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As we all know, COVID hit us and affected us in many ways. Come to find out, one of the ways it affected us was in the schooling of our children. Sure, the children had to forgo attending classes physically and adapt to variations of virtual schooling, but that’s not even what I’m talking about here.

I’m not even talking about the double-digit percentile hit in mathematics achievement that befell our country during this time from which we as educators are still reeling. I’m talking about how the CONTENT our schools were teaching our children ended up smack dab in front of us in our living rooms as we went through the academic day with our children. Many of us were faced with content that runs very much counter to our own belief systems.
Weren’t we raised to believe that public schools had no set belief system in place? That they were belief-neutral systems? That faith integration ONLY occurred in religious schools?

Reality check hit us all.

Public schools operate under a strict belief system called secular-humanism. It permeates everything in a public school; from the curriculum to the teacher training to the discipline plans to the student government programs to the cafeteria. What is secular humanism?
I’ll give you a quote from the Answers in Genesis website. “Humanists consider man to be the measure of all things. That is, the human mind is considered to be the ultimate standard by which all claims are judged. Humanism is a religious system, the deity of the worldview being man himself. Humanists hold their views with zeal and conviction.” (https://answersingenesis.org/world-religions/humanism/humanism-as-religion-sir-julian-huxley/)

This religious belief system operates that mankind is perfectible ON THEIR OWN without the aid of the supernatural. They believe that truth can be found by looking within oneself.

As a Christian, I know that humans are corrupt and in need of saving grace from the God of the universe, who alone is perfect and actually is the ultimate standard by which we should all compare ourselves. And when we do compare ourselves, we know we fall woefully short, and it exposes our need for a savior.
Make no mistake, public schools and non-sectarian private schools are religious and are working hard to teach their system to students.
As a scuba lover, beach-goer, and a man who once spent almost a decade living in a foreign country, I can tell you that people tend to either run away from something, or run toward something. Or maybe it just seems that way because I spent a lot of time in and on the oceans and beaches. Vacationers are running away from the stresses of work/home life elsewhere. Others are running away from governments. Many running away from cold weather! Once in a while, there are those running TOWARD the simpler life of a 3rd world country.

Unfortunately, when it comes to schooling our children, people choosing private schools and charter schools and homeschooling are typically running away from the public school system. They have experienced a lack of care about student behaviors, they have experienced their child being passed to the next grade level without having learned requisite material or patterns of thinking and learning, they have experienced historical revisionism in classes, they have experienced an onslaught of belief systems taught as true that run counter to reality and counter to how they were raised, they were taught that the Law of Biogenesis was violated in the past (sorry…I’m a science nerd, so I have to bring up “sciencey” things from time to time).
I now argue that we must be running toward something. We must run toward and choose private, Christian schooling because it is the right thing to do. It is virtuous to do so.

An overwhelming number of private schools are religious in nature. In the United States, these schools tend to be Christian schools. Private schools routinely outperform public schools academically. Therefore, private Christian schools are outperforming public schools. So choose academic excellence and rigor by choosing private Christian schooling.

Public schools do lip-service to character-building and attempt, half-heartedly, to address it by implementing programs. But private Christian schools, by their very nature, immerse students in high character-building requirements. By adhering to Biblical standards of holiness and interpersonal relationships in every single subject, students will learn right from wrong and how to treat others. As Abraham Kuyper has said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” From literature to the ideal gas law, from polynomials to philosophy, from interpersonal relationships to teamwork, there is not a subject upon which the Bible does not speak.

And what about integrating character and academics? Here at Warner Christian Academy, we will teach our subjects not only from a Biblical worldview, with Christ at the center, but we will put a priority of focus upon teaching for the Intellectual Virtues as well; bridging the gap between educating for character and educating for academics.

At Warner Christian Academy, we aim to cultivate a rich foundation of Intellectual Virtues in every graduate, equipping them for lifelong learning and Christ-like service. To do this, we take a 3-stage approach to learning the patterns/characteristics/traits of being a good learner/thinker.
Firstly, we encourage students to get started by nurturing a deep sense of curiosity, inspiring them to ask questions and explore with a thirst for understanding. We promote intellectual humility, teaching students to admit their intellectual limitations and embrace the growth that comes with acknowledging what they don’t know. With intellectual autonomy, we empower students to think for themselves, fostering independent, self-directed reasoning.

In executing well, we emphasize attentiveness—the ability to stay present, engaged, and mindful in their learning journey, free from distractions. We instill intellectual carefulness, encouraging students to approach their thinking with care, accuracy, and an awareness of potential pitfalls. Additionally, intellectual thoroughness drives our students to go beyond superficial answers, pushing them to dive deep in their pursuit of knowledge and understanding.
When it comes to handling challenges, we value open-mindedness, encouraging students to think outside the box and give fair consideration to different perspectives. Intellectual courage is essential in persisting through fear or uncertainty, teaching students to take risks in their thinking and communication. Lastly, intellectual tenacity enables students to embrace struggle, remain resilient in the face of difficulty, and persist with their eyes set on long-term growth and achievement.

By fostering these virtues, Warner Christian Academy ensures that each graduate leaves equipped with the skills and mindset necessary to navigate the world with integrity, wisdom, and faith.

Discipline is done in a Biblical manner and not cookie-cutter style. In private Christian schools, poor behaviors are known to be a natural outcome of the Fall of man from Genesis 3. And the basic plan of the Bible is that we know about Creation (what things ought to be), the Fall (the way things are), and Redemption (how it can be and will be in the future). Behavior modification isn’t merely a scientific endeavor where, if you say the right things or condition the child appropriately then (s)he will change his/her ways. No. We work with the child and the families to get to the root issues of the behaviors themselves and come up with plans with the families for nurturing the child back to the path. That is what discipline means. To disciple. To come alongside someone and help them out. Many private Christian schools operate under the idea that, “The heart of every behavioral problem, is the heart.” Here at WCA, we agree.
The above items, character-building, intellectual virtues, and proper discipline produce school cultures that show dramatic reductions in bullying and other negative interpersonal behaviors.

Private Christian schools tend to have much smaller student-to-teacher ratios than public schools. No, there aren’t many schools around that operate in a 1:1 ratio, but with a reduction in student:teacher ratios we can ensure that your student will not “fall through the cracks.” And if they are headed toward a crack, our schools are small enough in overall population that we’ll see your child headed for the crack and call him/her by name to give guidance away from it. Here at WCA, we have roughly a 12.7 : 1 student-to-teacher ratio.

Additionally, private Christian schools focus on service. We lead in a servant-hearted manner, and we ask for service among our students and teachers. Students will be taught to serve and given multiple opportunities to serve. Many schools will have classes raise money for mission trips to foreign countries while building relationships with people overseas throughout the years. Other schools will do more local service projects. Many schools end up having student-led service projects and trips as well. At Warner Christian Academy, we do all these things. We require service hours as part of our Bible class and matriculation to the next grade and for graduation. Also, we are working with various families across Latin America, financially sponsoring children on a monthly basis, communicating with them, and working toward the potentiality of visiting these families in their home country during our students’ senior year of high school.

The religious beliefs of your home will be reinforced at school as well; and not trampled upon. Private Christian schools that strive to develop Truth-Seekers will produce in your children a love for the Bible and an understanding that all things, including science and math and literature, exist because the God of the Bible exists.

So, set your beliefs aside no longer. Set aside your high expectations for children’s behavior no longer. Set aside your high expectations for academics no longer. Choose private, Christian schooling today. Choose Warner Christian Academy!