Faculty and staff at Bethesda Academy, a successful school for boys in grades 6 through 12 emphasizing a love of God, a love of learning and a strong work ethic, recently earned the Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification. Lean Six Sigma is a powerful process improvement methodology successfully adopted by many service and manufacturing organizations to significantly improve their bottom line and customer experience. Within an educational institution like Bethesda Academy, there are many areas for applying Lean Six Sigma principles and techniques, including streamlining student admissions and improving crop yields at the organic farming program. 

“I am proud that our whole organization participated, not just management,” said David Tribble, president of Bethesda. “This a testament not only to the high quality standards Bethesda expects of its employees, but also to our staff’s commitment to improving processes for our students, alumni and their families.”

The customized training program was facilitated by Peter J. Sherman, a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with Riverwood Associates, an Atlanta-based company that provides operational training and consulting to organizations that wish to improve performance levels. Topics included learning the principles of Lean Six Sigma, problem solving using the DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) framework, and a variety of proven tools. The entire team participated in several hands-on exercises including identifying examples of the eight wastes, defining the voice of the customer, mapping the current state Admissions process, and performing root cause analysis.  

“Bethesda Academy has one of the most unique organizational cultures I have ever experienced.  Based on the level of engagement during the training, I could tell their hearts and minds were totally committed to learning and improving the academy for the benefit of their customers: the boys, the parents and community,” said Sherman.