change and ongoing accountability?

Just like people….some schools can be accountable and enact necessary changes. Others cannot.  Some see changes enacted through an active accreditation process as helpful and productive. Others see it as a bother.

When you involve your school in an active and ongoing accreditation process, it provides necessary diagnostic information that can assist you in making changes that are essential for the quality of your school beyond today. The actions prescribed by an accreditation team, made up of highly qualified educators, can put your school in the pathway to improved health and vitality. You just need to take your medicine and change your lifestyle.

If you see accreditation as simply jumping through hoops, crossing t’s and dotting i’s then perhaps you are not correctly assessing the intent of NLSA. In that case, it is better to stop complaining and remove yourself from being involved in any way with NLSA.  Simply live with your symptoms and see what happens.

If you wish to become a School of Choice in your community , then diagnostics, planning and accountability will put you on that pathway. Accreditation is not for everyone. If you are happy with the status quo it is not the best option for your school. The choice is yours!