Some parents today who are becoming more and more dissatisfied with contemporary educational options are turning to faith-based schools, where Christian ideals and biblical values are incorporated in the curriculum.Parents are looking at Christian schools with the intention of immersing their children in Christian living all the time.
“Parents today tell me they are not running from anything in the public school system," explains Dr. Larry Jones, headmaster of Knollwood Christian School, "but rather they are running toward something that in turn will make them stronger Christians. It’s not so much about opposition, but more of a choice — of wanting education and Christian living intertwined together."
Advocates say some of the advantages of Christian schooling are smaller class size, teachers who will commit to both students and parents, extra-curricular activities that include full chapel services, ministry opportunities such as going into nursing homes, charitable giving and many others, in addition to having sports programs and academic honor societies.
Christian schools in the area, like Knollwood in Sylacauga and Victory Christian School in Pell City, make it a point to incorporate Christian principals and biblical teachings with the academic subjects.
“We follow the academic course of study, but as a Christian school, we teach from a biblical worldview," said David Weir, headmaster at Victory Christian School. "Our teachers have the ability to incorporate the truth of God’s word into their lesson’s plans.
"For example, if I were teaching on Shakespeare, I would be able to talk about the themes from a literary standpoint, as well as a biblical perspective.”
Because of the somewhat negative public image of faith-based schools in the past, many parents have hesitated sending their children there, citing concerns about issues like college preparation. But much of that has changed in recent years.
“Christian education has really improved over the last 10 years," Weir said. "For many years, people were concerned that Christian schools were not accredited and were apprehensive about the quality of education that was provided in Christian schools.”
Today 470 students attend Victory Christian School in grades kindergarten through 12. Last year, the school had 51 seniors with five receiving full academic scholarships. Knollwood has 71 students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade.
“When parents realize they can send their kids to private schools and see them excel academically, the perspective changes,” Weir said.
Parents looking to enroll their children in Christian schools today are searching for institutions they can develop a partnership with, and have some say in the curriculum and values their children are taught, with hopes that their children in return will come to understand the role religion plays in their lives, officials from the private schools said.
“Parents today are wanting their conservative Christian values reinforced in school, and our goal is to help them train their children to be all that God has called the to be. The key then is to help them — not take over their God-given responsibility,” Weir said.
Jones agreed.
“We are here to assist the parents in raising their child. We are all on the same team and want to see the children become successful in life, both in their Christian walk and career.
“Sixteen percent of a child’s time is spent in school, and parents want their children to be completely committed to Christian living and their view of the world. We are finding more and more parents that say Sunday is not enough,” he said.
