Christian classical schools versus Christian private school (Dallas, Flower Mound: houses, private schools)
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We are starting to look at schooling options for our kids, narrowing down to a few areas schools, which fall into one of two categories - Christian private (nonclassical) and Christian classical schools. I don't feel like I have enough information on how students from a classical school model do in STEM degrees. My husband and I are both in STEM professions and our kids are highly likely to pursue the same, so we want to make sure that the school they attend has a good STEM program. Here are my questions.
(1) Are there any statistics on the percentage of graduates from a classical school that do well in STEM compared to a nonclassical private school?
(2) We are looking at houses in Colleyville, Coppell and grapevine. Here are the Christian schools that we found so far. Colleyville Christian academy, Grapevine Faith, Prestonwood, Prince of Peace, and Coram Deo. Am I missing any others that are within 20 minutes of commute from the cities named above?
We are starting to look at schooling options for our kids, narrowing down to a few areas schools, which fall into one of two categories - Christian private (nonclassical) and Christian classical schools. I don't feel like I have enough information on how students from a classical school model do in STEM degrees. My husband and I are both in STEM professions and our kids are highly likely to pursue the same, so we want to make sure that the school they attend has a good STEM program. Here are my questions.
(1) Are there any statistics on the percentage of graduates from a classical school that do well in STEM compared to a nonclassical private school?
(2) We are looking at houses in Colleyville, Coppell and grapevine. Here are the Christian schools that we found so far. Colleyville Christian academy, Grapevine Faith, Prestonwood, Prince of Peace, and Coram Deo. Am I missing any others that are within 20 minutes of commute from the cities named above?
Thanks in advance for the input!
Most private high schools publish SAT scores of their graduating classes on the websites. You could use the scores in math as a proxy for what you are looking for. Otherwise you probably just have to ask the school directly in which case I imagine they will all say their kids do fine in STEM.
Of the schools you listed, Prince of Peace seems like an outlier. It is Catholic, for sure, but I wouldn't think of it as a specifically faith-based school. They are happy to educate people of other faiths and everyone is respectful of everyone else's beliefs (in both directions). The other schools you listed are basically private schools that parents choose because they want their religious beliefs reinforced in the classroom, and you are likely going to have to sign some kind of statement about your faith, church attendance, etc.
Between our two children (one who is dyslexic) and our various moves, I think we have tried every type of school, including traditional Christian and classical Christian.
Our children have attended 2 different classical Christian schools, and several different private schools (most Christian, one not) so I think I can give you some generalities. Please keep in mind that none of these schools are in Dallas, so of course you will want to follow up with the specific schools you are considering.
Of all the schools, the most conservative in every sense of the word were the two classical Christian schools. Classical schools focus on Western culture, Western civilization and Western literature. No special emphasis is placed on learning about minorities or other cultures just for the sake of diversity. Students learn about them, but in a natural way when it fits into the rest of curriculum. Emphasis is placed on learning a timeline of great events/dates in history. This usually begins in Kindergarten and culminates in 5th grade.
Classical schools also teach based on the idea that there are 3 distinct phases of learning. In the first phase (roughly Kindy through 5th grade), students are required to memorize a great deal. Not only did my daughter have to memorize the timeline, she had to memorize passages of scripture, the preamble to the Constitution, various poems and prayers, the Gettysburg Address, speeches from Shakespeare, etc. Students are usually tested on these. Of course they have to memorize the multiplication tables, but at the Classical school, it was about speed plus retention. The next two phases are rhetoric and logic.
All that memorization is fine IF your student is one who is able to memorize without too much difficulty--one of mine could, and the other could not.
Classical schools usually begin teaching Latin in the 3rd grade. Our experience was that there was a great deal of focus on history, literature, writing, grammar, spelling, and penmanship. The math program was strong but it was regular old-fashioned math; if you are a fan of common core math, don't expect to find it at the classical school. The weakest subject area was definitely science. Keep in mind that this is still elementary grades, but compared to the other schools, (in OUR experience), science was virtually nonexistent.
By comparison, the regular Christian schools were more similar to a "regular" high-achieving school in terms of curriculum. Let me put it this way: the regular Christian schools had more in common content wise with the public school my son attended than with the classical Christian school. The main differences were prayer, uniforms, and expectations of behavior. I also felt that the regular Christian school felt the need to be more things to more people whereas the Classical school was unapologetic in their approach.
I personally liked the traditional content of the classical school but in both cases I ultimately felt that the classical schools were too rigid in their methodology. For example, my daughter had a point taken off of her spelling test for making the loop in her cursive "o" too big (even though the word was spelled correctly). There were too many tests every week. There was not enough consideration given to different types of learners or to students who held varied interests. I do feel that the last school sucked the joy out of my daughter, even though she made straight A's for over 2 years.
Most private high schools publish SAT scores of their graduating classes on the websites. You could use the scores in math as a proxy for what you are looking for. Otherwise you probably just have to ask the school directly in which case I imagine they will all say their kids do fine in STEM.
Of the schools you listed, Prince of Peace seems like an outlier. It is Catholic, for sure, but I wouldn't think of it as a specifically faith-based school. They are happy to educate people of other faiths and everyone is respectful of everyone else's beliefs (in both directions). The other schools you listed are basically private schools that parents choose because they want their religious beliefs reinforced in the classroom, and you are likely going to have to sign some kind of statement about your faith, church attendance, etc.
For the record. There is POP Catholic K-8 that you alluded to and POP Christian school K-12 a few miles away. There is no affiliation between the two.
We are starting to look at schooling options for our kids, narrowing down to a few areas schools, which fall into one of two categories - Christian private (nonclassical) and Christian classical schools. I don't feel like I have enough information on how students from a classical school model do in STEM degrees. My husband and I are both in STEM professions and our kids are highly likely to pursue the same, so we want to make sure that the school they attend has a good STEM program. Here are my questions.
(1) Are there any statistics on the percentage of graduates from a classical school that do well in STEM compared to a nonclassical private school?
(2) We are looking at houses in Colleyville, Coppell and grapevine. Here are the Christian schools that we found so far. Colleyville Christian academy, Grapevine Faith, Prestonwood, Prince of Peace, and Coram Deo. Am I missing any others that are within 20 minutes of commute from the cities named above?
Thanks in advance for the input!
Define what you mean by STEM because some of the schools you mentioned have different ideas on science.
( Prestonwood specifically)
Also I'm pretty sure neither Prestonwood nor both Prince of Peace schools would be within a 20 minute commute of any of those cities especially during what would be normal drop off/ pick up times.
We are starting to look at schooling options for our kids, narrowing down to a few areas schools, which fall into one of two categories - Christian private (nonclassical) and Christian classical schools. I don't feel like I have enough information on how students from a classical school model do in STEM degrees. My husband and I are both in STEM professions and our kids are highly likely to pursue the same, so we want to make sure that the school they attend has a good STEM program. Here are my questions.
(1) Are there any statistics on the percentage of graduates from a classical school that do well in STEM compared to a nonclassical private school?
(2) We are looking at houses in Colleyville, Coppell and grapevine. Here are the Christian schools that we found so far. Colleyville Christian academy, Grapevine Faith, Prestonwood, Prince of Peace, and Coram Deo. Am I missing any others that are within 20 minutes of commute from the cities named above?
Thanks in advance for the input!
I agree with the poster who mentioned Prince of Peace and Prestonwood are not within the proximity of the areas you named.
Out of curiosity, what made you focus on these particular schools? Was it just a search of Christian schools near the areas you named? Is Bible-based instruction and the requirement for at least one parent to be a born again Christian a priority for you?
From my Christian school experience, I would say the Bible-based evangelical schools in this area are going to be stronger in the Liberal Arts, specifically English, Foreign Language & History. I definitely felt most prepared for those subjects in college. I felt prepared in Math and Science, but not to the same level.
I think the above is going to be even more pronounced at a 'classical' school, which will most likely emphasize Theology, History, and Languages.
A lot of companies have noted they're looking for graduates with STEM skills, but want those candidates to have strong written and verbal communication skills. That said, I think the foundation you'd receive in languages and history at some of the schools you noted would actually be helpful to give a potential STEM candidate a broad appeal.
The only schools you'd noted I consider more 'Classical' in approach are Colleyville Covenant and Coram Deo in Flower Mound. I would be very careful about Coram Deo, as it is a very small school, and I'm unsure of the resources they have available.
Grapevine Faith is a traditional Christian school for students in the area looking for an athletic focus with an emphasis on Biblical truth integrated into the curriculum.
Unless you favor a Christian worldview in the classroom, I don't think any of the schools you mentioned are best for STEM. You'd be better off just sending your children to the local schools in those towns: Grapevine HS, Colleyville Heritage, Coppell HS. They are going to have more course offerings that are advanced in STEM than a smaller school environment.
Out of curiosity, what made you focus on these particular schools? Was it just a search of Christian schools near the areas you named? Is Bible-based instruction and the requirement for at least one parent to be a born again Christian a priority for you?
I just did a search for Christian schools in those areas. Just looking for a private school with a biblical worldview. We don't prefer public school due to overreach issues, although, this is Texas and unlikely to be extreme, but you never know what will change over the course of 20 years. Anyway, we don't want someone like the 52 year old man Michael Brown (who thinks he is a six year old) attending school with our little girls. A Christian conservative school would hopefully rule those scenarios out.
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