Choosing a School or Why Cornerstone?

A year ago, we were in the midst of trying to start a small grammar campus in the city – starting with just one class – of the local classical school that is sponsored by a large suburban PCA church. In a lot of ways, this was our ideal. School in the city, with an urban culture, but under the oversight of an established school and its board, with most of the factors such as curricula already decided for us.  Michael taught at the upper school before law school, and we saw firsthand its many benefits and excellent results. However, the idea of sending our children 15 miles into the depths of the suburbs for 13 years of education (and driving our fair share of carpools there and back) was not that attractive. So the idea of a grammar school in the city (and then maybe a bus!) sat well with us, and we were very hopeful that we had a good chance of pulling it off.  Both of us have taught in private schools, and tutored homeschoolers in both class and one-on-one settings, and feel led to have our children in school if possible, some we were not considering homeschooling very seriously.

Due to a number of different disappointing factors, things never coalesced, and we never reached the momentum we’d need to open with even ONE class. In mourning the loss of a great idea unrealized, I had a really hard time getting excited about the good and fine grammar school in the suburbs. Trying to think about how I would make it work even with carpooling gave me a headache, since the preschool we love that our second daughter attends is 5 miles in the other direction (and it takes 40+ minutes to drive between the two.)  And I feared the headache would continue every school day for the next two years as I drove non-stop, tiring myself out.

And then, another option came out of nowhere. An established Christian school in the city, almost 20 years old, SACS accredited and doing neat things academically, located just a mile or so from Lexi’s preschool. There’s a simple reason this option never occurred to us before: this school has traditionally had a uniformly black student body. The board, faculty and staff are diverse, and the school was founded by the white father of a fellow church member (we actually know a good number of people who have been involved there.) As an excellent school, it has long attracted a socially and economically diverse student body, but as they went through accreditation and looked forward to the future (including starting an International Baccalaureate primary program this fall and a very exciting move downtown the following fall) the leadership felt that the school needed more racial diversity to best educate students.

Another family at church is jumping into this endeavor with us, so between the two of us, we have K4, K5 and 1st grade students (with Lexi on deck for next year’s K4.) I’ve appreciated the welcome I’ve felt from parents I have met at kindergarten testing and around the school. It’s not a huge shift in demographics, but it may be the start of something big. Even if it isn’t, we can think of many advantages in giving this a good college try. Relatively few middle class white kids experience being a minority, and our children get to do that in a loving, Christian environment where they will share a great deal of common values with their fellow pupils. They will see the church more broadly than the our denomination and circles, and I hope that it will shape them to be gracious and welcoming to other believers. We avoid sending our children to spend most of their waking moments outside the city, and get to connect with others in the city we never would have met.

This isn’t a contract in blood, and even if the school adds a high school (it has always been K4-8th grade) I am not sure that we will stay forever. Our desires for our children at different points may be better fulfilled other places, even if it means a drive. But right now (and for the foreseeable future if things go well) I wholeheartedly believe that this is the place that best fits the values we want to instill in our kids: solid basic academics, Christian nurture and loving our city as neighbors. It also complements the culture of our home and church by filling in some of our gaps.

If this is the sort of thing that makes you excited, pray with us, for Kate, Brady and Riley, and for their parents, as we learn to navigate the inevitable cultural differences and find grace along the way. Five weeks until the first day of school.

Cross-posted at This Classical Life