- What is Christian School Development and why was it founded? CSD was started in 2013 by Dr. John Foreman, a veteran Christian school leader. Over the years, John has been a teacher, coach, curriculum coordinator, guidance counselor, athletic director, adjunct college professor, and, for many years, a Head of School – all in Christian schools.
In 2024, John retired from school administration at an award-winning school to expand CSD to a full-time ministry.
CSD was founded to help K-12 Christian schools succeed at a time when they are desperately needed. Having served on over 30 accreditation teams for Christian school agencies such as ACSI, AACS, and ACTS, John saw a clear pattern of professional needs in Christian schools. CSD was established to help meet these needs and, in doing so, provide a pathway to success and sustainability.
CSD also has a passion to help start new schools in communities where parents currently do not have this option.
- What services does CSD provide?
- New school start-ups
- Human Resources consulting – contracts, handbooks, hiring/ termination, and more)
- Administrative coaching – training – advising
- Executive leadership search – for schools and candidates.
- Interim school leadership – On-site, assist the school in executive leadership search if needed.
- How does CSD work?
Once the school (church, parent group) contacts CSD, a no-cost Zoom or phone consultation is arranged. During this conversation, needs are discussed with initial intended outcomes identified. Within a week, CSD will provide a proposal to address the identified needs along with estimated costs.
Should both parties agree with the proposal, a timeline is established, and a CSD consultant is assigned based on the identified goals.
- Is the partnership with CSD expensive?
Securing the professional services of any consulting team does have a cost. When comparing services, our clients find that CSD is far more affordable and brings much more of a “boots on the ground” partnership with their ministry. Our rates are posted on our website: www.christianschooldevelopment.com
- What is the CSD strategy to help launch a new school?
Starting a Christian school is an exciting and community-changing process. It takes planning, hard work, human and financial resources – and an experienced partner to help guide you from the drawing board to the first day of school. Unlike many others, CSD is a “boots on the ground” approach to starting a school. We will know you- and you will know us.
When you look online, you will find many resources to help you start a K-12 Christian school, including videos, books, packages, and more. Many of these are of good quality and, at first, may appear very affordable. In reviewing such options, two things are typically missing: who will guide us through the entire process, and how will we pay for start-up costs until tuition revenue is generated?
When working with CSD, we establish a schedule (usually 9-12 months) that will guide you from the “drawing board to the first day of school,” as we like to say. You will not work with a call center or a sales rep from another state. You will be assigned an experienced Christian school leader who has “been there and done that.” No learning curve or OJT for our CSD staff, we hit the ground running and work with you all the way. In recent years, CSD has been instrumental in launching multiple new schools and looks forward to assisting with even more in the years to come.
Of course, people always want to know about cost. Our model for a basic K-12 Christian school is in the $55,000-$65,000 range. And, as with other aspects of school management, you will have experienced CSD fundraisers to help with this vital step as well!