By Jeff Keaton
Renewanation Founder & CEO
Characteristics
of a Vibrant
Christian School
Part One in a Series
T
HROUGHOUT MY LIFETIME, I’ve had the
privilege of being around and benefiting from many
Christian schools. As a child going into the third
grade, I attended my first Christian school in New Albany,
Indiana. My father started Clearfork Christian Academy as
a response to his conviction that his nine children should
receive a Christian worldview education. I am deeply grate-
ful for my father’s insight at a time when very few children
were receiving weekday Christian education. I went on to
attend several other Christian schools as my dad moved
from one ministry assignment to another. In 2002, I was
privileged to lead the charge to start Parkway Christian
Academy in Roanoke, Virginia. Watching PCA grow to
nearly 400 students in seven years was both exhilarating
and exhausting as we tried to meet the ever increasing
demands of a growing student body. In 2007, God gave me
the vision of Renewanation. Over the last few years, I have
become much better acquainted with the Christian school
movement in the United States. I have met with numbers of
36
school boards and administrative teams and have spoken to
many groups of parents.
As I have traveled the country connecting with schools,
I’ve formed some opinions concerning what a healthy or
vibrant Christian school looks like. All of the schools I have
visited are passionate about giving children a Christian
worldview and have great people sacrificing immensely in
order to accomplish their noble mission. However, from
my perspective, the Christian school movement is facing
serious challenges in part because there are not enough
vibrant Christian schools. Too many Christian schools are
just barely existing, and too many are closing their doors
every year.
At Renewanation we believe God has called us to be a
part of creating a new Christian education movement. This
movement includes Christian schools, homeschools, and
ministries reaching students in non-Christian schools. We
plan to help start many new schools as well as see many
existing schools revitalized.