applicable to Christian schools. 2 First, vision
should motivate and inspire. Vision state-
ments need to set the bar for optimum
performance and goals within the
school. Second, vision should push
staff and faculty to action. Your
staff and faculty should be
bought into and invested in
your school’s why in order to
pursue the vision and foster
an environment that encour-
ages their involvement. Third,
vision should operate on
multiple levels. Vision state-
ments need to be applicable
to all levels and job functions
within the school. Finally,
vision statements should be
short and to the point. Perhaps
the most pivotal piece of creat-
ing a vision statement is that if
staff and faculty have difficulty
remembering the vision statement,
then the vision does not exist within
their practice. In order for successful
vision and mission fulfillment to take place,
all employees should have ownership of each.
The Journey
for a Christian education. For this reason, the pursuit of a
school’s vision and mission fulfillment is even more crucial
and bears even more weight than any other.
Before a Christian school can set about on the road to
success, a vision must first be created. Why does it exist, and
where does it seek to be in the future? A vision statement is
often synonymous with a purpose statement. With the end
in mind, the road on which all decisions are made becomes
a little straighter.
Shockley-Zalabak, Morreale, and Hackman identified
four core purposes for vision statements that are certainly
The journey of pursuing vision fulfillment begins with
the day-to-day practices and operations. Mission state-
ments are typically longer in nature but are the practical,
daily ways staff, faculty, and administration pursue fulfill-
ing the vision in and out of the classroom. When hiring and
retaining staff and faculty, leadership must seek individuals
who desire to be mission fit and desire to put the mission
into practice each day in whatever capacity they serve.
One of the biggest pieces, and one often forgotten in the
consideration or assessment of vision and mission fulfill-
ment, is the culture and climate that exists. Like vision and
mission, culture and climate are often mistakenly used
interchangeably. The culture of a school is the why of an
organization. It is simply the personality of a school and
the “unwritten mission statement.” 3 The climate is what
the school does and can be referred to as the attitude of
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