Some Well-deserved "Thank You's" to Some Committed, Dedicated Staff Members

But  you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  And have mercy on some who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.  Jude, v. 20-23, NRSV

As a Christian educator, the small, short book of Jude provides a lot of wisdom and a lot of inspiration.  In a ministry where a diverse variety of Christian practices come together in one place to provide a practical education in a Christian atmosphere and environment, where the truths of scripture are integrated into the core subject areas of the curriculum, and into the instruction itself by teachers who bring their own salvation experience into the classroom, Jude's words speak truth from the reality that Christians faced in that time, right into the reality that we face today.  

Christian schools have put themselves on the front lines of Christian discipleship.  We have almost eight hours a day, five days a week to be the Christian influence our students see as teachers, role models and who have the responsibility to lead students to a recognition of and understanding of spiritual conviction, and to help be the way their minds can see and hearts can respond to the truth.  

By every means of measuring academic success, MCA as a school community experienced it this past school year.  We've been moving in this direction now for a while.  We achieved full accreditation in 2022, which is an outside, peer evaluation of excellence.  One measurement of progress is the annual academic assessment for which we primarily use the Iowa Assessments.  This year's scores were one of those "knock it out of the park" kind of success.  Along with the NWEA testing done by some of our middle school students, we can be very proud of our academic success this past year. 

In partnership with each local church where our students are engaged with their families, we see spiritual growth as well.  We support the ministry of the local church with our Bible teaching, where every student is engaged in a Bible study every day, and where we worship together corporately once each week.  One of the achievements that was instituted this school year was the recognition of "Cougar Values," as each student received recognition of one of these biblically based attributes their teachers recognized in their growth and character development.  

We Work Together as a School Community

We deeply appreciate the parents who make the sacrifice to send their children to MCA.  That indicates a deep desire to put their children in a school environment which will contribute to their spiritual growth and development as well as to their academic success.  Spiritual growth, including recognizing the spirit's conviction and responding in repentance, is affected by multiple factors, including home, church influence, friends, and by the culture itself, but it is an observable fact that students who are enrolled in a Christian school reflective of their family's faith tradition are much more likely to remain faithful, and to strengthen their commitment to Christ through adulthood  

Over the past eight years, Midwest Bible Church has contributed over $500,000 to the school's operating expenses, and private donors, some with connections to the church, others with a desire to support Christian education, have given an additional $500,000.  The church also provides a lease-free facility for the school's use, something that is rare in Christian school education, where most schools pay a lease for the use of church facilities that would normally stand empty six days a week.  

But the biggest sacrifice made for our students comes from the faculty, administration and staff who come to work every day to make each school experience a success for the students.  Core subject teachers at MCA, because of the school's accreditation standards, must have the same credentials that state certified teachers have, and in addition to this, must have at least six credit hours in Biblical studies and a course in the Philosophy of Christian Education.  But what they receive in salary and benefits makes a major difference in our ability to offer what is among the lowest tuition rates for private, religious based schools in the city.  They do this because, as Jude says, they are motivated by keeping themselves in the love of God and looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Most of our teachers come to us in the early years of their educational experience, straight out of college, or in some cases, early in a career change to education.  But we have a very low turnover rate, because, over the last eight years, the average tenure of teachers at MCA has increased by an average of eight years.  Noting that the key words in our experience as a Christian school ministry are mercy and grace, we appreciate the patience of parents when working with younger teachers, but I have to say that the results certainly speak for themselves.  MCA has come a long way over the past eight years, and it has made that journey because of the work that each teacher has invested in the school.  Thank God for those he has called and sent our way.  

The willingness of this particular teaching staff to remain committed to this ministry, and to your children, comes from what they know is the value of this school.  They know what is out there, and what is being taught, in a public school system where the basic philosophy of education is based on the belief that the human intellect is the highest power in the universe, that moral values are self-determined and that human beings have the power to resolve their own problems.  Nor is every school with a religious label in their name or affiliation teaching Biblical truth.  The bigger picture is that the students at MCA have teachers who love them, and who are not just casual observers of their spiritual growth and development.  And they have worked hard to make every dollar you have sacrificed to place your children here worth it.  

A Diverse Office Staff Wearing Many Hats

There are two people who are part of the school's administrative staff that I must commend, because without their experience, knowledge, sense of ministry and commitment, we would not have made the progress that has been achieved.  

Mrs. Libby Stack is not just the school registrar and secretary, she is the expert on all things MCA.  Her expertise as a parent of three former MCA students, and in various jobs in the office have made her invaluable in the process of administration.  She has the discernment to sense how certain decisions will go, and how parents will respond, and is sensitive to each family's needs.  She is the first contact that most parents have with the school, and when she gives a tour, she is able to answer everyone's questions.  Most of what I learned about MCA, and its families, came from her experience and knowledge.  And she is a prayer intercessor, so you can count on your needs being lifted up to the Lord when she knows about them.  

Mrs. Daniela Poenar is also not just the finance administrator.  She is certainly that, and has been the main reason why MCA has been able to get through some trying financial situations and make sure that our bills are paid on time.  The school was operating in the red when I came in 2018, and the first couple of years were a struggle, with low enrollment numbers and expenses left over from past school years.  But we turned the corner in 2020.  One of the conditions of our accreditation was the financial independence of the school from the church, which was making up for cash flow shortfalls, and we achieved this through Mrs. Poenar's careful budgeting.  

She also handled building maintenance liaison with the church, especially during the renovation of the main building, and has been uniquely positioned to monitor contingent funding produced by budget surplusses over the past few years, which led to the art room renovation, completing the gym renovation, putting a new roof on the main building, and some practical steps to improve the appearance and the wear and tear on the middle school suite upstairs above the fellowship hall.  

As things now change, both of these ladies leave big shoes to fill.  The value of their contribution goes way beyond their salaries.  

MCA as a Part of the Christian School Ministry

Over the past two and a half decades, since the latter years of the 1990's, Christian schools have been closing.  Affordability and financial issues are the main reason, as the cost of school operations increases, while tuition and fees also increasing, enrollments are declining.  This mirrors the decline in attendance and membership that the Evangelical branch of the Christian church in the United States has been experiencing over the same period of time.  The number of families with school-aged children who are members of Evangelical churches has declined by more than 40% according to researchers like Burge and the Barna Group.  As a result, almost half of the Christian schools which existed in the United States in 2000 are closed today.  

Factors that have contributed to MCA's continued existence as one of the oldest Evangelical Christian schools in the city of Chicago include the church's steady, faithful commitment to MCA and a continued vision for the value of Christian school ministry, and the sacrifices made by every person on the staff doing what is necessary to keep the school viable. We have teachers who work two jobs to make ends meet, who take employment over summer break, who share home with a roomate, in order to live on the salaries that the school can afford to pay.  And yet, when the outcome of each year is evaluated against the mission and purpose of the school, I think it would be difficult to find the kind of excellence and commitment we see in the results we get.  

Other Christian denominations are closing schools in the city every year.  There are just two Catholic schools left in our general area, down from six just eight years ago, and only one of four Lutheran schools is left in the same general area.  So our thanks goes to our faculty and staff, who have been provided by God's grace, at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult for the kind of sacrifice that sustains us to be made.  Of course, we do have an enemy who prowls about, seeking whom he may destroy, and it does not suit him to have children, who represent the future of the church, being strengthened in their faith every day in a Christian school.  

I am so blessed to have been a part of this work here for the past eight years.  I am grateful to every teacher and staff member who have made MCA part of their own ministry, and for the dedication which goes way beyond expectations, and which has made my job much easier.  I am thankful for a church which has gone above and beyond what is considered "normal" in its sustaining this school and moving it forward.  Parents, I don't think you can do better than to enroll your children at MCA, because they are taught with mercy, grace and love,  

The Very Last Day of School

It's been a week since students finished the 2025-26 school year at Midwestern Christian Academy.  It is always an experience to see the excitement and anticipation in the students' faces and in their body language as they finish a school year and head into summer break.  It is also an experience to see the teachers and staff members who have worked hard all year celebrate the achievements in the awards assembly, which are the result of their work.  

Recognizing the influence that the education of children and youth has in their life, in a place where they spend more time in their early years than anywhere else except at home, a Christian school is a place where the platform of education is merged with the discipleship ministry that is a biblical function of the Christian church.  The amount of time spent in school each week is far greater than the amount of time children in Christian families will spend in church or its ministries, so Christian schools have developed and grown as a means for parents to put their children in a place that will support and undergird the work of their church, upholding their family's Christian values.  

Awards day this year was a little different.  

We eliminated a lot of awards that were simply too subjective to have much meaning.  Academic awards are easy, they go to the students who earn the top two grades in each subject area for the year.  There are some students who get multiple awards, because their grades are that good, and there are those who win one in a single subject, or a couple of subject areas.  That just goes by the numbers.  

But the confusing tangle of character awards had an element of subjectivity that left them open for question.  And some awards were a stretch, to be fair, to make sure everyone gets something.  But they had lost their meaning.  

So our elementary teachers came up with the idea of the Cougar Character awards.  Using the first letter of the word "Cougars," a biblical characteristic was developed out of each letter.  The idea behind these awards is that every student can be recognized for exhibiting at least one of these characteristics, with one student from each grade level being recognized as the "Cougar of the Year."  Not only does that place an emphasis on what we are trying to teach from a Christian perspective, but it provides encouragement for students so that they can see in themselves what others also see in them.  

And I think that worked very well.  Students go home for the summer with a slip of paper that indicates a Biblical character trait they exhibited well enough to be recognized.  That's a great way to leave the last day of school. 

From an academic standpoint, our students hit it out of the park.  I like to use the sports analogy because that is exactly what it feels like.  Sometimes, a small, Christian school like MCA gets unwarranted criticism because it doesn't appear to have a strong academic program.  But we've insisted for years that MCA has a superior academic program, with evidence to show that we do, in spite of the limits we have on extra-curricular activities and on non-academic subjects.  Our test scores are always strong, school wide, and among our eighth grade students going on to high school.  Every assessment our students take shows their academic level to be well above average compared to public and charter school counterparts, and among the best when it comes to head to head comparison with other religious-based schools around us.  

And our 2026 assessments proved it.  Not only did we see our school wide score move up by 5 percentile points, but we had whole grade levels finishing above the 85th percentile on individual tests, with some classes over the 90th percentile rank in Mathematics and Reading.  And we had a record number of students who were recognized for a perfect score on one or more individual tests, and for finishing in the top 3 percent nationally on individual tests.  This is blue ribbon achievement territory.  

And This is Where I Leave It

It was a long, uphill climb that we faced on July 2, 2018, the day I arrived to start my new job as Principal of Midwestern Christian Academy.  The building itself characterized the school's condition, as construction had begun on the renovation of the Vernon Lee building, with an uncertain completion date.  We approached the school year with a lot of prayer, depending on God to sustain us.  And of course, he was faithful. 

The academic success we celebrated on June 5 is the result of eight years of hard work developing a curriculum plan, providing the kind of materials and instruction to support the excellence we desired to see, along with stability in the turnover of the teaching staff, which had been a problem.  The school achieved its first recognized accreditation in 2021, a recognition of excellence by peers, which was a major contributing factor to the success we have experienced.  

Our teaching staff is now stable, the turnover rate averages less than two per year, and our teaching faculty has all of their academic credentials.  I am leaving behind a school which has had strong, stable enrollment growth for five years in a row, a budget that has been balanced and produced a cash flow surplus capable of sustaining contingent expenses, such as a roof replacement, and which has attracted major donors providing funds for projects that included the renovation of the gymnasium, resurfacing of the parking lot, and this summer, the replacement of all of the windows and doors in the main building.  

We have expanded and improved our athletic department, fielding competitive teams in soccer, volleyball and basketball on two levels.  We have parents willing to invest in all aspects of the school's improvement.  

It is still very clear that God has work for Midwestern Christian Academy to achieve in the hearts and minds of the students he sends our way.  The last day of school, which was, for me, the very last one I am expecting to experience in my life, was one that fills me with gratitude for being called to serve these last eight years in this school.  It has, a times, been long, and difficult, and uncertainty and the worry that often accompanies it, has been overwhelming at times.  But God is faithful, and he has found a way for us to come through the storm of crisis into the light.  And here we are. 

Cougars Score a Big Win on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills!

We're still looking at the numbers we've received from the Iowa Assessment our students took about three weeks ago.  This is the best year we've had when it comes to the test scores we've seen from our students, which is something that our teachers have been working on for a while, now.  

We're in Illinois, So Why Do We Take The Iowa Test? 

The Iowa Assessments, formerly known as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, is actually a nationally used test to measure the "adequate yearly progress", the AYP in educational language, of students in school.  It is called the Iowa test because this particular test was developed at the University of Iowa.  And while it is widely used to measure AYP in Iowa schools, somewhere between 3 and 4 million students across the country also take this test.  

About four years ago, the Christian school organization to which we belong, the Association of Christian Schools International, began recommending the use of the Iowa test to its members.  It is estimated that at least 500,000 students in ACSI Christian schools take the Iowa test each year.  We will get a better idea of where we stand in comparison to other Christian schools sometime next fall when ACSI releases its research on Iowa testing in its schools.  

Based on last year's rankings, MCA ranks right up there among the best when it comes to the private and parochial schools in Illinois and in Chicago who take the Iowa Assessments. Data from other assessments Illinois private schools use isn't always easy to compare, but we know from having some of our students also take the MAP test, also known as the NWEA, and from NAEP samples, and from Illinois recent "right sizing" of its proficiency rating that about 90% of our students are "proficient" or above in mathematics and reading.  

So How Do We Measure AYP Using the Iowa Test? 

The test uses two specific measurements of student progress.  One is called a "stanine" score.  This is a scale which measures student performance against the standards established by the test on a scale using the numbers 1 to 9, hence, the "standard nine".  The number of correct answers on any specific part of the test is compared to a standard score in that subject area and grade level to come up with the "stanine" score.  A score of 5 is the mid-point, or the average stanine score for each test, so the further to the right a student scores, the higher their level of achievement.  

The percentile rank is reflected in the use of a 100 point scale.  This compares the score earned by a student to a "norm group" which calculates the average score of a specific group of students who took the test.  So when you see a student in the 65th percentile, that doesn't mean they got 65% of the questions correct, it means they did better than 65% of all students in the norm group who took the same test.  

The norm group is divided into four equal quartiles, with 25% of the students scoring an average composite score between the first percentile and the 25th percentile, 25% of the students scoring between the 26th and 50th percentile, 25% of the students scoring between the 51st and 75th percentile, and 25% of the students scoring between the 76th and 100th percentile.  So if a school's students score exactly as the test standards expect, the school's composite score would be the 50th percentile.  If a graph is used to illustrate this, it looks like a bell, and is called a "bell curve."  For the norm group, the highest point of the bell curve is exactly in the middle, at the 50th percentile.  

But you can move the top of MCA's bell curve 17 points to the right.  On the composite score of the test, almost 75% of MCA students are in the top two quartiles, with a significant number of students in the top quartile.  But that's just the composite score.  

We actually had multiple grade levels where the composite scores on some of the specific tests were actually above the 90th percentile.  The highest overall scores on the test were in Mathematics Computation, where we not only had whole grade levels above the 90th percentile, but where we had multiple students who earned a perfect score.  Next to that, the lower grades really hammered out a big win in the Reading, Vocabulary and Language Arts tests, with scores ranging from the 85th percentile to the 95th percentile.  

Other Observations From the MCA Scores

There are a few things we have observed, over the past four years of Iowa tests, that seem to be trends here at MCA: 

• Kindergarten reading scores are exceptionally high.  The test doesn't account for kindergarten students reading by the end of the year but ours do.  Students who have been in Pre-k learn what the test standards have in place for Kindergarten, so they master those skills early in the year. 
• The longer students are enrolled at MCA, the better they do on the Iowa Assessment.  At this point, for this year's test, I've gone through about 50% of the scores at all grade levels and this is true for about 7 out of 10 students.  Looking primarily at Middle School, most of the higher scores are earned by students who have been here since Pre-K.  
• We made a decision in 2018 to switch from Singapore Math to Purposeful Design, and the mathematics scores have gone up each year, including the three Terra Nova assessments we did prior to 2022.  
• In the English/Language Arts core, scores have remained steady at above average levels, noting that 40% of our students come from homes where English is a second language.  
• We have a record number of students this year, across every grade level, who either earned a perfect score on one of the tests, or in a core area, and who were among those who finished in the top 3% nationally.  
• Using the sports analogy, if the whole school is the Cougar team, then it was the elementary level grades, K through 5, who "carried" the Cougars to the win.  Reading and Mathematics computation were the big touchdowns that were scored.  

Academic Achievement is Expected, Spiritual Development is Essential

In the world of American education, with the public, government funded educational system accounting for 90% of the enrolled students, the academic advantage of any private school, religious-based or secular, can be easily measured by assessments like the Iowa test.  Christian schools are no exception.  We know what our advantages are, including small class sizes, a much higher degree of parent involvement, and teachers who are committed to teaching as a ministry, not just a job.  Christian schools generally perform better than the public schools that surround them, at about the same percentage level across the board, depending on where a state has set its educational bar.  

In Illinois, where public schools are among those in the top half of states in the country, I think we rank 16th or 17th, the academic level in private schools is higher than it is in other places where the educational bar is lower.  But we also need to keep in mind that what makes our school unique is not just its academic achievement, but the fact that parents put their children here because of the Christian discipleship element.  In  the United States, the development of public education was in the hands of mostly Protestant Christians until after the Second World War, so much so in fact, that the Catholic church developed a system of parochial schools which it underwrote with its budget because it was losing children of church members to the Protestants who were converting them in public school.  

Those days are long gone.  But what we have learned from Catholic education is its value to the life and ministry of the church.  What we haven't learned is how to support it like they once did. 

We've left that up to our parents.  And what we also leave in their hands is the recommendation they provide for us regarding the quality of the education we provide.  Student achievement speaks well of MCA.  We would like for our parents to also speak well of the school that has done so much on less than half of the financial resources it takes public schools to teach one student.  

Imago Dei: Created in the Image of God

Jesus equates "loving your neighbor as you love yourself" with the greatest commandment, to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind," in two different places in the New Testament.  One is in response to a theological test question asked of Jesus by Pharisees, after he had pointed out a theological error made by their counterparts.  The other, in response to a lawyer's question about how he could inherit eternal life.  The lawyer quoted the law, written in scripture, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and, love your neighbor as yourself." [Luke 10:27 NIV] 

Jesus indicated that this was the correct answer.  But for clarification, the lawyer asked Jesus to define the term "neighbor."  So, Jesus did so by using a parable that we know as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. 

From this, we get a very comprehensive answer to the question that leaves no room for doubt as to how this, the very core principle of the Christian gospel, is to be applied.  This is a core principle, by the way, that is at the forefront of our entire teaching and preaching ministry at MCA.  We teach our students that the foundation of a Christian testimony rests on how they treat others.  And that comes directly from Jesus' revealing this to us this way.  

The Implications of the Use of The Example of a Samaritan

The Samaritans were the object of ethnic hatred by the Jews.  They were the result of a racial mixing of the few Jewish people left behind after the Babylonian Captivity with the other semitic people who moved into the province in and around Jerusalem.  Their religious beliefs, and cultural practices, which set them apart from the Jewish population, along with political favor they had apparently enjoyed under some of the Babylonian kings, let to the prejudice and hatred they experienced from the Jewish people.  Once back in the province of Judah, and the city of Jerusalem, the Jews treated the Samaritans like pariahs and pagans.  

So the message that Jesus was sending, when he told this parable, was about more than just who lives next door or down the street.  He intentionally used this example to demonstrate the idea of Imago Dei, all human beings are created in the image of God, and therefore the definition of "neighbor," for the purpose of obedience to the greatest commandment, is any human without condition. I've heard, in some interpretations of this parable, that since the Samaritan was travelling between Jerusalem and Jericho, he might have been a proselyte, but Jesus didn't go there at all.  In fact, in this particular parable, Jesus uses two religious leaders as bad examples, in spite of their claimed belief.  In that, I believe he was saying that obedience to the first part of this commandment is pointless without the "love your neighbor" part.   

Noting that this is a parable, meaning that the characters display actions Jesus intended to use as a specific example, he creates the character of the Samaritan to deliberately do the right thing.  His experiences from his past, which all of those who heard this parable would be able to understand and put in context, were set aside to illustrate the full scope of exactly what Jesus intended to say, and that was that the evidence of our obedience to loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength is found in the way we treat other people without exception.   

Through all of those barriers, justifications for hatred, and actual experience, the Samaritan, as Jesus characterizes him, sees a fellow human being in need, and takes on the role of a servant.  In unselfishness that reveals Christlikeness, the focus of the moment becomes meeting the needs of a fellow human being created in the  image of God.  And Jesus has revealed, from God the Father, that this is an example which illustrates the first and greatest commandment, leading to eternal life. 

Why This is Important to Us 

As a Christian school that sees its mission and purpose of educating children and youth in an environment where the truth of the Christian gospel is integrated into their school experience as well as their curriculum objectives, we rest on these core principles of that gospel.  This includes recognizing that human beings are all created in the image of God, and that is the intrinsic value of our existence.  The Christian gospel rests on what Jesus said about the greatest commandment, linking the demonstration of our wholehearted love for God with the way we treat others.  

Our ministry is to support and undergird the Christian faith for our students in a way that supports what they are being taught at home and in their local church, alongside teaching basic skills that are an essential part of life in a free society.  We see the two things as being linked.  In order for this to be successful, we need the support of parents who have a clear understanding of where and how the greatest commandment defines our Christian faith.  

I spend a lot of time resolving student conflicts.  Jesus and the Apostles teach us, through the scripture, that humans are created in the image of God, but we are born with a sinful nature that requires redemption.  School aged children may have been exposed to the Christian gospel and its values, and some of them may have experienced the conviction and repentance that leads to redemption, but not all of them have, and even most of those who do are still in the process of figuring out how to listen to spiritual direction and shed their selfish nature.  School becomes a place where multiple experiences with a lot of other children their own age and time out from the direct supervision of their parents produces behavior that is self-centered.  When interests collide, conflict is the result.  

There is an expectation that parents who enroll their children in a Christian school would have an understanding of this direction that the ministry aspect of the school would take, and as a result of that, we would never have to deal with any kind of disruptive behavior or mediate conflicts.  I'm going to be honest here and relate observations that have been true of every Christian school where I have served.  Our students have more exposure to Biblical teaching than they would if they were in a public school, but Christian maturity is a lifelong process, and it starts with salvation.  It shouldn't surprise anyone that about 80% of our students have not experienced conviction, repentance and salvation at this point in their lives.  They may have an intellectual understanding of what is right and wrong behavior based on what they've learned from scripture, but overcoming the selfishness relate to sinful nature takes spiritual maturity.  

School Works With Home and Church

We're designed to support and undergird, and that requires parents being the ones who are primarily responsible for the spiritual development of their children.  And the other side of the equation involves our support for what our students learn and experience in their church.  What that means is that if parents want this to work, and expect this to work, they must be growing in their own spiritual maturity and leading their children, and they must engage them in the worship, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism and ministry of a local body of believers in Christ, as part of the Ecclesia, the gathered body of Christ.  

Our school has open enrollment, so about 20% of our families tell us, during the application process, that they are not active members of a local church.  We can discern, from what our students tell us, that another 20% are not regular in their worship attendance and are not engaged in ministry in their church.  We hope that our daily Bible study and weekly chapel worship helps students have this kind of experience, but there isn't a substitute for being engaged in the ministry of a local church, not just sitting in a pew on Sunday.

We can't guarantee that your child will become a believer in Christ, and be an active member of a local church just because they've been in Christian school.  But being here certainly increases the odds of that happening.  There is evidence to support the fact that school aged children and youth who are enrolled in a Christian school, and whose families are actively involved in local church ministry, beyond just weekly attendance, are much less likely to leave church behind in their 20's than their counterparts who aren't in Christian school, or whose families aren't committed to a local church.  

It may be hard to believe, but I've had parents at every Christian school where I've served complain that the emphasis we place on church involvement is "too much."  I'd suggest that an hour and a half a couple of times a month is not enough.  It seems that positive results come from two or three hours at church once a week, and five days a week at Christian school.

This Is All Connected

I earned my Master's degree in a theological seminary.  The major in Christian education also required that half of the hours required for graduation be taken in the school of theology.  There's no Bible study quite like that.  There is time to focus attention, for an entire semester, on single books, if you can imagine a class on Second Corinthians, or on First, Second and Third John, and Jude, taking an entire semester.  

The interpretive standard for the New Testament, and indeed for the whole Bible, is the revelation of the gospel given by Jesus, recorded in the four gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Jesus was God, and was able to reveal the full nature and character of God accurately, with both authority and a clarity of thought that makes the ominous sounding course in "systematic theology" flow with ease.  With relatively few words, Jesus gave us the gospel.  And our entire understanding of God's plan to redeem his human creation from sin rests in our interpretation of scripture through the lens of that gospel.  

So when Jesus says that the best demonstration of my Christian testimony is shown in the way that I treat my neighbor, translated into "all other people," I can be sure that's true.  When he says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God," then I need to become a peacemaker.  And when he says, "Go, make disciples, and teach them to observe all things," that becomes the way I conduct my ministry, through this Christian school.  So we start with showing our students how to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength by showing them how to love their neighbor as themselves, and all of our theme verses and chapel worship times are focused on this message. 

We want to reflect the image of God.  

MCA Sets the Example by Keeping Costs for Parents Low

One of the undeniable facts about education is that there is a cost associated with providing it that is fairly constant across the board.  Whether a student is in a private school, a charter school or a public school, or even home school or cyber education, the labor, materials and space required to provide education has a dollar figure attached to it.  

Based on a 9 month calendar, and taking into account that this figure is average, and includes all levels of spending that schools can provide, the average cost per pupil for one year in the state of Illinois is $20,120.00 per year.  That figure includes all costs associated with all schools providing an education, including transportation, infrastructure, materials, salaries for all personnel required to operate a school, everything, in fact that is spent to provide one year's worth of education.  

The biggest difference for most families, especially when it comes to choosing a school as opposed to attending the one assigned by the schoo district is who pays the bill.  The taxpayers cover the costs associated with public education.  Parents, of course, pay tuition or other expenses if they choose an alternative for their child.  

But even in religious-based private schools, including other Christian schools, where tuition is the primary means of financial support, the average tuition bill in Cook County and the City of Chicago is just under $12,000.  We have some families at MCA over the past few years who have an eighth grade student graduate, and immediately make note of the fact that the tuition for a Christian high school is double what they've been paying, and in some cases, more than that.  Even private schools where there is support and subsidy from a denomination or church fellowship, like the Catholic and Lutheran schools, tuition is much higher than at independent, non-denominational MCA.  

Why MCA Provides an Education at Well Below Average Cost

The average cost per student per year at MCA is right around $5,000.  That is less than the highest tuition figure, because it is the average of all tuition paid by families including the discounts for multiple siblings, and the scholarship amounts.  That is significantly lower than the $20,000 per year that is the average cost in Illinois.  It is, in fact, lower than tuition at any other nearby private, religious based school in our part of the city of Chicago and it comes in as one of the lowest annual tuition rates among all private schools in the metro area.  

So how does that happen? 

First of all, a big chunk of the expense of most private and public schools is facility and infrastructure.  MCA occupies a facility constructed specifically for the school's use, with some areas shared by the church's ministry, all debt free.  And while most Christian schools around us pay a lease or rental fee to the church that hosts them in their building, we do not.  We cover our share of the maintenance and utilities.  This in-kind contribution from Midwest Bible Church saves just a little over $2,000 per year, per student in what we would have to charge in tuition, if we had to pay a lease.  

Recognizing that this is a ministry, our teachers and staff make a personal sacrifice when it comes to payroll, in order to keep parent tuition costs low.  Raising our teacher salaries to just the minimum first year salary for a new teacher in the public school system would add another $2,000 to each student's tuition bill.  And adding those things would put our tuition and fees at just under $10,000 a year, which is still less than most of the other Christian schools, and private, religious-based schools in our area charge.  

Donations and gifts are also part of what keeps our costs low.  Over the past eight years, we have benefitted from over $500,000 in cash contributions from Midwest Bible Church.  That averages out to $2,500 per student.  The financial commitment of this church to its school ministry is high, compared to similar church-school relationships.  In most cases, scholarships for church members children are the only actual financial support that some sponsoring churches provide for their schools.  

Other private contributions and donations over the same period total $550,000, which includes the gift for renovating the gym, resurfacing the parking lot and replacing the windows.  The $200 fund raising fee, which each family pays, has generated about $70,000 in funds so far, which includes paying for the playground equipment, renovation of the art room, and of the band and music room.  That's four times more money than we would have raised from selling chocolate.  

Needs That Are Becoming More Pressing

Looking at the manner in which our school meets expected student outcomes, including its academic success and the spiritual life of our campus, we are being good stewards with our tuition dollars.  We have managed a balanced budget each of the past five years.  We cannot carry a lot of short term indebtedness, which means that we have to limit what we can extend to parents who are past due.  There is a cost to carrying overdue tuition accounts, which is why we look at this as a mutual commitment.  It takes away from what we can spend on our students when parents don't pay their bill on time.  

And we are behind the curve in providing our teachers with a fair salary for their education and their work.  Our staff is degreed, certified and several have, or are working toward, advanced degrees as  part of their committment to students.  Our faculty turnover rate over the past eight years has been very low, and we want to increase our ability to attract, and retain, qualified teachers.  We achieved full accreditation in 2020, a recognition of excellence from a commission that accredits for both  ACSI and Cognia, a distinction that we have in common with only about a third of the Christian and private, religious-based schools in our area.  Raising teacher pay is now a priority which will affect the bottom line of tuition.  

We take advantage of every opportunity we have to secure funds for scholarships.  Most of these are need-based, income qualified scholarships.  As other funds become available, including the anticipation of a federal tax credit starting in 2027-28, we try to stay on top of finding ways to access and make this available.  One of the things that we need to keep in mind is that in spite of whatever programs state, local or federal government come up with to promote "school choice," the bottom line is that our Christian schools are independent, autonomous, and unwilling to accept control or oversight which will  compromise our values, which is a requirement of many of the state-sponsored funding mechanisms.  These schools undergird and support the work of the local church, and we are worthy of a lot more financial help from those sources than we get.  

We are extremely grateful for the individuals who have contributed to Christian school education at MCA.  We have over 50 churches represented in our student body, all of whom benefit in some way from having families sacrificing to provide their child's education in a Christian atmosphere.  Perhaps there are individuals in those congregations who are able, and gifted, and led by the Lord to share out of their abundance to help the families in their congregation make this possible.  

Ultimately, our dependence on God's help, and the commitment of those who are part of this ministry, including the vision of Midwest Bible Church for Christian education in Chicago over the past 70 years, are responsible for the school's ministry having a future.  

  

The End of the School Year, ACSI Accreditation and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills

This has been a typical Chicago spring from my perspective.  A few days to tease us and let us think the weather is getting warmer, then rain, and a cool front, and we need the sweaters and jackets again.  

This is the time of year when we see a lot of families of potential new students touring the campus, investigating the possibility of enrolling their children here.  Several former students are in this group, along with many others who are following up on a recommendation from families of current students.  The top reason given by parents of new students for enrolling at Midwestern Christian Academy is the school's distinctively Christian identity, aligning with a foundation based on the Christian gospel and a commitment to instruction which integrates Biblical truth into every subject area.  

The other top reason given by parents looking to enroll their children here is the reputation the school has earned for academic excellence.  We hear this from prospective parents who show up to enroll their children, but we also hear it from administrators and admissions staff of the high schools which recruit the members of our eighth grade class, most of whom come to our campus personally to speak with our graduates and encourage their enrollment.  Our test scores help us see what our students achieve but it's nice to hear from prospective parents and peers, too.  

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills

At the end of every school year, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) is our assessment of expected student outcomes when it comes to our academic program.  While most families seek enrollment for their children here because of the Christian emphasis and atmosphere, there is an expectation that our academic program will operate at a high standard, and that students will demonstrate a high level of proficiency in core subjects like English Language Arts and mathematics.  

There are some things that we can almost always predict when it comes to our test scores.  

The majority of our students, over two thirds of them, score in the top two quartiles in core subjects.  Our average scores fall between the 67th and 73rd percentile.  We have had some entire classes score right at the 90th percentile in one or two subject areas.  With the addition of Purposeful Design mathematics back in 2018, we saw our math scores improve each year.  

The longer a student is at MCA, the better they will score on the ITBS.  We spot check the scores every year, and this has been a reliable prediction over the past eight years.  

The reason for strong academic performance here is easy to discern.  We have a staff of well qualified teachers when it comes to instructional skills.  We use curriculum materials that have a proven track record of success.  And we have designed a curriculum that supports our ability to provide high school level coursework in Algebra 1, Physical Science and English/Language Arts for eighth graders to better prepare them for high school, and provide them with more options. 

Accreditation

"Accredited schools are excellent schools, and excellent schools seek accreditation."  

Accreditation is a mark of excellence.  It is the recognition that a school meets or exceeds a specific set of standards which measure the quality of a school's entire operation, from being faithful to its mission and purpose, to the standards and quality of its educational program, and in Christian schools, the level of commitment to its Christian identity.  

MCA is fully accredited by a commission established in the states of the North Central region of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI).  ACSI accreditation is a recognized commission by all fifty state boards of education, and provides dual accreditation with several other recognized commissions, including Cognia, Middle States, and North Central-CASI.  

Our most recent accreditation has been extended through December of 2027.  

Not all private schools are accredited.  In fact, depending on the school's affiliation and relationship with a private school organization, or a religious denomination, only about a third of the private schools nationally are fully accredited.  We were very pleased by the accreditation team's evaluation of MCA which commended our school for its Christian emphasis and atmosphere, and its academic excellence.  

End of the School Year Activities

The Spring Concert, which will involve all students, is May 21.  

We have 24 eighth grade students who are graduating this spring.  They will be touring Washington, DC at the end of this month, which is always an exciting event.  In the fall, they will be scattering across the city to high schools like the academic academy at Lane Tech, Timothy Christian, Chicago Hope Academy, Walther Christian, Rickover Naval Academy, St. Patricks, DePaul Prep, Instrinsic, Schurz, Taft and I hope I didn't leave one out.  

There are several students who are in the running for Valedictorian and Salutatorian.  One of the unique aspects of eighth grade is that each student has to write a speech, as if they were going to be the valedictorian of the class.  

What Do You Mean There's Bullying in My Christian School?

The issue of bullying, including defining what it is, identifying it and then dealing with it, has become more common than most parents realize.  When most parents use the term "bullying," they are usually identifying certain kinds of behaviors observed in other children directed at their own child, usually physical incidents such as punching, kicking or pushing, accompanied by verbal expression.  While it is possible that this behavior is a sign of bullying, the definition of the term, and the behavior involved, is much more complicated.  

The definition of the term bullying, according to psychologists, is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.  It is repeated behavior over time.  It must involve the following elements:  

An imbalance of power:  This can include the use of physical strength, access to embarassing information, popularity, or other means which can be used to control others.  

Repetition:  The behavior must be recurring, happening more than once, to be considered bullying.  

Bullying is Difficult to Detect

Bullying takes on several different forms.  Verbal bullying involves name calling, taunting, threats, and the use of inappropriate comments to get a reaction or response.  Most bullies are aware of supervision and are very careful to avoid making their comments where adults or teachers can hear.  If a victim reports verbal bullying, it becomes a word against word situation that requires evidence to support and resolve.  The imbalance of power usually means that even if there are other students who hear and can support the accusation, they generally won't come forward.  

Social Bullying involves leaving someone out on purpose, telling others not to be friends with someone, spreading rumors, or saying something embarassing about someone in public.  This, too, becomes a word against word situation, though most social bullying goes unreported by the victims.  

Physical Bullying is obvious behavior, but almost never detected behavior.  And while it does involve things like hitting, punching, kicking and pushing, it can also involve rude hand gestures, taking someone's things, or threatening physical harm without actually perpetrating it.  

One of the most difficult aspects of the culture that has developed among school aged children and youth which makes bullying difficult to detect is a social code against reporting bullying incidents.  This makes it extremely difficult for kids to report incidents because that is considered "ratting on your friends."  Parents sometimes have trouble understanding this, but it is a direct result of social pressure that is an understood code among the students.  Our disciplinary files contain multiple examples of incidents caught by teachers, who, in spite of having multiple other responsibilities, are perceptive enough to catch the obvious behavior.  But there are far fewer such examples of bullying incidents reported by the victims.   And almost none reported by other students.  Since most bullying takes place in venues away from where there is supervision, unless the victim comes forward, it generally goes undetected.  

But Why is This Happening in a Christian School?  

When Jesus was asked, "What is the greatest commandment," he laid down one of the core principles of the Christian faith.  He said that the commandment to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind," was the greatest, and then he equated the second commantment with the first, and combined the two by saying, "The second is like the first, love your neighbbor as you love yourself."  So the very essence of Christian practice is evidenced by the love each believer has for God, and is demonstrated by the love they have for their neighbor, a term defined as any other human being.  

So, the expectation exists that all children who are enrolled in a Christian school come from a home or church background where they have understood and applied this practice before they come, and their parents are all mature believers who understand this and expect it to be practiced by their children.  

Unfortunately, that is not the case, here, or in any other Christian school anywhere else.  It's not the case in any church, either, because bullying takes place there, among the adults, too.  Being a Christian means one has been forgiven of their sin by acknowledging the sacrifice of Jesus and his divine Lordship.  It does not necessarily mean that everyone who has had this experience is living in the fullness of spiritual maturity.  It's not a guarantee of perfection.  

It's been my own observation, in the more recent years of my experience in Christian school, that parents are more likely to exhibit weakness leading to their abandonment of good judgment when it comes to being honest in evaluating their own children's behavior.  Looking out for their own child's interest has become a common practice among parents, and seeking the church's guidance in developing Christian parenting skills and conviction when it comes to raising their children has become much more rare than it once was.  The kind of discipline once advocated by experts like James Dobson has waned while the influence of secular behavioral scientists like Benjamin Spock has grown among Christian families.  So we have seen an increase in both bullying behavior, and in victimization caused by overprotective parenting.  The principles of the Christian gospel have been thrown out the window in child rearing practice.

No matter how sheltered parents may think their children to be, there are outside inflluences which cause temptation, including the temptation to bully.  Does your child have a cell phone, an I-Pad or a tablet?  Do they spend time watching television or videos or listening to music?  Are they engaged in settings where they interact with other children their age?  Several years ago, the Christian school where I was serving as a middle school principal had a home school cooperative with whom we shared some activities, classes, and chapel once a week.  The biggest issue among the home schooled students was bullying.  Even in that much of a sheltered environment, students were tempted by examples they saw and behavior they observed.  

So How Do We Handle This?  

Most of the bullying incidents that I deal with personally as principal come about as the result of an investigation into some other behavior incident, and not as a result of a direct report.  While we have parents who discuss, among themselves, allegations of bullying, and in some cases we are criticized because their perspective is that we "aren't doing anything about it," the fact of the matter is that we can't do anything about something we don't know about.  Instead of complaining to each other, a direct report would make it a lot easier to handle the problem, and work to stop the bullying.  

So the first step is for parents who believe their child may be a victim of bullying is to report any incident their child may have reported to them, or to encourage their child to report directly to either a teacher or to the principal, any specific incidents with as much detail as they can remember.  All such reports are confidential, every student's confidentiality is protected.  

Parents also need to understand that they are not privileged to know any aspect of the resolution of the problem, including any disciplinary action taken, resulting from a report of bullying.  That is also protected by confidentiality laws.  The assurance we can provide is that we have looked into it, we have confronted it and we have applied what our school policy states are the appropriate consequences.  There is never a circumstance, when a credible report is received, that our response is "not doing anything about it."  

We also try to be proactive, in the direction we take with our instruction in Biblical studies, to address issues from the perspective of the practice of the Christian gospel.  "Loving your neighbor as you love yourself," is a principle that can be demonstrated at school, by letting students known that their classmates and their teacher are their "neighbor."  Being disrespectful to their classmates is not being obedient, and is defined as sin.  The key to successful resolution of bullying issues is sticking to the principles of the Christian gospel, not throwing them out when a child doesn't want to submit.

Moving Forward

We've been working for a while now to get an expert in this field to serve as a resource for our teachers and staff, providing some training in this area, and including parents in this opportunity.  The interest in this is quite widespread, and having someone consult with us is difficult to schedule, since we are specifically looking for someone who has a Christian perspective.  But it is still under consideration and in the meantime, we continue to increase our awareness.  If it is a concern of yours as well, please don't keep it to yourself, because unless we are aware of it, there's not much we can do about it.