Head of School Blog

Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, once said something that's been sitting with me for months: "The person you will be in five years is the total of the people you spend time with and the books you read." Two questions are hiding inside that quote. First, what does the next five years look like if we don't read at all? And second, the quote isn't just about individuals. It's about families. It's about schools. It's about all of us, together, raising this next generation of Eagles. I shared this thought recently with a room full of leaders at a [...]

The following is an excerpt adapted from Dr. Asa Walker’s commencement address to the Indian Rocks Christian School Class of 2026. Dr. Walker challenged graduates to embody the type of leadership that would make an impact in an unpredictable future.  Master Three Arts for Uncertain Times In complex moments of historic cultural change, leadership must become dynamic and nimble. You will need to master three arts. Not skills; arts. A skill can be mastered precisely; an art always relies on wise interpretation and implementation, sometimes in imprecise ways and amidst great uncertainty. It requires first a virtuous practitioner: virtue in [...]

Honor, Sacrifice, and the Celebration of Freedom: Why Memorial Day Matters at IRCS As Memorial Day approaches, I look forward to one of my favorite holidays each year. Part of that comes from nostalgia. I grew up in New Jersey, where “going down the shore” is a treasured tradition. Memorial Day weekend marked the unofficial beginning of summer. The beach towns came back to life. Shops reopened, restaurants filled up, and families gathered after a long winter season. For educators, it also signals the transition from the fast pace of the school year into the slower rhythms of summer. But [...]

Presidential Growth: Lessons on High Standards from a Mother Who Raised a President What type of person will your child grow up to be? What will they do with their lives? Every parent I know is consumed with and sometimes stressed about those two questions. A couple of weeks ago, all of my children were out of the house, and the answers to those two questions are becoming clearer each day for my wife and me. Humbly, I am very proud of all three of our children. They are thriving. The future for your children and the answer to those [...]

We Have Forgotten How Important it is to Remember The final book of the Bible, Book of Revelation, was completed around AD 95, nearly two thousand years ago. Yet Scripture’s relevance today is striking. One example: we are commanded to remember roughly 170 times. Why? Because remembering is essential to faith, and in many ways, we are forgetting how to do it well. How many phone numbers do you have memorized? I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I know my wife’s number and not much else. I still remember my childhood landline, but not my children’s numbers. When I lived [...]

Don’t Teach Your Child to “Follow Their Passion” My son said it quietly when he was 13. We were driving home from school when he tried to explain that he didn’t want to attend summer football workouts anymore. He wanted to try cross-country instead. He had lost interest in helmets and shoulder pads and was drawn to the runners’ community. That was in 2017. Years later, he earned a college scholarship to run and earned all-conference honors in his senior year. At the time, though, none of that was visible. He was simply curious about something new. A few years [...]

ARE YOU READY…TO RAISE AN ADULT? At Indian Rocks Christian School, we are deeply committed to our Portrait of a Graduate. Cultivating sound minds, servant hearts, and skilled hands is not a slogan—it is how we prepare students to pursue God’s call on their lives in any industry or ministry. But here’s a quiet truth: much of what prepares a student for adulthood happens between the cracks—outside the formal curriculum and beyond what any portrait can fully capture. I was reminded of this in June of 2023 while attending a college parent orientation for one of our children. The vice [...]

Dreaming and Investing: The Journey to an Exceptional Reality for Students   When I was eight years old, my dad hung a basketball hoop on a tree in our backyard—but he placed it low. He wanted me to learn the proper fundamentals, to experience the joy of seeing the ball actually go in. I spent countless hours out there, imagining buzzer-beaters and championship moments. That backyard hoop became a place where my imagination could run wild. As I got older, I started dreaming bigger—I wanted to dunk. So my dad pulled me aside and taught me a few simple exercises [...]

Basketball, Bows, and Arrows: The importance of vision-casting for your child Mo Johnson was a postal worker in my hometown with a barrel chest and a big afro. He was a faithful husband, loving father, and deacon at my church. But to me, he was Coach Mo, my eighth-grade basketball coach, which made him very important. I’ll never forget him, because he was the first person besides my dad to cast a vision for what I could be. After a few good games, he pulled me aside and said, “Hobbsie, you could be good at this if you worked at [...]

The Secret to Your Child’s Success? A Strong Work Ethic As parents, we want to prepare our children for a prosperous future. One of the most powerful gifts we can give them isn’t a gadget, a tutor, or even an excellent education, though all those can help. The secret to lifelong success is much simpler: teach your child to work hard. Thomas Edison, the famous inventor of the light bulb and the motion picture camera, held over 1,000 patents. His company, Bell Labs, was one of the most innovative in history. When asked about the reason for his success, Edison [...]