Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Library Books
PCAG now has a library! Thanks to the Ray family of The Alcoves in Abbeville who donated over one thousand books to the PCAG library. Several of our steering committee members spent the day arranging and reviewing the selection. We have purchased several book shelves to be used in the library at our new location. The selection of books ranges from K-4 story books to challenging books about biochemistry for our high school students. Check back in the next week for some new developments with PCAG!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Professionalism
A Word from Our Steering Committee Chair on Board Professionalism
We as a Steering Committee see this school as a resource we are developing not just for our own children, but we intend to develop a strong foundation that will be a resource for many generations of families in the Greenwood area. Our Principal, Mrs. Joan Gore, is working very hard to provide a strong faculty and school policies that will serve the school and its families for many years. The Steering Committee is also working hard to make sure its method of doing business as a fledgling board sets a foundation that will serve future classes of our elected School Board well.
We see the makeup and practices of the School Board as critical to the long-term success of Palmetto Christian Academy, and as a result, we are educating ourselves on the best practices of school boards. An effective board must educate itself and evaluate its own performance regularly.
We recently reviewed some of the conclusions of Chait, Holland, and Taylor in Improving the Performance of Governing Boards. They conclude that the most effective governing boards of educational institutions practice the following six competencies:
1. The board understands and takes into account the culture and norms of the organization it governs.
2. The board takes the necessary steps to ensure that trustees are knowledgeable about the institution, the profession, and the board’s roles, responsibilities, and performance.
3. The board nurtures the development of trustees as a working group, attends to the board’s collective welfare, and fosters a sense of cohesiveness.
4. The board recognizes the complexities and subtleties of issues and accepts ambiguity and uncertainty as healthy preconditions for critical discussion.
5. The board accepts as a primary responsibility the need to develop and maintain healthy relationships among major constituencies.
6. The board helps the institution envision a direction and shape a strategy.
In response to some of the training we have received, we are beginning to plan our meeting agendas around our institutional distinctives. This will help us maintain focus on our core values as we make decisions and plan for the long term health of Palmetto Christian Academy. As we begin succession planning in anticipation of an elected board in the fall of 2008, we are developing a culture of professionalism and best practices for our board.
- Randy Cain MD
Chairman of the Steering Committee
We as a Steering Committee see this school as a resource we are developing not just for our own children, but we intend to develop a strong foundation that will be a resource for many generations of families in the Greenwood area. Our Principal, Mrs. Joan Gore, is working very hard to provide a strong faculty and school policies that will serve the school and its families for many years. The Steering Committee is also working hard to make sure its method of doing business as a fledgling board sets a foundation that will serve future classes of our elected School Board well.
We see the makeup and practices of the School Board as critical to the long-term success of Palmetto Christian Academy, and as a result, we are educating ourselves on the best practices of school boards. An effective board must educate itself and evaluate its own performance regularly.
We recently reviewed some of the conclusions of Chait, Holland, and Taylor in Improving the Performance of Governing Boards. They conclude that the most effective governing boards of educational institutions practice the following six competencies:
1. The board understands and takes into account the culture and norms of the organization it governs.
2. The board takes the necessary steps to ensure that trustees are knowledgeable about the institution, the profession, and the board’s roles, responsibilities, and performance.
3. The board nurtures the development of trustees as a working group, attends to the board’s collective welfare, and fosters a sense of cohesiveness.
4. The board recognizes the complexities and subtleties of issues and accepts ambiguity and uncertainty as healthy preconditions for critical discussion.
5. The board accepts as a primary responsibility the need to develop and maintain healthy relationships among major constituencies.
6. The board helps the institution envision a direction and shape a strategy.
In response to some of the training we have received, we are beginning to plan our meeting agendas around our institutional distinctives. This will help us maintain focus on our core values as we make decisions and plan for the long term health of Palmetto Christian Academy. As we begin succession planning in anticipation of an elected board in the fall of 2008, we are developing a culture of professionalism and best practices for our board.
- Randy Cain MD
Chairman of the Steering Committee
Monday, January 14, 2008
Registration for students is open!
Palmetto Christian Academy of Greenwood is now accepting applications! Student applications can be downloaded from the Admissions page or you may call the school at 554-6272 to have an application mailed. The Admissions page contains information which will help you through the process.
The steering committee is committed to making tuition affordable to as many students as possible and has designated 10% of the budget for financial aid. If you would like to apply for financial aid, please call the school for a financial aid application. Financial aid recommendations will be made by a third party, Financial Family Needs Assessment (FFNA). All applications for financial aid should be submitted to FFNA by April 30. Based on their recommendations, awards will be made by mid-June. Students do need to be enrolled in Palmetto Christian Academy in order to apply for aid.
We are excited to take this next step in our journey! We still have many miles to go, but we look forward to traveling on with families that share our vision of education that nurtures students academically and spiritually. Please continue to pray for wisdom for us and for parents and teachers who are considering joining Palmetto Christian Academy in this endeavor.
The steering committee is committed to making tuition affordable to as many students as possible and has designated 10% of the budget for financial aid. If you would like to apply for financial aid, please call the school for a financial aid application. Financial aid recommendations will be made by a third party, Financial Family Needs Assessment (FFNA). All applications for financial aid should be submitted to FFNA by April 30. Based on their recommendations, awards will be made by mid-June. Students do need to be enrolled in Palmetto Christian Academy in order to apply for aid.
We are excited to take this next step in our journey! We still have many miles to go, but we look forward to traveling on with families that share our vision of education that nurtures students academically and spiritually. Please continue to pray for wisdom for us and for parents and teachers who are considering joining Palmetto Christian Academy in this endeavor.
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