Client Spotlight: First Presbyterian Day School

Canaan Group & Associates was delighted to come alongside First Presbyterian Day School to help the school’s leadership prepare a strategic plan that charts the next 3-5 years of curricular, co-curricular, spiritual, and academic growth and vitality. 

The infant through sixth-grade elementary school in Jackson, Mississippi, uses three pillars in its mission statement to describe its impact on children: planting seeds of Christlikeness in the hearts of children, pursuing excellence in academics, and preparing students for future service in God’s kingdom in their homes, churches, and professions.

Teaching through the lens of a Biblical worldview, teachers and staff foster Christlikeness in young hearts while pursuing high-quality academics and rigorous, biblically integrated curriculum. Students are prepared to serve not only in their new schools upon graduation, but also in their homes, churches, and future professions. 

FPDS has a strong reputation in the community and is deeply loved by generations of alumni, but the school faces increased competition in the marketplace, and its location in a downtown church isn’t proximate to the growing areas of Jackson. When Jonathan Lancaster joined FPDS as the new head of school, the team realized that they needed to double down on their distinctives, be proactive in enrollment, grow fundraising efforts, and evaluate capital projects. 

If you know us at CG&A, you know that we love a good plan. To balance priorities, reach goals, and avoid rabbit trails and wheel spinning, FPDS needed a strategic plan. 

“CG&A provided the structure and timeline to take broad desires and turn them into actionable deliverables,” says Jonathan. “They brought in experience and context in a way that made us feel like they understood our mission. I would highly recommend Christian schools and organizations to leverage the knowledge and expertise of Canaan Group.”

We did an internal assessment of FPDS in the first half of 2025 and then worked with the board and leadership on the strategic roadmap over the following school year. We hope to watch FPDS flourish and produce many more generations of well-equipped students and proud alumni, and it’s our honor to have played a role in the plan that guides the school’s current season.