Questions to Ask When Considering a Christian School?

This is the time of year when many people begin in earnest looking at schools for their children. Maybe this is a new quest for them, or maybe they are considering a change. Regardless, there are crucial items to consider before deciding on a school. For a family committed to Christian education, the questions should cluster around a passing childhood reference to Jesus in the Gospels. “And Jesus continued to increase in wisdom and physical stature, and in favor with God and favor with others.”

    It may seem odd to state, but the top priority of a school, that is a school’s very reason for existing, is to provide the best environment for learning and teaching. Education should be about so much more than merely the accumulation of data. It should be about gaining true knowledge and understanding. Ultimately, education should be about laying the foundation of wisdom. Ask your child’s prospective teachers, who should be wise, how important it is that they teach their children to seek wisdom?

     Related, but not equal, to the question about wisdom are these questions: What is the evidence that the school is a place where both teachers and students are committed to learning as a way of life? Does the school have a good selection of course offerings that provide the range of learning opportunities for different learners? What percentage of students take the SAT and/or ACT and how do their scores compare to national averages? Where do students go after they graduate and have they found vocational fulfillment? How many attend a four-year college? How well are graduates prepared for college? Are counselors available to help students make important decisions about life after school? These are related questions that are all rooted in the importance of growing in wisdom.

    An important arena for learning and teaching is located in opportunities for athletics and fine arts. As designed by God, humans naturally grow physically and mentally. As physical beings, we learn through our ever maturing senses. The best schools give numerous opportunities for both athletic and artistic experiences. Remember that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. Some questions to ask about this area of the school are: Is there a clear connection between athletics/fine arts and the mission of the school? Is there a concerted effort to ensure that God is being glorified in every sport, musical production, theatrical play, and artistic exhibition?

    A key overarching question to consider is what are the ways that Jesus the Christ is truly the center of the school? Many Christian schools speak about chapel or beginning classes with prayer. While this is important, this alone cannot be the primary marker of a Christian school. The fruit of the Spirit being pervasive throughout the school is a much more important marker. The student more readily grows in favor with God in a school where faith, hope, and love are encouraged in every aspect of the school. Every student should be enabled to be open to the shaping and crafting by the Creator.

    Much of the learning that takes place in a Christian school does so outside of the classroom. It is in the daily interactions with teachers, staff, coaches, aides and fellow students that the ideal student grows in favor with others. It is this social dimension that is formative of a moral core-- a moral core rooted in the wisdom described in Proverbs. It is within these day-to-day interactions that each student should be growing in favor with others who are like minded.  Questions to ask here can include: Is the school’s everyday atmosphere one that encourages the best in social behavior? Is the discipline from the youngest to the oldest reflective of a redemptive approach? Is there a clearly articulated code of conduct appealing to the image of God with the student body?

    While there are many other questions that can and should be asked, these often occur as follow-up questions to the ones provided above. In addition to the verbal answers given to any questions asked, parents should also be looking for the answers to their questions in the very warp and woof of the school’s fabric. It is true that just as a person is known by the fruit that one bears, so a school is known by the fruit that it bears.