FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

APPY NEW YEAR TO OUR TCA COMMUNITY!

HI pray that you enjoyed a restful and peaceful Christmas with loved ones as we celebrated the birth of our Savior. I am looking forward to a joyful 2023 with great things ahead for TCA.

January 1, 2023, marked six months in Dr. Williams’s tenure as our new head of school. The Board of Trustees is tremendously grateful that God brought Dr. Williams to our school to lead us into our next chapter of excellence. We are also thankful to each and every one of you in the TCA community for embracing Dr. Williams and supporting the important work he is doing at our school.

Six months into this leadership transition seemed like a good time to refresh our community on the role of the Board of Trustees and to share with you an update on the work that the board is currently doing.

Trinity Christian Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. The TCA Board of Trustees is composed of volunteer trustees who are elected by the board after extensive prayer and a thorough vetting process. At its core, the role of the board is, with prayer and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to safeguard and ensure adherence to the mission of the school.

The Board of Trustees carries out its role by conducting long-term strategic planning for the school; overseeing the school’s financial well-being; and hiring, guiding and evaluating the board’s only employee, the head of school. The Board of Trustees is a policy-making, strategic governing board and is not responsible for or involved in the day-to-day operation of the school. Trustees serve as ambassadors, strategic advisors, policymakers and guardians of the school’s mission. We take our role seriously and challenge each other to take off our “parent” or “former parent” hats when entering the boardroom in order to make decisions based on the best interests of TCA.

The TCA Board of Trustees is distinct from two other boards that also play a role in safeguarding the assets of the school. The TCA Foundation is a separate, nonprofit organization with a board of directors charged with overseeing the funds raised to further the mission of TCA. Trojan Real Properties is another organization that holds all of TCA’s real estate in a separate legal entity and is governed by a board charged with overseeing those property holdings. Each of the three boards has a role to play in furthering the mission of TCA, but only the TCA Board of Trustees sets and oversees the strategic direction of the school itself.

Last spring, TCA went through an accreditation process with the Council on Educational Standards and Accountability (CESA). As part of that process, the TCA Board of Trustees committed to make several improvements in our governance process. We agreed to the following: •Formalize an induction and education program for new trustees and for existing trustees to complete every two years •Create an annual board self-evaluation process •Offer board members opportunities for on-going professional development •Focus on building a more diverse board by prayerfully focusing on board members with different career backgrounds, skill sets, ages, genders, ethnicities and races

In addition to these commitments, we also made some changes to our meeting format in an effort to ensure that the board stays focused on high-level, critical strategic issues facing TCA. One way we do that is by devoting a significant part of our board meeting every other month to a specific strategic topic listed within our Strategic Plan.

I speak on behalf of the entire board when I say that it is truly an honor and a privilege to serve as a TCA trustee. We are focused on continually evaluating and implementing board governance best practices as we seek to ensure TCA stays on mission. But most importantly, we are ultimately subject to the authority of our heavenly Father as we prayerfully carry out our duties. The Lord is the one true governor of TCA, and we are thankful for His favor and blessings on His school.

STACEY DORÉ,

Chair, Board of Trustees