Highlands Christian Academy
- Denomination: Baptist
- Location: Pompano Beach, FL
- Student Enrollment: 607
- Website: https://www.highlandschristian.org/
- Hiring for: Head of School
An opportunity to change trajectory
With the 2025–2026 school year approaching, Highlands Christian Academy (HCA) found itself at a crossroads. Their current head of school of three years, who had faithfully served HCA for 35 years in various roles, was transitioning into a new direction in his career. With his departure, he saw a vital opportunity for new beginnings at Highlands Christian Academy.
The school needed someone who could build on HCA’s strong foundation and boldly lead it into a future marked by growth, sustainability, and spiritual clarity. The Head of School role at HCA requires deep collaboration with church leadership, maintenance of academic and operational excellence, and stewardship of major strategic goals including faculty development, financial health, and the school’s long-term mission. The right leader would shape the entire trajectory of the school, and the window to find them was closing fast.
About Highlands Christian Academy
Highlands Christian Academy has been providing Christian education to pre-K through 12th grade students in Pompano Beach since 1965. With a strong emphasis on academic excellence, spiritual formation, athletics, and fine arts, HCA partners with families to help students discover and develop their God-given gifts. Students attend chapel and take Bible classes along with academics and extracurriculars as part of a well-rounded education.
HCA’s campus is more than just a place of learning—it’s a home that fosters a familial community. And as the school looks to grow and define its identity for the future, they needed a leader ready to guide them with wisdom and boldness.
Now serving as UGM’s new CEO, Charles is already dreaming with the board and team about what the future can look like—how they can not only maintain the legacy Don helped build, but expand it even further to impact more lives.
The ideal candidate
In addition to alignment with HCA’s Christian beliefs and mission, the school was seeking a candidate who would be:
- An organized, highly motivated leader
- A mature, spiritually grounded Christian who leads in both evangelism and discipleship
- Equipped with a Master’s Degree or higher in Education or Educational Leadership
- At least three years of experience in school leadership
- Visionary and experienced in strategic planning, faculty development, and long-term school growth
The search
HCA’s leadership reached out to Vanderbloemen for the first time for help with this search. Vanderbloemen assigned Chantel McHenry, an executive search consultant who has been successfully guiding school and church leadership searches at Vanderbloemen since 2020. Chantel quickly got to work, interviewing HCA’s team, parents, stakeholders, and staff to get a full picture of the role and what kind of leader the school needed.
Working alongside Executive Search Recruiter Ellie Mixon, Chantel helped identify and screen the most promising candidates. Together, they built and presented a carefully curated first slate that reflected the values and vision of the school. With the search beginning in fall 2024, Vanderbloemen’s team was committed to placing the right leader well before the 2025–2026 school year.
About Mike Melone
The right candidate was discovered among the five top-tier candidates presented to HCA. With over 40 years of experience in Christian education and ministry, Mike Melone brought a pastoral heart and skillful academic leadership to the table, exceeding HCA’s expectations for an experienced leader.
Mike most recently served as a lead pastor in Ruskin, Florida. His experience includes:
- 26 years as Head of School at a Christian school
- 14 years as a School Administrator and Executive Pastor
- 1 year as a School Administrator and Interim Pastor
- 4 years as a Lead Pastor
- Master’s degree in Education/Educational Leadership
- Ongoing doctoral work in Religious Education
Mike’s collaborative and empowering leadership style, combined with his unmatched experience in Christian education, made him an exceptional fit for HCA’s next season of growth and identity-building.
“This new opportunity allows me to align more closely with a vision for growth and community outreach,” Mike says. “I am excited about the opportunity to contribute.”
Mike and his wife Jennifer have been married for 31 years and have three grown children, two of whom are married. The Melones value intentional family time and extend that intentionality to a deep sense of mission and relational leadership in every setting.
In just five months—from initial consultation to signed offer—Highlands Christian Academy found and hired their ideal candidate. This search was not just about filling an opening; it was about finding the right leader to steward a 60-year legacy while building a bold vision for the future. With Mike Melone at the helm, HCA is poised to flourish in its mission to prepare the next generation for success with a distinctively Christ-centered, high-quality education.
