excel in school leadership
This cohort is designed for school leaders ready to excel across the seven critical areas that define thriving Christian schools: Mission, Vision, and Values; Board Oversight; Leadership Team; Marketing & Enrollment; Culture and People Management; Programming; and Operational Excellence.
Participants will engage in dynamic sessions exploring how these areas interconnect to create a strong foundation for long-term success. You’ll learn practical strategies to strengthen your school’s mission alignment, foster an impactful team culture, optimize operational efficiency, and implement visionary leadership practices. Leave with actionable insights and tools to elevate your school’s effectiveness and advance its Kingdom mission.
Register today to refine your leadership expertise and strengthen your school for the future!
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.
example sessions
Session #1:
The Authentic Leader is Self Aware
Utilizing the Best-in-Class DiSC and DRIVING FORCES Assessment from TTI – we will drive awareness around strengths and weaknesses, and core motivations.
Presenter
Tony Woodall
Session #2 :
The Authentic Leader Has Heart
Utilizing tools for values clarity – we will discover (or perhaps rediscover) the heart behind why we are leaders, how we lead, and how this all translates into inspirational leadership.
Presenter
Tony Woodall
Session #3:
Building Great Teams: Breaking Through Dysfunction To Win!
Taking timeless lessons from “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, we will explore how to break through common team dysfunctions and help the team win!
Presenter
Tony Woodall & Dr. Gene Frost
Session #4:
Building Great Teams: Be Like Katherine!
Utilizing an assessment based on the amazing CEO Katherine of “The Five Dysfunctions”, we will assess our team building capabilities, and create a plan of action for our own leadership growth.
Presenter
Tony Woodall & Dr. Gene Frost
Session #5:
Creating Clarity: The Plan that actually works!
To fully create clarity, leaders must cast vision, align the team, and operationalize initiatives via a Strategic Planning Process. In this session, we will workshop a “future back” strategic planning approach that begins by creating a view of the world and then develops specific initiatives for your school based on the case for action and the complexity versus impact of each initiative. We will then learn to apply a dual transformation approach to operationalizing the specific initiatives considering available resources (i.e., people and money). Strategic planning requires key stakeholder identification and engagement, knowing your current versus desired culture, and accounting for major areas of growth in your financial plan. The cohort will walk through all these areas and apply tools to their own schools strategic planning process.
Presenter
Phil Strzalka
Session #6:
Developing Leaders Part One: The Nine Box Shuffle
Utilizing the Nine Box management paradigm, we will determine what our leadership team needs, and how to start to build out a growth plan.
Presenter
Tony Woodall & Steve Bult
Session #7:
Developing Leaders Part Two: Key Development Tools
In this session, we will present best-in-class leadership development tools, and which tools might be best to develop your leaders.
Presenter
Tony Woodall & 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.