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The
Gazette After home schooling her children for years, Kindra Gaskin last year enrolled her two sons at Woodstream Christian Academy, a school at Woodstream Church in Largo. She selected the school for its spiritual focus. ‘‘They used that same model [used at home] and that’s what appealed to us,” Gaskin said referring to the curriculum with a Christ-centered focus. ‘‘It was important for us to send them to a school that had Christian values.” Gaskin is so pleased with Woodstream that she does not plan on ever sending her sons to public schools. ‘‘I never say never, but I doubt it,” she said. Gaskin is not alone. The number of church-exempt schools in Prince George’s County has exploded in the past several years, as confidence in the county’s school system has waned. Catholic churches have run religious schools for years, but an increasing number of other denominations are opening schools as well. Prince George’s County now has 118 such schools. At least 34 of them were opened in the past five years. The county reported last week that public school enrollment has declined for two straight years, even in the face of continuing population growth. The public school population this year came in about 5,000 students lower than expected. Meanwhile, church schools that opened in the county only last year have seen substantial growth. Many schools have waiting lists of students hoping to enroll. ‘‘We have 35 kids this year,” said Sonya Hamilton, principal at Greater Mount Nebo Christian Academy in Upper Marlboro. ‘‘But we only had 10 students last year.” Hamilton said that a few parents have expressed dissatisfaction with the county school system, but many just want to add a spiritual aspect to their children’s life. ‘Fear factor’ Gene Pinkard, headmaster at Lanham Christian School, which opened in 1977 as part of Grace Brethren Church of Lanham, said there are many reasons why parents are choosing to send children to church-exempt schools. ‘‘Some parents go to public schools and they just don’t like what they see,” said Pinkard, whose school has 292 students. ‘‘Some kids are afraid to go to school ... there’s a fear factor there. A lot of them are also just not satisfied with the academics.” Many parents are worried about county public schools’ low test scores, overcrowding and safety issues, he said. Prince George’s public schools rank second to the bottom in the state, topping only Baltimore city on overall standardized test scores. Baltimore city students posted higher scores than Prince George’s on the government portion of the High School Assessment tests this year, but Prince George’s students scored better in biology and government. ‘‘A lot of our kindergarten parents are asking what our SAT scores are like,” Pinkard said. ‘‘That’s their mindset.” Parents also see long-term advantages of keeping their child in one school from kindergarten to high school; Lanham Christian goes from kindergarten to high school. Woodstream Christian Academy opened three years ago and already has about 360 children. The school starts for 2-year-olds and goes through the 10th grade. More grade levels are expected to be added. The school’s headmaster, Richard Halloran, said many parents come to the school because of the classical education students can get as well as indoctrination in Christian fundamentals. ‘‘We’re unabashedly Christ-centered,” Halloran told The Gazette. ‘‘And I think that appeals to parents.” Linda Teel, whose 3-year-old attends the school, said the curriculum was a prime motivator for enrolling her son. ‘‘What I love is that this is finally a school that raises the bar,” Teel said. Overall, the curricula for church-exempt schools and public schools appear similar, except for the spiritual component. For example, at Woodstream, children learn Greek and French, among other languages. Nine languages are also taught at public schools. An important benefit for many parents, however, is that they can enroll children at an earlier age. Teel would have had to wait another year to enroll her son if she had selected public schools. County schools require that children be 4 years old before they can start. ‘‘I thought it was great that I could start him that early,” Teel told The Gazette, also citing the benefit of not needing to transfer him as his education progresses. ‘‘I want him to matriculate [into elementary school] in the same environment, and I just heard wonderful things about the school.” Teel said her son is counting well, quoting Bible verses and becoming more proficient in language skills. Greater Mount Nebo, which enrolls 3-year-olds and children up to the first grade, plans to add a grade each year up to the eighth grade, Hamilton said. Teaching qualifications at public and church-exempt schools are similar. Public school teachers must be certified by the state and have a post-secondary education degree. Darcy Tomko, principal at St. Mary’s of the Mills school in Laurel, a 451-student school affiliated with the Catholic church of the same name, said her teachers’ credentials are not really different from public school teachers. Other headmasters agreed. Price of education An education at church-exempt schools is not free. At Lanham Christian School, parents pay $5,500 a year. At Woodstream, parents pay about $7,000 and Mount Nebo parents pay $5,500. At St. Mary’s of the Mills, parents who belong to the parish pay $4,458 while nonparishioners pay $6,189 a year. The schools contacted by The Gazette do not require church membership. Class sizes at church-exempt schools run the gamut from as low as six students per class in subjects such as trigonometry and calculus to 30 students in the earlier grades. The average Prince George’s public school class size is 10 students for pre-kindergarten classes, 22 students for kindergarten classes and 25 students per class in elementary through the high school grades, according to the school system. Class size at Woodstream is about 15, according to school administrators. Average class size for St. Mary’s of the Mills is about 30 students, said Tomko, who added that discipline problems are at a minimum. A spiritual, family-like atmosphere helps instill good behavior, she said. ‘‘We get to share our faith with them on a daily basis,” Tomko said. ‘‘There’s a friendly, family atmosphere.” Judy Mickens-Murray, a county school board member, said the church-exempt school enrollment does not seem to have had any effect on public school enrollment. However, she said, enrollment at these schools could send a message if it reaches a critical mass per school. ‘‘If they are getting up to 300 and 400 students at a school, that’s really a challenge to the public school system,” Mickens-Murray said. ‘‘Then it becomes in my mind competitive to the school system. But people should have choices.” Despite a two-year downward trend in public school enrollment, Mickens-Murray said she has not seen any evidence to show that church schools are responsible for the decline. Public school enrollment has dropped from 136,095 last school year to 133,872 this year. Public schools were projected to have as many as 139,000 students this year. Merylann Schuttloffel, a professor at Catholic University, said the spiritual dimension at church-affiliated schools is likely the main attraction for parents. ‘‘There are a lot of parents concerned about values ... and they want to send their children to an environment that supports those values,” Schuttloffel said. Because of legal restrictions and incredibly diverse populations, she said, public schools have to be careful how they teach values compared to church-exempt schools. ‘‘I’m sure the public schools are trying within their restrictions to provide character education,” Schuttloffel said. ‘‘But they have a huge task to serve a large public with differing expectations. That’s very difficult and it makes it more likely that parents will become dissatisfied.” Copyright © 2005 The Gazette - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. |
