WHERE DID THE TIME GO?
If you’re a parent of school-aged children, try this: count how many summers you have left before your child graduates from high school. For many families, it’s fewer than a dozen. That moment, watching them cross the stage to receive a diploma, will be here before you know it.
I often encourage parents to pause and ask, “What do I want to be true about my child on graduation day?” Once you can picture it, you can begin working backward, making intentional decisions today that shape that future.
One of the most important is who you partner with in your child’s education. Every school produces a particular kind of graduate. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, once put it this way: “The books you read and the people you spend time with will determine who you become.” School is a perfect example. Between kindergarten and 12th grade, your child will spend more than 16,000 hours with educators and read around 200 books. Those hours shape hearts and minds.
At Indian Rocks Christian School, we take that partnership seriously. Our aim is to graduate students with sound minds, servant hearts, and skilled hands—young people trained to think clearly, to look beyond themselves toward others, and to do their work well, whatever their calling.
I’ve written more about all of this here. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the rest, and be reminded that your child only graduates once. Let’s make the most of every hour together at IRCS.
If you’re a parent of school-aged children, try this small exercise: count how many summers you have left before your child graduates from high school. For many families, it’s fewer than a dozen. That moment, watching them walk across the stage to receive a diploma, will be here before you know it.
I often encourage parents to pause and ask a clarifying question: “What do I want to be true about my child on graduation day?” Once you have that picture clearly in mind, you can begin working backward, making intentional decisions today that will help shape that future.
One of the most important of those decisions is who you partner with in your child’s education. Every school produces a particular kind of graduate. So the questions worth asking are these: What kind of young person do I want to raise? Does a given school have a clear vision of the type of student it’s helping to form? And does that vision align with what my family values most?
These questions matter more than we sometimes realize. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, once said, “The books you read and the people you spend time with will determine who you become.” School is a perfect illustration of that truth. Between kindergarten and 12th grade, your child will spend more than 16,000 hours with educators and read around 200 books. Those hours don’t just fill a transcript—they shape hearts and minds.
Research bears this out. When a school’s values align with those of a child’s home, students tend to perform better academically, behave more positively, and grow into more satisfied, engaged adults. Alignment isn’t a luxury; it’s a formative force.
Sound Minds, Servant Hearts, Skilled Hands
At Indian Rocks Christian School, we take the partnership between home and school seriously. Our aim is to graduate students with sound minds, servant hearts, and skilled hands. Why these three?
Sound minds. In a world full of noise and confusion, we want students who can think clearly and critically. Research shows that critical thinking actually helps reduce anxiety—there’s peace to be found in learning to reason well. We want students trained to think about what they’re thinking about.
Servant hearts. When students shift their focus from themselves toward others, they become more empathetic, more resilient, and more emotionally healthy. The goal isn’t for students to think less of themselves, but to think of themselves a little less. That small shift changes everything.
Skilled hands. Whether in academics, athletics, the arts, or the quiet work of everyday life, doing things well builds confidence and a sense of purpose. One of my favorite quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. captures it beautifully: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, all of heaven and earth should pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'” Dignity is found not in the prestige of the task, but in the excellence and heart we bring to it.
These qualities don’t appear by accident. They’re the result of intentional decisions made every day—by families and by schools working in step with one another. At IRCS, we’ve spent 40 years refining our approach, and we remain committed to walking alongside parents in the shared work of Christian education.
Stewardship, Not Salesmanship
When I talk with parents exploring their options, I tell them plainly: this isn’t a sales pitch. It’s about stewardship. You have been given a God-given responsibility to choose what kind of education your child receives and who will help provide it. Our job is simply to be clear about who we are, what we value, and what kind of graduates we’re helping to shape—so that you can make a wise and prayerful decision for your family.
Thankfully, we live in a place where families have the freedom to make those choices. Pinellas County, Florida, is a wonderful place to raise a family and invest in your child’s future. The faithful foundation and exciting future of IRCS thrill me each day. I hope you’ll carry this reminder with you: your child only graduates from high school once. Make the most of every hour until then.
