Schaumburg Christian School or St. Peter Lutheran School (Liberty, Woodland: appointed, crimes)

[purplesky]

Anyone have kids in these schools? I'm probably transferring my 7 year-old son next year and am still debating between these two schools. I already toured them both. I could really use some input from people who have any experience with them.

[robnadar]

PROS
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My daughter (5th grade) and son (3rd grade) are going to SCS for the 4th year now. We are extremely happy that we had selected this school over the others in this area. SCS follows Abeka curriculum. Seeing my friends children, I would say that SCS students are at least 2 years ahead of their public school counterparts.

People complain that SCS devotes too much time to religion, but I see the fruits of it in my children.

Teachers make the real difference in SCS. They are well qualified and devoted. There is a fine blend of young and experienced teaching staff.

Teachers conduct special classes if they find a particular student is not catching up with rest of the classmates. Free of cost!

Their fees structure is probably the lowest among Christen schools in the US. I pay around $3,500 per child annually. My brother pays $13,200 for his 4th grade son in "The Woodlands", TX.

This is not a small school. The total student strength is around 1,400. For a private school , I think, it is a testimony itself for its quality.

Finally, the student population is totally diversified.

CONS
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SCS teaches strong (army strong ) Baptist principles. If you are a non-Baptist, you may find it difficult. But this school has large group of students from other denominations and other religions. The parents appreciate the educational and self-developmental values than the religious affiliation.

If you are looking for sports, this is not the school. I sent my kids to local YMCA and Park District.

Parents (Yes!, I did not mean to type students) sometimes complain to too much homework, especially 4th grade and up. I have no problem with it.

They have strict punishment system, including parent administered spanking in extreme cases.


Good Luck!

[purplesky]

Thanks for your input.



There are a few things that are making my decision difficult:

My son has been going to a public school since preschool, and the change might be too great for him at SCS with the uniforms and the strictness (even though he has always been a well-behaved kid). I haven't even informed my son that he will be changing schools, although he knows I'm not happy with the curriculum at his present school. He likes his school and can get somewhat emotional at times. I'm worried about how he will adapt to the change. If he were in kindergarten now, it would be much easier. Also, the Baptist hold on the school bothers me a bit, especially with the no rock music, no dancing rule for the upper grades. Does the staff ask a lot of personal questions of the students, or do they never mention it?

St Peter's has a more relaxed atmosphere (no uniforms) and I think my son would adapt better. However, the curriculum is good, but not quite as good as SCS. SCS is cheaper than St. Peter, but St. Peter has a bus service.

I'm thinking that I might just have to bring my son on a tour to both schools because I'm going to have to bring it up sooner or later.

[GoCUBS1]

I also toured the Schaumburg Christian School a few years back and... well... it really freaked me out. I have toured many, many schools and my parents were both teachers. I am also a Christian (but not a Baptist). But this school was not for us and I saw alot of red flags. The school is completely focused on discipline and punishment (rather than "Positive Reinforcement") for teaching and behavior modification. There is an elaborate punishment system (I think I still have the discipline book somewhere - I show it to my friends to freak them out).

Basically, kids lose points for the simplest infractions - being late, talking out of turn (they should only speak when they are spoken to), socializing with members of the opposite sex in or out of school, listening to rock music in or out of school (I don't think even Christian Rock was allowed). I think dancing might even be illegal (have we learned nothing from "Footloose"?). Students are encouraged to turn in their peers when they see them committing these crimes (like listening to that evil rock-n-roll in their own car, in their own driveway).

If you lose too many points (and it appears very easy to do this), there is a series of overly-severe punishments culminating in the big one: either the parent or the principal gets to spank the child. Actually, I'm not sure if they still allow the principal to do this as the school was sued several years back for their spanking policy.

The classrooms were spartan (I toured in February during school hours). Just rows and rows of neat desks with nothing at all on the white walls to distract students (except maybe a laminated poster of the 10 Commandments and the Bible verses of the day). BTW, I toured a 2nd grade class and expected to at least see some bright student artwork on the walls, some sort of hands-on-science activities around the class, smiley faces, etc. But there was nothing cheery at all about the class. It was just so very sterile. Just shelves of Abeka books and Saxon Math workbooks. Saxon Math is a great program though (probably the ONLY thing I liked about the school - but I ended up just buying the Saxon Math homeschool materials).

When I saw that prison-like classroom, it made me feel sad for the little kids there every day. I pictured a frowning teacher just drilling bible verses and swatting little fingers with rulers (sorry - that's the image I got).

I also think the teacher to student ratio is actually quite large. And the PCs in the Computer Lab were antiquated. The monitors were kept under each desk in plexi-glass (strange - I think the plexi-glass was to keep evil from springing forth from the internet). Seriously though, I never did understand the plexi-glass thing. I wouldn't be surprised if the school has banned the internet though.

Also, girls must always wear long skirts - even during gym class, during which time "they only participate in discreet activities - no cartwheels allowed." The admission rep's exact words. No cartwheels for a 3rd grader?!

Of course, being a Christian Conservative school, only one science viewpoint is allowed (Intelligent Design). So I would say students will have a major gap in their science education since they don't cover the widely accepted principles of evolution.

There are alot of former homeschoolers at this school. Many kids who have been homeschooled until High School for religious reasons. A parent told us she wanted to completely shelter her son from the "evil of the world" so he had received all his elem/middle school education via the Bob Jones Christian Curriculm video feed. Some questions these homeschooler parents asked:

- Why are your punishments not stricter? (WHAT? spanking is not strict enough?)

- How can I ensure that once my child graduates from this High School they will never interact with unchristian people? We were told that the High Schoolers are asked to attend only an "approved" Christian Conservative college (e.g. Liberty University). That way they'll never, ever have to encounter an "evil" person who does not practice christianity.

- Could you separate girls from boys so that they never interact with each other?


There you have it - some of the reasons I don't recommend SCS.
Sorry if I offended anyone at SCS. I was given this info from the Admission Rep and other parents at the school. Maybe it is not as bad as it appeared. Perhaps things have changed since I toured the school a few years back. Or perhaps you already know about all this and you like this kind of an enviroment for your children. But I just wanted to make this post in case someone was considering touring SCS and, like me, they had no idea what type of "Christian" school it is. I did not know these type of schools still existed in 2008 (at least not this far north).

Good Luck with your decision.

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by purplesky

Thanks for your input.



There are a few things that are making my decision difficult:

My son has been going to a public school since preschool, and the change might be too great for him at SCS with the uniforms and the strictness (even though he has always been a well-behaved kid). I haven't even informed my son that he will be changing schools, although he knows I'm not happy with the curriculum at his present school. He likes his school and can get somewhat emotional at times. I'm worried about how he will adapt to the change. If he were in kindergarten now, it would be much easier. Also, the Baptist hold on the school bothers me a bit, especially with the no rock music, no dancing rule for the upper grades. Does the staff ask a lot of personal questions of the students, or do they never mention it?

St Peter's has a more relaxed atmosphere (no uniforms) and I think my son would adapt better. However, the curriculum is good, but not quite as good as SCS. SCS is cheaper than St. Peter, but St. Peter has a bus service.

I'm thinking that I might just have to bring my son on a tour to both schools because I'm going to have to bring it up sooner or later.

I think you should follow your instincts. I have been impressed with Lutheran Schools and have heard good things about St. Peter. Just curious, what elements of the curriculum do you feel are better at SCS?
Sometimes overall test scores and adopted textbook programs do not show the whole picture. You must look at how your child's individual needs will be met academically, socially, and spiritually. And in which environment your child will thrive.

[purplesky]

GoCubs1--When I toured there, the classroom size was also rather large. That surprised me. I liked that they used Saxon Math (I am currently using the homeschool version with my son since he uses Everyday Math at school). I'm not sure what history book they where using, but when I toured the 3rd or 4th grade class, they were actually reading about U.S. History instead of community fluff. I didn't mind the spartan walls so much, it was the beginning of the school year, and I think some teachers spend way too much time on "projects" anyway.

What gets me, is that when I took the tour, they didn't mention any of the strict rules like no dancing, no rock, etc. I found it in the back of one of the pamphlets they provided me. The tour guide said that one of her daughters was going to an Ivy League school after SCS. That doesn't impress me, I just want my son to have a good education, I don't care what he decides to do after high school.

They say they are non-denominational, but it's really more of a fundamentalist Baptist church. I actually attended a Baptist church in the 1970s which had Awana, and there were never such rules.

I wish SCS was more like Medinah Christian School. According to their website, girls can wear pants, but they actually let the children choose their own clothes, and thus, they learn how to dress discreetly within the rules.

I am probably going to pick St Peter Lutheran School, although I don't know anyone that has actually sent their child there. I did like the tour better, and the principal actually went to get the textbooks for me, when I inquired what they used in the upper grades for math. It's funny, when I asked him if any kids went to SCS after 8th grade, he said no. He alsogot a dig in at SCS whe he said that the coursework is not 1-2 years ahead of the public school, but the children are challenged. However, he said a lot of them find Schaumburg High School easy after SPLS.

[cubssoxfan]

Hi Purplesky,
My children attended St. Peter. My oldest went preschool-5th grade, my youngest preschool-1st grade. Academically, it is QUITE strong. The class sizes are small, teacher turn-over is fairly low and the teachers do a good job of differentiated teaching. There is also a part-time gifted program for children who qualify. Sports is a big part of the school culture. Cross Country, Basketball, Volleyball and Track. In some sports, St. Peter is in 2 leagues- a lutheran league and a public school league. Facilities range from OK to above average. Mr. Rudi, the principal, is a very dedicated educator. He is focusing on raising the already high standards and implementing a more coordinated curriculum. The orchestra is also top-notch.
Let me know if you have any more questions.

[purplesky]

Hi Cubssoxfan,

Thanks for your input. I'm bringing my son's father to tour there next week. I'm pretty sure we will be enrolling him there. The principal now is Roger Kirsch, who was very informative during the tour.

I'm not concerned too much about the sports, since my son is mainly into karate and running. As long as the academics are strong and the environment at the school is nurturing, I'm satisfied.

[badman70]

I went to SCS for all of high school in the late 80's.

I am extremely disappointed in my parents for sending me there, and very much regret my education there.

First off I was way behind in Math and Sciences when compared to other students in public schools. They simply did not have the proper courses to take for someone who was going to study engineering in college.

I felt that the faculty, much of which graduated from Bob Jones, knew their interpretation of the KJ Bible very well, but not much else. I was taught Chemistry by a teacher who did not know any more than I did.

They use fear as a tactic to keep order as well as physical punishment.

I remember it being a somewhat raciest environment in some respects.

They teach their opinions and interpretations of religion as fact. I remember a student being threatened with expulsion because they went to a movie theater.

During my time, it was very much run like a military academy. I didn't always believe what I was being taught, but I had to keep my mouth shut. Even something as insignificant as the fact I did not believe the earth was 10,000 years old could have gotten me in trouble.

These are granted only my opinions and experiences, and I am talking about H.S., and maybe things have changed over the years... but I doubt it.

[davep101]

I can't speak to SCS, but I can tell you that I have 2 children at St Peter Lutheran School (SPLS) in Schaumburg, in their middle school and elementary school. We've been their for 3 years.

My assessment is that the academically, the school is strong. Their grading scale is a little "harder" than other schools we've interviewed or been at - it's a 7% scale as opposed to a 10% scale - but I view that as a positive thing. I think that indicates the value they put on academics, and pushes the kids a little harder. It's no wonder that it is common to hear that students coming out of SPLS have very little issues adjusting to Schaumburg High or Conant, due to this fact of the grading scale.

Classes are a nice size - usually under 20 I believe. We've had no bad experience with teachers in our 3 years there.

Roger Kirsch, the principal, is tops. It's evident, from my experience and the buzz around other parents, that there, it is all about the kids. He's always available to talk, has genuine concern for the children. and it probably one of the most down-to-earth people I've met. Roger's wife works for Distict 54, I believe, so I suspect that is why he is in tune to the local public school and their ciriculum as well.

In addition to the academics, there is a sports and band program. My kids have been involved in both every year. My opinion is that the band program is probably above average; the sports program has its ups and downs, probably mostly due to the small number of kids going out for sports, and more largely due to the lack of a professional athletic director. In our experience, coaches have been largely volunteers; which can be good or bad.

The facilites are mixed. While they are adequate, you should know that their gym is small. The middle school is fairly new, they have a LOT of open land.

Bus service is available. Child care - before and after school - is available and staffed by professional teachers this year, I believe.

This is the second school system we've sent our kids to. We also weighed the pro's and con's of other local schools - as well as District 54 since we live in Schaumburg and would get free tution there - but ultimately decided on St Peter. We're glad we did - even with the tuition costs, that appear to be very similar to other like schools.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that SPLS has no issues, they do like every other place. But issues seem few and far between, to me, and the good things much outweigh the few issues.

One of the other reasons we really like SPLS is the family atmosphere. We've only been there 3 years, yet we feel we know most of the families there - or at least those in our kids' classes. The other parents have been supportive welcoming to us; that means a lot.

If you have any specific questions, don't heistate to ask me (if you want a parent's view) or Roger (if you have a policy-related question.)