12 May A Word From Dr. Satterly—May 12, 2022
Dear WA Community,
Every summer the school’s leadership team develops five or six annual goals which are in turn approved by the school board. These goals help set priorities, drive action, and provide short-term performance indicators. They are couched within our strategic plan and are impacted by survey results and industry benchmarks. One of our goals this year simply reads—“invest in faculty.” To be fair, this goal has four clarifying and accompanying bullet points. The first is related to compensation and the second is regarding faculty training, namely worldview development. Recently we implemented a phased initiative to offer the highest compensation program among Christian schools in Florida. While we are excited about this new initiative, the second point, worldview training, commands our attention.
A worldview can be thought of as the lens through which one looks and each of us has one. The question, then, is how shall our worldview be shaped? All too often, we allow our worldview to be formed by contemporary culture rather than intentionally crafting it. A significant part of a robust Christian education is establishing a proper foundation for the cultivation of a biblical worldview. The Christian school is an institution with the means, motive, and opportunity to help students cultivate an appropriate worldview. We also recognize that the home and church are integral parts of this endeavor.
That means, then, that those of us who work at Westminster Academy must first have a properly formed and functional biblical worldview. It also means that we have to find ways to connect with the home and church to foster this critical process. Therefore, as part of this annual goal, we launched the Westminster Academy Worldview Institute back in the fall. It is why a significant part of our faculty training time this school year has been devoted to worldview development informed by eight sessions produced and presented during in-service days. These sessions have been recorded to be used with new teachers in the future. You may view a brief excerpt here. As we continue implementation, strengthening partnerships among home and church, and linking with students in chapel and spiritual formation activities will only serve to sharpen our focus on what it means to live as Christians in a secular world.
To God be the Glory!
Joel Satterly
Headmaster