The Research Is In: The 5 Questions Christian School Leaders Across the Country Are Asking

If you’ve been following Blueprint Schools over the summer, you’ve noticed our new “Confessions of a School Leader” podcast series. One of the reasons we started this new series is because we were hearing the same things over and over again from school leaders: principals, early childhood directors, teachers, school board members, and pastors. We wanted leaders everywhere to understand that their “confessions” (concerns, worries, fears) were remarkably consistent. While we often feel alone in our problems, we’re really not. And when we share them together, we often find ways of helping each other forward.

We wanted to take our observations one step further, so our team launched a research project. Over the last month, I’ve been interviewing school leaders from all over the country. Some are from small schools, others from large ministries. Some are new to leadership, some are smack dab in the middle of it, and others are looking to retire. From Florida to California, from small rural towns to big metropolitan cities, we sat down with a wide variety of school leaders to hear about their needs, concerns, perspectives, and hopes. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed these conversations.

My biggest takeaway?

Remarkably, we’re all asking VERY similar questions about our faith-based schools right now.

Going into these interviews, I expected conversations about financial models, enrollment, marketing, and fundraising. Those topics certainly came up, but they weren't the heart of the discussion. Instead, I heard deep, thoughtful questions about the future of Christian education.

While I was planning to use these interviews as research for the future of Blueprint Schools, I was so impressed by the conversations that I knew the research needed to be shared: first here in this article and perhaps later in a more comprehensive report.

For now, here are the five questions, concerns, and worries I heard again and again as I talked with school leaders this summer.

1. "How do we figure out what’s next?"

Not next week.

Not next semester.

The future.

Leaders are wrestling with vision, identity, purpose, and sustainability. They're asking what Christian education will look like ten or twenty years from now and whether they're building toward that future intentionally. They said things like:

"I don't know what's next."

"We are at a precipice right now—we need to take the next step."

"We can't just continue the way we've been. What does that mean? What direction do we need to go?"

2. "How do we help our parents parent?"

This theme surfaced in nearly every conversation.

Leaders described families who are overwhelmed, exhausted, uncertain, and often hesitant to establish healthy boundaries. They weren't criticizing parents; they were expressing genuine compassion for the challenges families face today.

Several leaders wondered whether one of the greatest ministries of the next decade won't happen inside the classroom at all.

It may be helping parents become confident, faithful parents.

"There has been this permissiveness in society that disrespect is okay. The child has SO much say."

"My heart bleeds for family ministry."

"So many parents just don't know how to parent."

"It comes from a good place—they want to make their children happy. But then how do children learn to cope? How do they learn to obey?"

3. "Do we really understand 21st-century education?"

This conversation was much bigger than AI.

Leaders talked about curriculum, assessment, instructional practices, intervention, technology, and the rapid pace of educational research.

Many admitted they weren't sure they had a complete picture…and that they didn’t know where to start to bring it all together, let alone have the time to do it.

How do we preserve what has always made Christian education exceptional while preparing students for a world that looks dramatically different than it did even five years ago?

"There are so many things that are changing; I can't keep up."

"I feel inadequate at my job every day... the curriculum world? I don't even know where to start."

"Keeping things we've always done well... AND getting kids ready for the future."

4. "Where will more teachers and leaders come from?"

Staffing wasn't simply about filling open positions. It was about the future of ministry leadership. How do we recruit, develop, mentor, and retain outstanding Christian educators?

"Where are the teachers going to come from?"

"We need all these teachers... and now what do we do?"

“If large schools in voucher states take all the teachers, will there be any left for those of us in small schools in non-voucher states?”

5. "How can we be strategic when we have so much on our plates?"

Leaders described days filled with emails, discipline, staffing issues, facilities, meetings, accreditation, marketing, budgets, and unexpected fires.

By the end of the day, there was little time left to ask the bigger questions like “Where are we going?” and “What are we building?” and “How do we become healthier five years from now than we are today?

"There is so much in the day-to-day that this is a struggle to find the time to be really forward-thinking."

"It feels like anytime you try to move forward, then a fire pops up."

"There is SO MUCH MORE on principals' plates than 20-25 years ago."

Leaders long for a clear identity, a strategic pathway, and a strong vision for moving forward…that’s not cookie cutter. They believe in the uniqueness of their community, opportunities, and challenges. They don't want a one-size-fits-all solution. They want a pathway built for their school, their community, and this moment in history.

What We Learned

I admire the questions that our leaders are asking right now. They are the deep, thoughtful, rooted questions that will bring us out of the reactive mode so many of us have been in since COVID or even before. What’s clear is this: it’s time to stop fixing and reacting and chasing.

It’s time to start building the future of Christian education, together.

Let’s goooooooooooo!

Let’s Start Answering Some of These Questions Together

Did this article resonate with you? Schedule a free consultation with Blueprint Schools. Share your experience and your questions. Borrow our strategic brain and third party perspective for an hour or so. Together we can find the best, next step for your team (whether that includes Blueprint support or not!). We love helping schools create a clear, compelling Blueprint for your school’s future.