Stewardship, our Word of the Week, is important at James River, and something we take seriously. It is defined as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.”* As a non-profit, charitable organization nearly everything we do at James River involves some form of stewardship.
We champion our students’ growth as scholars, leaders, and citizens, and we cherish them as individuals. Our teachers spend a great deal of time getting to know their students and often customize lessons to better fit their learning needs. Our educators know each child as a unique individual, caring for and supporting them academically and socially/emotionally. Subject matter mastery is emphasized over “getting a good grade.” This guidance and support stays with students throughout their years here and beyond.
James River stewards the relationships within our community through regular and consistent communication. This includes holding parent-teacher conferences, allowing parents continuous access to their student’s progress, sending weekly and other all-school emails, messages from individual teachers, the school website, and even social media channels.
Financial responsibility is another facet of our stewardship. The school endeavors to responsibly manage its assets (buildings, grounds, and equipment) through regular schedules of maintenance, repair, and replacement. Our budget is thoughtfully and carefully prepared each year, making sure that we make the best use of each dollar spent.
Stewardship of our donors to the Cardinal Annual Fund and past capital campaigns is another focus for James River. In addition to thanking donors with acknowledgement letters, phone calls, and notes, we publish our Annual Report on Giving to publicly thank those who support our mission through donations. This report is printed and mailed to members of our community and posted to our website. We enjoy sharing with the community the impact their donations have had on our ability to fulfill our mission through our social media posts and email updates. Support for the Cardinal Annual Fund is greatly appreciated and impacts every aspect of carrying out our mission.
As we move through this pandemic, we prioritize the wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff. Our carefully prepared precautions and COVID-19 protocols have all been part of our overall stewardship of the trust parents, employees, and community members have placed in us.
Careful, thoughtful, and conservative, in the truest sense of the word--conserving, protecting, saving--these ways of thinking are so typical of James River. We ceaselessly look for ways to improve, and we strategically hold the course when it is best to do so. And, always, we look for what is optimal for the school, for our community, and most importantly--our students. This is stewardship and so much more than a Word of the Week.
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*https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stewardship