Neither bifocals nor a prescription were needed to improve the vision of Boise Valley Adventist School. All that was needed to improve the school’s vision was a concept and a passionate school board. The vision in reference is not connected with eyesight but rather a desire to target areas in need of improvement to promote the success and growth of BVAS.
The idea began with a concept proposed by Troy Haagenson, Cloverdale Church pastor, that targeted five key areas of education: spiritual growth, marketing, financial stability, academic excellence and facility maintenance. He then challenged school board members to lead those subcommittees and recruit additional members from the school and church family to select areas of greatest need and develop a plan to accomplish or improve those areas.
In the few short months since the vision committee began this process, areas such as improving the registration process, incorporating an open house, updating the aesthetics of the school library, increasing school exposure during church services and expanding the music program have already been addressed.
Additional areas such as increasing community service activities, marketing the school logo, creating a tag line, developing the key learnings, incorporating life skills and increasing project-based learning activities are still to be developed. This process will be ongoing for the next five years with the ultimate goal of seeing growth in enrollment.
“The vision process has been and will continue to be instrumental in creating a facility and atmosphere that is reflective of the school’s philosophy and mission,” says Melanie Lawson, head teacher. She adds that “the term vision means to imagine, and that’s exactly what the vision group has done: imagine a school that’s spiritually sound, academically excellent, aesthetically appealing, financially stable and bursting at the seams.”
