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 Pastor's Message This Wednesday is the first day of school at OCS!
 As the campus buzzes again with students, parents and teachers, we are reminded once again of why God put OCS in this community. Here are seven reasons from discoverchrisitanschools.com. 1. God’s Word is taught
The place to start is at the beginning, with the first nation, the first educational system. When deciding how to manage our children’s education, it only makes sense to ask the One who invented education.
“You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul …. And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)
What we have here is a clear biblical mandate to saturate our children’s minds with the Word of God. It’s a difficult task under any circumstances, but virtually impossible in a public school setting. Once inside those doors, children spend 30 to 40 hours a week being told that God, if He exists at all, is no longer relevant. No matter how spiritually grounded our children may be, the repetition of such destructive ideas can’t help but have an adverse affect.
Christian schools offer a refreshing, biblical alternative. Not only is the Bible taught for what it is – the inspired Word of God – but it forms the foundation of all other texts. In math, in social studies, in biology, all academic roads lead to God, in whom all knowledge has its origin.
2. The school shares your values
If we are like most Christians, we would have taught our children about God since the day they were born. We would have taken them to church, read them Bible stories, sung “Jesus Loves Me.” Imagine their shock and dismay when they’re thrust into an environment in which God is hated, ignored, or both.
Even the best public schools are prohibited by law from reinforcing the values we teach at home. They either compete against them or disregard them altogether. And because we care about the mental and spiritual development of our children, we may spend countless hours trying to bridge the philosophical gap between Christianity and humanism – a gap that would not have easily existed had they attended Christian school.
By entrusting our children to educators who share our values, we’ll have more time for ball games and bike rides and meaningful conversations. Instead of debriefing our children, you’ll be getting to know them.
3. Safety
With hundreds of students roaming their halls and taxpayer dollars funding their bankrolls, public schools can only go so far in the area of discipline. The result? More frequent occurrences of theft and physical violence, not to mention course profanity and open rebellion in the classroom.
Simply put, Christian schools are a safer place for your children to receive an education. While not devoid of problems – even severe ones like drug and alcohol use – they are far less likely to occur, and far more likely to be met with firm disciplinary action.
In addition to physical well-being, Christian schools offer a much safer emotional and spiritual environment. Verbal insults and hazing, things that go largely overlooked in a public school setting, are less likely to be tolerated. And the politically-correct, socially-tolerant attitudes that pervade secular classrooms never see the light of day at distinctly Christian institutions. Anti-Christian behavior such as sexuality immorality is exposed for what it is, which helps guard our children’s minds against the licentious attitudes fostered by popular education.
4. Academic Achievement
Contrary to popular opinion, students at Christian schools consistently out-perform their public school counterparts. Their standardized test scores are usually above the curve, and they’re better prepared for college upon graduation. Even in the areas of math and reading, subjects that are “less spiritual” in content, students at Christian schools almost always prove their academic achievement.
The sad truth is, despite their claims of excellence, our nation’s public schools are far less academically rigorous than they once were. Only 67 percent of all public school students entering ninth grade graduate with a regular diploma four years later. United States competency in math and science lags behind a host of other countries. And despite the vast amounts of government money being funneled to public education, our SAT scores continue to slip.
Christian schools are far from an academic liability. In fact, in the aftermath of 2002’s “No Child Left Behind” Act, college recruiters are more likely to view public school transcripts with a skeptical eye. The best colleges are likely to pay your children more attention, not less, if they attend a Christian school.
5. Teachers love and fear the Lord
Part of the reason why Christian students perform so well in the classroom is that they have a higher percentage of teachers who genuinely care about them. Most of these dedicated men and women sacrifice greater monetary rewards to serve where they can do the most intrinsic good.
In addition to the passion they feel for their students, the vast majority of Christian educators love God with equal intensity. And unlike some of their well-meaning public school colleagues, they are not prohibited by the United States government from making overt claims to that effect.
Teachers are a school’s heartbeat. Its pulse. They are also among the most influential role models in students’ lives. And while you can certainly find Christian educators at a public school, the best of all academic worlds exists when everyone – the school board, the principal, the teachers and the parents – is operating under the same educational paradigm.
6. Individual Attention
In addition to having a higher percentage of caring teachers, Christian schools can almost always offer more individual attention than public schools, many of which are overcrowded and understaffed.
Even in cases where the ratio is virtually identical, class size is not. Christian school classes generally have fewer students. They’re smaller, more intimate gatherings that encourage students to be participants rather than spectators. Students learn how to think quickly, and gain valuable experience sharing their thoughts and opinions in a public forum.
7. Peer Pressure
If only the Bible had told us that good company improves bad morals, many of us would have a welcome reprieve. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Bad company corrupts good morals (1 Corinthians 15:33), the Apostle Paul tells us, and we can assume he was writing to a predominantly adult audience. We can imagine what he might say to a
group of impressionable children and young teens.
Make no mistake: our kids will be exposed to bad company no matter where they go to school. Sometimes they may even be the bad company. But in a Christian environment, they’ll be much less likely to find themselves surrounded by destructive influences, and far more likely to find positive ones.
In Conclusion
None of this is meant to be a criticism of parents who place their children in public schools. Nor is it an indictment against well-meaning public school educators. But the fact remains that public schools are not allowed to give our children the educational experience the Bible stresses. Regardless of what we may think about Christian school, we are encouraged to seek God’s thoughts on the matter and to be supportive of Christian education. May God bless Orcas Christian School!
Pastor Will
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