What is a “Distinctively Christian” School?

Glad you asked.

By definition, when we use the term “distinctive,” we are implying that there are characteristics which set something apart from the rest of the objects in the category to which it belongs.  It’s more than just what’s in the name.  There are a lot of private schools which call themselves “Christian,” or which have a Christian history and heritage, but which have long since lost that distinction.  A school that is distinctively Christian is one in which the Biblical principles and practices of the Christian faith are an integral part of every aspect of the school’s operation, from the way the school is put together and governed, down to the smallest detail of classroom instruction, and the extra-curricular activities. 

These are the major aspects of a distinctively Christian school:

1.  The administration, faculty, support staff and governing board are all made up of people who have a testimony of a personal salvation experience of grace through faith in Jesus, and whose lives give evidence of their faith by their active involvement in the body of Christ through a local church with principles and practice of faith similar to the school’s expressed beliefs. 

The first element of integrating Biblical truth into the curriculum of a school is to make sure it is staffed by people who have a personal, living relationship with Jesus as their savior, and who are involved in a spiritual journey as a result of that.  It is important that everyone understand this, from the chairman of the board and superintendent down to the ladies who serve lunch in the cafeteria.  Every person who works for the school and who will come in contact with parents and students should have a living walk with Jesus, and be a mature, growing Christian, not perfect, but in the process of being made perfect in Christ. 

I’ve seen some schools maintain this posture with their staff, but fail to hold their governing board to the same standards in the interest of finding people who can “contribute” something to the school through their personal field of expertise or perhaps even their checkbook.  For example, I know of a Christian school who added a banker, a construction company president and an architect to their board prior to a capital campaign to raise funds for construction of a multi-million dollar facility.  Two of them were just nominal church attenders, and one claimed affiliation with a denominational background, but was not involved in a local church.  The school raised a good portion of the money needed, though it had to borrow to complete the project, and conflicts between at least two of these board members and administration over issues related to the discipline of their children resulted in the dismissal of two of the most respected administrators and faculty members in the school.  It also resulted in the departure of a number of families who knew what had happened, and the school hasn’t yet recovered the enrollment losses or the financial revenue. 

2.  The curriculum is based on Biblical truth.  All learning objectives support basic foundational truths of the Christian faith, and are not in conflict with Biblical principles.  All curriculum materials support these principles. 

What that means, in practice, is that your faculty and administration must work diligently to develop curriculum guides for every subject and every grade level to make sure this is accomplished.  Sorry, but you cannot depend on the state curriculum guides and objectives.  There isn’t a single state in the US that writes curriculum objectives based on a Christian philosophy of education or a Christian worldview.  Not one. 

For those of you who work in states that require you to follow the mandated objectives in order to be granted state DOE recognition, this means that you need to add a Biblical perspective to each objective.  It is a big job, an absolutely necessary job, but one for which there is an abundance of help.  Affiliate with a Christian school organization, either a state association or someone like ASCI, or even better, seek accreditation through one of them.  All of them offer assistance in this area that is tailored to meet the specific needs of schools in your state or region. 

It is also extremely important for you to make Christian-based textbooks and curriculum materials available to your students.  If the state mandates a particular text for a course, it is an added expense, but well worth it to have a classroom set of Christian texts available for use as well.  If there isn’t a state required list of textbooks, then you need to choose your own Christian publisher, one whose style and perspective with which your are comfortable working, and design your curriculum around their use.  There’s a lot of on-line help available, too. 

3.  Educate your families in the philosophy of Christian education when they enroll their children in your school. 

Don’t assume that the parents who bring their children to you are doing it because they know the kind of environment you offer.  Chances are, most of them don’t, and they are bringing their children to you for another reason, such as dislike of the environment at their local public school, or because they perceive that your school does a better job with academics.  Your parents need to be told up front that the difference between a distinctively Christian school and any other school is that you proclaim belief in a God who created the universe ex nihilo, and who rescued his creation from sin through the sacrifice of his own son, Jesus, on the cross.  They need to know that you believe God is omnipotent, omnicient and omnipresent, and that he is the source of all knowledge, and the power to sustain his creation, including humanity.  Lay it all out, tell them that these beliefs will be taught to their children as the truth, and that the end result of the education you provide is not necessarily a strong academic background to get them into a good college or get a job, but to make them into strong, effective citizens of the Kingdom and useful members of Christ’s church. 

Make sure they know you understand that they, as parents, are responsible before God for the education of their children, and that they are coming to you for your help and expertise in this responsibility, entering into a partnership with the school for the mutual benefit and growth of the student.  They need to know that you take your part of the partnership seriously, there will be no compromise, and that you are motivated to do what is best for the student, even though at times that may be difficult.  They need to “buy in” to your approach without exception. 

4.  Be a Christian community.

The school functions every day like a Christian community.  It prays.  It worships the Lord.  It teaches the Bible.  It loves each other with the unique form of agape love that Jesus modeled for us.  The atmosphere at a distinctively Christian school should be remarkably different from a public school environment, especially for the students.  Christlikeness should characterize the community.  Behavior that isn’t Christlike should be corrected in students firmly, gently, and with an outlook toward growth. 

You won’t be perfect.  That’s O.K.  Only Jesus was.  Just follow him, and keep going in that direction and it will make a difference.

5.  Be practical.

Now what in the world do I mean by that?

We are in the world, but not of it, according to the scripture.  As a result of that, we are called to live and work in the culture at large, not compromising our principles because of its influences, nor isolated from it so that we are invisible and off in our own world, but as salt and light, so that others can see Jesus in us.  It is very easy, when we create a Christian environment inside of our own walls, so to speak, to forget who we are and what we are doing.  Let me share a couple of practical examples, so you can see what this looks like.

When I see a school that requires all of its teachers to be state certified, and advertises that to the public as one of the selling points, it has compromised with the culture and lost its Christian distinctiveness.  There isn’t a state teacher certification program in the country that trains and prepares teachers for Christian school careers.  In fact, the state certification programs are build on a humanist educational philosophy that is counter to your school’s philosophy and basic values.  On the other hand, I’ve been in Christian schools where some of the teaching staff didn’t even have degrees in the subject they were teaching, and were put in the classroom because they could manage the students and they were good church members.  Your teaching staff should first of all feel a sense of spiritual calling to the teaching profession.  They should be able to identify the spirtual gift of teaching within themselves.  Those are two absolute requirements.  Earned degrees are a sign that the teacher is interested enough to become professional and develop their talent and gift, and every teacher on your staff should have a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in the field in which they are teaching.  Continuing education is also a practical application, and the school should provide assistance for teachers to go on to a Master’s degree. 

Another example is in the area of test scores.  Achievement tests are important measurements of student progress, but they are not the end of educational achievement.  Use them for what they are intended to be used for.  Note areas of weakness and work with teachers to strengthen them.  But don’t go out of your way, or waste time “teaching to the test.”  That will skew the scores anyway, and make them worthless in the long run.

It’s all about Jesus.

Part 2 later.

 

Advertisement