About 80 members of the Mount Pisgah Christian School community—including representatives from the Board of Trustees, Executive Leadership Team, faculty, Advancement Council, parents, grandparents, and students—came together for three days in March 2009 and discovered how much we have in common and how deep our commitment to Pisgah runs.

We overwhelmingly affirmed Pisgah’s mission: to provide students an outstanding college-preparatory education grounded in Christian faith and values. We talked, we prayed and we listened to each other. We chose a path that embodies bold aspiration for our future and clear-sighted reality of the difficult economic environment in which we find ourselves today.

After much dialogue and deliberation, we articulated six elements of common ground that we stand behind to guide all our decisions:

We are a Christ-centered mission school that intentionally develops Christian leaders with servants’ hearts. We are guided by the Holy Spirit through prayer and adherence to biblical principles to establish priorities and make decisions.

We will provide an outstanding college preparatory education grounded in the liberal arts tradition, emphasizing both critical thinking skills and factual knowledge, delivered by qualified teachers using systematic and effective methods. We inspire the whole child, focusing on advanced academic development in concert with vital skills for life purpose, leadership, athletics, arts and community service. Our approach allows mission-compatible students to discover and explore their unique God-given gifts so they will be successful in college and in life.

We exercise fiscal responsibility and strategic investment. Our priorities are first to ensure we live by a balanced budget matching operating expenses with revenue earned from tuition and the Excellence Fund. We will raise capital campaign funds for facilities expansion with appropriate ROI, beginning with the completion of the Patriot Athletic Campus (PAC). We also commit to significantly paying down long-term debt by 2020.

We will plan, design, and construct facilities that maximize the advancement of the mission and investment options through the following prioritized criteria:

• Completion of the PAC
• Academic, Arts and Media Center, which includes the elimination of the modular buildings on the East Campus
• Creating a building maintenance reserve fund
• Enhancing facilities on the South Campus

MPCS is committed to provide an environment for managed growth with an intentional focus on maintaining a culture of intimacy through effective communication and relationship building throughout the entire MPCS community.

Pisgah’s faculty culture employs qualified, dedicated, Christian teachers who inspire students to meet academic and personal goals in a supportive, Christ-filled atmosphere. MPCS rewards and retains faculty by providing competitive compensation, opportunities for collegial relationships, and professional growth driven by faculty desire and funded by MPCS.

Our Board of Trustees and leadership are committed to full execution of these common ground elements. Over the next several months, we will convert these into a detailed, robust strategy and operational plan. We commit to sharing the plan regularly with the broader Pisgah community, articulating concrete goals linked to this plan, including metrics by which the community can hold us accountable. We will continue the positive spirit created at our Visioning Conference by enlisting our community in helping to bring this plan to life.