Mission-Driven Leadership
In the Christian School
Cohort for Best Practices for the Christian School ™
excel in school leadership
(Cohort previously named “Leadership: 7 Areas of Expertise”)
Strong leadership is essential for a thriving Christian school, and this cohort will equip you with the strategies needed to lead with clarity, purpose, and mission. Through engaging sessions, you will explore key areas such as defining and reinforcing your school’s mission, hiring and developing mission-aligned faculty, strengthening board leadership, and navigating the challenges of fundraising.
Led by experienced school leaders, this cohort will help you refine your approach to leadership, ensuring that your time, priorities, and culture-setting efforts align with the long-term success of your school. Whether you are a seasoned Head of School or new to the role, you’ll gain practical tools and insights to enhance your leadership impact.
Register today to lead with confidence and advance your school’s mission with purpose!
Please Note: Sessions for BPI 2025 are still being finalized. The sessions listed below are examples from 2024 and may be subject to change, but they provide a preview of the types of learning experiences you can expect.
2025 sessions
Session #1:
Mission, Vision, and Values
Establishing clarity is crucial for your school community. This session will demonstrate the importance of having a clear mission that drives everything your school does.
Presenter
Steve Bult
Session #2 :
Hiring to the Mission
The best way to carry out our school’s mission is to ensure that we hire individuals who love our mission and have the ability to carry it out. This session will focus on ensuring that we select the right people, grow them and retain them.
Presenter
Steve Bult
Session #3:
Leading the Board to Achieve your mission
The relationship between the Board and the HOS is the most important relationship in a Christian school. This session will address selection of trustees, training of trustees, and helping trustees move from “here to there”.
Presenter
Steve Bult
Session #4:
Fundraising to your Mission
Fundraising is often one of the issues that are most challenging for a HOS, especially those of us who are trained as educators. Fundraising is also one of the most important things a HOS must do well. In this session, we will learn about the “science and strategy” that is key to effective fundraising.
Presenter
Steve Bult
Session #5:
The HOS's most important roles in achieving the mission
Few people will tell us as a HOS how to spend our time or what should guide us in our habits and in setting culture in our school that will be most effective in achieving a school’s mission. This session will include some of the most important lessons learned in a career that includes 25 years in school leadership.
Presenter
Steve Bult
Faculty
Steve Bult
Head of School | Wheaton Academy, West Chicago, IL
🎓 Educational Background
Calvin College — B.A.
Governors State University — M.A.
💼 Professional Experience
Steve Bult has dedicated 29 years to Christian education, beginning as a Social Studies teacher in California before serving as a teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal at Chicago Christian High School. He also taught as an adjunct professor at Trinity Christian College during this time. In 2006, Steve joined Wheaton Academy as Principal, later becoming Associate Head of School, and, in 2018, the 39th Head of School. Under his leadership, Wheaton Academy has embraced a Christ-centered learning community, with initiatives like the Professional Learning Community philosophy and the Living Curriculum Teacher Development Model (LCTDM™)—a unique model for teacher evaluation and strategic compensation.
💬 Personal Message
Steve is passionate about creating a vibrant, Christ-centered educational environment that integrates faith with learning. His commitment to supporting and equipping educators is foundational to his leadership at Wheaton Academy, where he continues to collaborate with colleagues to foster a thriving school community.
Phil Strzalka
Executive Director | Wheaton Academy Institute, West Chicago, IL
Phil brings more than 25 years of experience as an attorney and a management consultant developing and implementing people and operational solutions at educational institutions and other not-for-profit organizations across the country. His deep experience includes 100s of projects involving strategic planning, performance improvement, organizational design, business process redesign, and talent/leadership development for administrators, faculty, and staff. He has grown to become a regular thought leader, author, and speaker.
“I strongly believe that Christian educators have never been so well positioned to make an impact. It is my honor to currently serve as the Institute’s Executive Director. Soli Deo Gloria!”
Tony Woodall
Founder | Rootstock, Winfield, IL
Like many companies, Rootstock was born out of passion and necessity. During his twenty years of delivering substantial bottom-line results in sales, marketing and brand strategy – Tony “kind of stunk” (his words) as a leader. He “wasn’t the worst leader of all time” (his words again) but after falling short yet again to get his teams to gel, he took a break from leading and went back to ‘“just selling”. Over time a nagging feeling that he had to get back to leading got the better of him. Humbled by his shortcomings, he sought to learn. Early in the journey he became utterly obsessed with all things leaders and team. He became thoroughly convinced that a key is the ability to navigate change with genuine leadership. He’s now dedicating his life and career to helping leaders and organizations thrive in high impact moments.
Tony’s Special Skills and Certifications:
- Routinely delivers that “AHA!” moment
- Distills the complex into vital simplicity
- Sees the best in people and gets them to believe in what he sees
- Transformational Public Speaker (inspires you to change, not just feel good about being inspired)
- Certified Leadership Coach with Discovery Coaching Services
- VAA with TTI Success Insights
- Trained practitioner in Human Centered Design through LUMA Institute
Dr. Gene Frost
Executive Director | Wheaton Academy Foundation, West Chicago, IL
Dr. Gene Frost is an alumnus of Wheaton College, where he majored in religious studies. Gene received his divinity degree from Northern Seminary and his doctorate in education from Northern Illinois University. He began his career as a youth pastor and Bible teacher in a Christian school, then spent 22 years in the business world. His diverse business experience included being a pit trader on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, a corporate trainer, and a human resources director for a company of 700 employees. His last ten years in business were spent as President and CEO of an educational mentoring and software company. Gene returned to his lifelong passion of Christian schooling by serving as Head of School at Wheaton Academy, West Chicago, Illinois, from 2006-2018. Wheaton Academy is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected evangelical Christian secondary schools. Gene has authored two books entitled, Learning from the Best: Growing Greatness in the Christian School (ACSI, 2007) and Learning from the Best Volume Two: Growing Greatness that Endures in the Christian School (ACSI, 2014).
Gene now serves as the Executive Director of the Wheaton Academy Foundation and as an executive coach for the Wheaton Academy Institute. The Wheaton Academy Institute leverages the experience and success of Wheaton Academy for the benefit of other Christian schools. The Institute sponsors an annual Best Practices Conference for the Christian School™ and an International Student Program conference. Other areas under the umbrella of the Institute are curricula, publishing, and consulting with other Christian schools. Gene continues to speak and consult with Christian schools all across America.
Gene and his wife Barbara have 15 grandchildren aged 13 and under, one granddog and one grandcat. Barb serves as the administrative assistant for the Foundation.