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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9458778360304643572018-03-06T12:50:49.210-05:00Proeliator"Proeliator", Latin for "Warrior" A blog about Christian education at Portersville Christian School (Ephesians 6:10-18)Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-84945542280947253172018-02-26T10:19:00.002-05:002018-02-26T11:43:14.003-05:00Portersville Christian School Wins SWCAC Boys, Girls Varsity Basketball TitlesFor the first time in school history, varsity boys and girls basketball teams from Portersville Christian School won the SWCAC championships during the same season.

Lady Warriors Top Off Undefeated Conference Season with SWCAC Title
The Lady Warriors got off to a 17-0 start and never looked back enroute to a 38-14 victory over Plants and Pillars Homeschoolers of Beaver Falls in the Southwestern Christian Athletic Conference tournament championship game Saturday at the Beaver Falls school district gym. PCS finished its conference season with a perfect 14-0 record and capped off an overall 24-3 mark that included a Tri-County conference championship, and two previous wins over Plants and Pillars, who finished as Tri-County runner-up.

The Lady Warriors made good use of a strong defense, holding the Mighty Oaks scoreless until the 1:35 mark in the second quarter, and continued to hold them to just 5 points until midway through the fourth quarter. The Oaks also played a strong defense that caused eight turnovers in the first half, and held the Warriors below their normal scoring threshold. In the long run, the Warriors were able to capitalize on Oaks turnovers, and used their height advantage in rebounding and scoring provided by tournament MVP Abby Green, and league MVP Julia Mangiapane to force the Oaks to shoot from outside, and picked up 14 second half points in the paint. Senior Melynn Dickson was also named to the all-conference team.

This was Portersville's third straight appearance in the SWCAC title game, and was their first tournament title since 2012.

Warriors Win Third Straight SWCAC Tournament Championship
In spite of a slow start to the regular season, the Portersville Christian School Warriors won a string of conference games to close out the season, and picked up their third straight SWCAC title and trophy with a 43-32 win over The Neighborhood Academy of Pittsburgh at Beaver Falls school district gym on Saturday. It was the fourth straight appearance for PCS in the SWCAC championship game, and it came on the heels of a string of conference wins during the last two weeks of the regular season which gave the Warriors the Tri-County East conference title, and the number two seed.

The Neighborhood Academy overcame adversity from last year, after being ruled ineligible for the playoffs due to a paperwork technicality, and finished their conference season unbeaten, winning the championship of the Tri-County West, and the Tri-County number one seed. The Bulldogs defeated the Warriors 41-31 in an earlier meeting this season at home.

The Warriors had to overcome a blistering full court press by the Bulldogs during the entire first half of the game. In spite of several turnovers, PCS was able to build a lead that they never relenquished. Foul trouble and shooting problems plagued the Bulldogs throughout the second half, and the Warriors capitalized on some hot outside shooting to extend their lead to as much as 20 points in the early part of the fourth quarter. After the Bulldogs passed the bonus, the Warriors sealed the 43-32 win with free throws and key offensive rebounds.

The two teams have a great relationship with each other, and met under the basket after the game to pose for a joint photograph. Following their earlier meeting in the season, The Neighborhood Academy hosted a fellowship dinner for both teams.

Sweep of SWCAC Championships
The two basketball titles are added to previous SWCAC championships this school year in soccer and volleyball. It is the first time in school history that PCS won all of the SWCAC tournament titles at the high school level. This is a great accomplishment, and a credit to the coaches, parents, and especially to the student athletes. We've been in SWCAC for many years, and this is a first for us. Learning how to be gracious in victory requires being cheerful in the face of defeat, and I hope that our graciousness is visible. SWCAC provides a great opportunity for all students to enjoy the opportunity to play a sport they might not otherwise try in a larger, public school environment, so a championship represents the contribution of every athlete and coach in the league, whether they win it or not.

National Christian School Athletic Association National Tournaments
Both Warriors varsity teams will be participating in the NCSAA National Tournament at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University in Mt. Vernon, Ohio this week, beginning March 1. The boys are two-time defending National champions, and the girls will be looking for their first title since 2012. The girls play at 12:00 noon March 1, against Shenandoah Valley Christian School from Virginia, while the boys play at 1:30, also against Shenandoah Valley.  Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-20750727240226630972018-01-04T17:33:00.000-05:002018-01-04T17:33:05.591-05:00Insights into School Cancellations and DelaysMy Mother grew up in Doddridge County, West Virginia, during the depression. She had stories, as most parents of that generation did, of long walks to school, regardless of the weather, sometimes in rain, sometimes in freezing cold or deep snow. It wasn't "uphill both ways" of course, in fact, the road from their house to the four-room school building followed a creek, though they could take a shorter route on a cow path over a small hill. She was the second youngest of eight, one of three girls and her older brothers had the job of making sure the furnace was stocked with coal and properly lit before school on winter mornings, so most of the time, in addition to a cold walk to school, she and her sisters waited in a cold building until the furnace could warm it up. If she were still living, she'd probably smile if I told her we delayed school for two hours because of wind chill, or snow, or that we cancel when the roads are bad, or when the wind chill gets below zero.

But, she would be very appreciative and grateful for the way we treat school students today, and very understanding, because of her own experiences, of many things we take for granted. Her school experiences were not necessarily pleasant ones, and for her and most of her siblings, including her older sister, were part of the reason that she didn't finish grade school. That was a decision she regretted for the rest of her life.

Most of our decisions to delay or cancel here at PCS are based on the rules and policies of the school districts with whom we contract to pay for our bus service. As a small private school, we are blessed to be able to operate our own busses, hire our own drivers, and transport our own students. Most private schools depend on the contract carriers hired by the school districts that fall within the 10 mile limit required by the state to provide transportation to parochial and private school students. Operating our own bus system allows us to have a measure of control over the routes, and we have transportation available whenever we need it. We have high expectations for the care and safety of our students.

We'd rather not cancel or delay. Our calendar is carefully planned, and there isn't much room for re-scheduling events. Instructional time is valuable and interruptions can be counterproductive. We know that most of our parents work, so a cancellation or delay causes problems with finding someone to watch kids during the day. But the health, safety and security of our students is a high priority, and those are not things in which there is room for error. Sure, things happen, but the inconvenience of a two hour delay is worth it, if it provides enough time for the bus ride to be much safer.

Pennsylvanians have been bundling up and dealing with sub zero temperatures and wind chills for a long time. Everyone has their story of driving in heavy snow, or sliding off the road, or getting stuck. When you're responsible for students, who are other people's precious cargo, you're more careful than you might be on your own. A couple of weeks ago, driving back home from Buffalo, I ran into a lake-effect blizzard on I-90 just before I got to Fredonia. It took almost three hours to drive from there to Erie, at 10-15 MPH in almost zero visibility, on a road where the snow was coming down at a rate of 4 inches an hour. It was a tough drive, and I had thoughts of times when I'd been told about the experiences of people being stalled for hours, and even days, on the highway in a blizzard somewhere. If I'd known how bad it was going to be, I'm not sure I'd have risked the trip myself, but I'd never put students in a situation like that. We can always make up the class time if necessary.

Our decisions to delay or cancel are based on the safety of our students. They're your kids, and they're our responsibility when they are in our care.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-89765463568253972592017-12-18T16:02:00.002-05:002017-12-18T16:02:38.824-05:00Merry Christmas! And Thank You!The snow that fell last week, and cancelled classes one day, makes it feel like the Christmas season is here. Churches are doing cantatas and programs, and the elementary school here got their music presentation completed in spite of the flu and colds. Pastors are turning to familiar passages in Luke, but my favorite scripture for Christmas actually comes from the Old Testament--

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feed of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God Reigns." Isaiah 52:7, ESV

Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday this year, and it really sets the tone for the celebration of the day that we honor the birth of our savior, that time when, according to the scripture, the good news of salvation was published. My home church always did "Carols and Candlelight" on Christmas Eve, you could set your watch by the 6:00 p.m. start time. At the church we attended in Texas for many years, the congregation, with lighted candles, would process out of the church door and down the stairwell along with the orchestra while singing "Silent Night" to proclaim the birth of the savior to the community. I hope that whenever and wherever you find yourself this Christmas Eve, it is in the Lord's house, in a time of worship and celebration.

Thank You!

The generosity of our school community is always shown at Christmas in the offering you give for the staff Christmas bonuses. This gift is deeply appreciated, and it is a demonstration of your appreciation for the work that is done by our teachers and staff. As most of you know, the salaries and benefits provided to our staff are not comparable to those of similarly employed professionals in the education business. It is a sacrifice that our staff is willing to make which keeps the cost of attending a Christian school reasonable, and when it is matched with the sacrifice parents make to send their children here, it causes great things to work together to happen.

Thank you for this gift, especially at this time of the year. It is deeply appreciated.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-90449554350511989862017-11-17T10:25:00.000-05:002017-11-17T10:25:58.784-05:00Terra Nova Test Results are in, and it's Good News!Portersville Christian School uses the Terra Nova Achievement Test as one of the means available to produce student achievement data which allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of our educational program. Along with the PSAT and SAT results for students in grades 9-12, the Terra Nova is administered to students in K-10. We chose this particular test because it is updated regularly, based on research and results, and because it provides detailed insights into student mastery of specific curriculum objectives. It allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of our educational program, and make adjustments in expected student outcomes. It also allows us to see where individual students may be struggling with objectives and concepts so that we can provide some additional assistance.

Terra Nova provides individual student reports that are pretty easy to read. When looking at an individual report, there is a bar graph that will show the student's progress based on their percentile rank for each section of the test. The percentile rank tells you how that particular student did in comparison to all of the other students in the same grade across the country who took the same test at roughly the same time. The mastery score tells you how the student did based on the expectations of the test objectives for a student in a particular subject on their grade level. You can look at each section of the test, and see areas in the content where the student excelled, where they were meeting the averages and expectations, and where they may have some specific weaknesses. Mathematics and Language Arts are broken down into specific concepts and areas of study.

The bar graph on the home report is the key to understanding the test results. If the bars for a student's performance extend into the gray areas, their test results indicate that they are performing at the expected standards for their grade level in each subject area. The gray area is bisected by the 50th percentile line, is divided in to quarters, and reflects the spectrum of possible test scores. If the bars extend beyond the top of the highest gray quarter, the student is most likely exceeding grade level expectations in that particular subject, and is performing at a level that is considerably higher than their peers in the same grade. Those rankings and scores reflect percentiles that are set in place nationally, by all students who took the test at that grade level.

PCS students generally perform well above the expected outcomes provided by the test, and have percentile ranks that exceed the national norms. Students in grades 7-12 average in the 75th percentile in Reading and in Language Arts areas, and in the 72nd percentile in Mathematics. Scores in Social Studies and Science vary, but the overall averages are in the 73rd to 78th percentile across the board. Half of the students in those grades achieve percentile ranks in Mathematics and Reading which rank them in the top fourth of all students who take the test, and over 90% of our students rank in the top two percentile quarters in Mathematics and Reading.

Elementary students average at the 70th percentile in Mathematics, and at the 75th percentile in Reading and Language. Though we don't have major curriculum emphases in social studies or science until students are reading well, scores in those areas also exceed the national norms. Generally, the scores reflect a curriculum and instruction that is accelerated and advanced.

Parents should pay particular attention to the scores which show a percentile rank that is below the 25th percentile. This could be an indicator of a student struggling with curriculum objectives or with difficulties in instruction and classroom performance. This may be an indicator of a specific learning issue, a physiological problem like impaired vision or hearing, or it may be a developmental issue related to learning readiness.

We evaluate the test results to make changes in the curriculum objectives. If we see consistent scores in a particular area of instruction, we re-examine the expected student outcomes and objectives, and rewrite the curriculum guide to address the weakness. We want to ensure that our students are getting everything they need to prepare them for the next level, and to make their educational experience a valuable asset to their life.

The scores our students achieve are well above the averages earned by students in the public and charter education system, and rank in the upper half of Christian schools who administer the Terra Nova. Since ACSI recommends the use of this particular test, the norms and percentile ranks tend to come out a little higher than an achievement test used primarily by public schools. We are pleased with the results of this year's test. Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-45633582453929785842017-11-11T11:42:00.001-05:002017-11-11T11:42:11.958-05:00AntigoneWhy would a Christian school fine arts department perform a Greek tragedy, like Antigone?

That's a good question.

Christian schools have struggled with theater arts performances for a long time. There are those who feel that Christian schools should only perform plays and musicals with Christian themes. We certainly understand that view. The stage provides an opportunity for the school to promote and express its message using the talents of its students and the leaders of its theater arts program. So it makes sense, to those of us who are Christians, and who have a clear understanding of the gospel of Christ.

On the other hand, a Christian school education is much more than just an indoctrination into all things "Christian," as a label. Christianity is much more than a set of beliefs or doctrinal statements. In fact, to reduce it down to that is to remove what makes it dynamic, active and relevant. In our classrooms, we don't just teach basic Biblical principles, we teach students how to live their life, and how to encounter the world, through a Christian, Biblically-supported worldview. The core of that perspective is being "in the world" without being "of the world." And the stage is one of the most practical places to provide students with visible examples of exactly how to do that. It also provides them with an opportunity to experience what it means to glorify God with their talent, while gaining an understanding of how the gospel of Christ can be preached in the world.

Discernment is one of the major goals of an education in a Christian school environment. Learning how to trust the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and apply that to an understanding of the scriptures is a lifelong discipline of the faith, and is also a daily experience in this Christian school. The Bible doesn't equip believers for an experience inside of a "Christian bubble," it prepares them for a lifestyle through which Christ can be seen, and preached, and through which God is glorified.

"Antigone" is, perhaps, one of the most relevant and useful theatrical performances in helping students understand the contrast between the world and their faith. It comes directly out of the cultural background into which Jesus came, about 400 years before his birth. Not long after Sophocles wrote it, Alexander the Great conquered Palestine, and the Greeks intentionally, and successfully forced their culture onto the Jews. The Greeks treated the Jews with disdain and arrogance because of their monotheism which they regarded as ignorant and provincial. Greek philosophy was forced into Jewish culture, with serious consequences, though it was short-lived.

The darkness that is the underlying theme of Antigone was the prevailing world philosophy into which Jesus was born, and to which the Christian gospel was written to address. The New Testament was primarily written in Greek, and all of the evangelistic efforts of the early church were aimed at the Greek-dominated culture of Asia Minor and the Middle East, including the Jews of the diaspora. The gospel message of Christ directly addressed the kind of darkness of human wisdom and philosophy that is illustrated in Greek tragedies like Antigone, and the performance of a play like this provides a perfect opportunity to show students, and audiences, how the Gospel addresses worldly darkness with perfect light. And you can be sure that the opportunity to point this out and teach the students this way is not missed here. If you stayed after for the discussion, you heard this from the students. Ask them what they got out of it.

Classical literature is a large part of the English instruction in the classroom here, precisely because it is the literature of the world at the time that Jesus came. Understanding it is a key component in understanding the context of the New Testament, most of which was written in Greek. Performance of a classical Greek tragedy like Antigone provides an active, visible element to this instruction. Seminaries and theological schools use foundational elements of understanding classical literature to train pastors and Bible professors in the interpretation of scripture. So do we.

There are also principles in Antigone that are clearly seen as part of the theme. Standing up for what is right in the face of evil that has captured the power of worldly authority is the underlying theme. Christians have been faced with this throughout the history of the church, though most of our students don't have any context in which to understand this. Acting it out puts it on a different level than seeing words in a textbook, or watching a movie. Antigone illustrates the importance of affirming the certainly of your convictions before making the ultimate sacrifice of your own life.

For at least the past eight years, the directors of plays and musicals at PCS have provided students and audiences with a "Director's Concept," a written way of discerning the Christian principles illustrated in plays and musicals, and of interpreting and viewing the production from a Christian perspective. I think this is an essential part of the performance of works at a Christian school, and I hope that every member of the audience takes the time to read it.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-56978627979279595932017-10-04T15:02:00.004-04:002017-10-04T15:02:36.261-04:00Something That Needs to be Said..."So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrigheousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies; it pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire and is itself set on fire by Hell." James 3:5-6, HCSB

In the course of a conversation, from my perspective, there are some phrases and words that tend to give some clues about things that are happening, and which raise a level of concern about what might be transpiring. When addressing an issue at our school, the phrase "I've spoken to several other parents about this," or "I heard from some other parents that..." is an indicator that there is conversation taking place which would be more effective in solving a problem if it were going to the source that could solve it, rather than having it discussed in a forum where there are no answers, and not much accurate information.

Generally, those terms indicate gossip. Gossip is one of the most difficult things to deal with in the Christian life, because it takes such subtle forms, and because we can easily talk ourselves into some other reason for our conversations. It is also one of the most harmful, because it leaves false impressions, plants false information, and is usually rooted in selfish behavior. It divides, and it causes harm to people who are the subject of it. In a church, and by extension, in a Christian school, it can lead to ruptured relationships and have very harmful effects on the school's ministry and its employees. It results from selfishness, among other motives.

Our expectations here are high, and they include the integration of Biblical principles to the point where these things are visible in practice, and expected when it comes to operation. We teach skills, by various methods, including modeling Christ-like behavior and responses to adversity. We have a very specific way of dealing with all kinds of issues that are going to come from being human beings in a fallen world, and that way includes adherence to Biblical principles for guiding the Christian life. When there is conflict, and things don't appear to be as they should be, the expectation is to follow the Biblical principles toward resolution.

There are plenty of people who have both the leadership skills, and the authority, to resolve problems for parents and students here. This information can be easily obtained as common knowledge by reading the handbook, and by following the instructions found there. Resting on New Testament teaching recorded in Matthew, Chapter 18, the best way to solve problems is to go directly to those involved, and give enough information so that they are aware there is a problem, and can do something to resolve it. Put a little bit of prayer and consideration ahead of the complaint, and that should solve the problem. If not, you go to the next person in authority, maintaining all confidences and guarding your temperament. It is never permissible, from a scriptural perspective, to inform others of your problem and gather support for your side before you take it where it needs to go.

Don't assume that there's an awareness of your situation without your having provided information to an administrator about it. Usually, school administrators are not privy to conversations that seem to clue everyone else into what is "going on," and unless there's a compelling reason to look, we're probably too busy to take notice. It's more difficult to be objective if people have taken sides, and you hear one before the other.

Things are off to a good start this year. PCS has gained in stability and productivity over the past few years, to the point where the enrollment is growing, and stable, educational achievement is moving forward and achieving recognition, the building is undergoing much needed repair and replacement, new families are seeking us out to meet their educational needs, the financial situation is stable and healthy, and students are growing in their faith and in their awareness of God's purpose for their lives. Be considerate of our desire to keep moving forward.

There's a reason that James compares the tongue to a fire. A week or so ago, my neighbor's garage, which lies about 40 feet behind my house, caught fire. It wasn't a big blaze, and the fire department got there within minutes. It didn't spread, but in just the ten or fifteen minutes that it burned, it did plenty of damage to the garage, and made it such that there are some purposes for which it cannot be used until it is completely repaired. A few more minutes, and the garage might have been a total loss. As we serve the Lord here, we seek to accomplish his purpose. Following his principles makes that possible, and we can do things that are well beyond our own ability. Help us. Be careful. Bless us with your conversation.

 Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-54080679033163384432017-09-07T12:14:00.005-04:002017-09-07T12:14:48.134-04:00More Than Meets the EyeAs we begin this 2017-18 school year, there are some things about the ministry of Portersville Christian School that are deserving of your attention. Walking into the building, things look the same each year, though we did add some new lighting this summer. The beginning of the year is always a good time to take a look at what happens here, and to do some reflecting in order to avoid taking what is a blessing for each student for granted.

The quality of instruction offered here is high. In our area, there are few places where the academic quality of the school program is equal to what is offered here, and that's not just a casual boast. We work hard to make sure that our course objectives are aimed at high goals, and that expected student outcomes are based on higher goals, and not just achieving the "average." Because of our size, we are limited in course offerings to those classes which eventually point students toward a higher education, and the measurements and results we get tell us we are achieving this goal.

There is a very strong Christian atmosphere on the campus. There are many ways that Biblical principles are included as the core foundation of the school. A Biblical perspective is present in every subject area on every grade level. In addition to that, there are many activities which supplement the curriculum, providing ministry opportunities for the students. Our students come from over 60 different churches, and a variety of denominational backgrounds, but in spite of differences in the way we interpret the Bible and practice our faith, there is unity among our students and families that supports and undergirds our work.

There is mutual sacrifice in the use of resources. It costs approximately $16,000 to provide an education to one child for one year in the state of Pennsylvania. Our school budget is sustained primarily by the tuition that parents pay, but the highest tuition rate is $7,500 and that doesn't come close to what is needed to provide the quality education that we do. Contributions are made to the school which help cover expenses and provide financial aid to those whose income wouldn't sustain the tuition payments. Our athletic and fine arts programs are self-funded, and self-sustaining, and do not receive budget money. But even at that rate, our tuition and fees, which are low compared to the overall cost of Christian schools, and of an education, must be supplemented by other things in order for ends to be met.

Perhaps the biggest reason for our ability to provide what we do rests with our faculty and staff. The average teacher salary in Pennsylvania in the public education system is $59,000, with an additional $11,000 provided in benefits. Our teachers here work for slightly less than half of that amount, an average of $26,000 with about $6,000 in benefits. The rest of our staff is also paid considerably less than their public school counterparts. It would nearly double the tuition to get our pay scale up to the minimum levels of the public education system. Some Christian schools have committed to do this, but it makes it very difficult to find enough families to sustain a school enrollment. Even at our level of tuition and fees, more than 70% of typical Christian families cannot afford to send their children here. So the teachers and school staff work for less, because they love what they do and they want to serve your family.

There is a high level of efficiency in our use of resources. We are providing an excellent education of superior quality at a cost of about half of the average. Sometimes, that means we have to decide to do without something we'd like to have. It means that while we offer a quality extra-curricular program, we have to be selective about what sports we can offer. We've invested more in student materials than we have in infrastructure improvements. Being able to acquire something of quality at a price far below what it would cost based on its value is known in our society as a "bargain." Well, what you're getting here is a bargain.

We depend on prayer. That's not just a cliche, that's what we do because it works. We are confident that as long as we head in the direction we discern that God wants us to go, he will keep us moving and protect us. It is the means by which God speaks to us, and provides us with the leadership of his Holy Spirit. It's how we are blessed.

And we are most definitely blessed.Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-25911378937744886082017-06-18T21:37:00.003-04:002017-06-18T21:39:14.827-04:00Gifts and Offerings...The school year is over. It went by fast, and the next one seems like it is closer than the time available to prepare for it. Graduation parties are in full swing. The building construction, installation of new lights and ceilings, is virtually complete and the difference is remarkable. New students are admitted and new applications are received on almost a daily basis. Summer is just around the corner.

It was a good school year, from many different perspectives. Our senior class earned as many honors and accomplishments for their academic work as any recent class at PCS. They have continued the recent strong showing of SAT and ACT scores in mathematics. Their post-high school plans reflect a diversity that is unique among recent PCS classes, among the usual college admissions are students who are attending a technical or trade school, entering military service, entering a business apprenticeship, or taking a gap year. Their college choices also reflected a diversity, including Cedarville University as the most popular choice, along with some new names, including Covenant College, The Citadel, and Taylor University.

We celebrated many athletic accomplishments this season. Boys varsity and junior high girls SWCAC basketball titles, with varsity soccer, volleyball and junior high boys basketball teams in championship games. The girls varsity basketball team earned a fourth place at the NCSAA tournament in Ohio, and the boys varsity brought home their second title in a row. Archery with top placements in preliminary tournaments, at state, and at nationals. It was all good. The athletic program provides a way for students to get a well-rounded education, learn how to manage their time between school and personal interests. I'd say that enjoying the level of success that we did this part year was a blessing, and a gift from God as well. Athletic success contributes to a positive atmosphere in the school community.

Our fine arts program also had a great year. Starting with a light comedy, ending with a wonderful musical performance highlighting a lot of vocal talent, we saw the growth of our instrumental music program during their Christmas and end of the year concerts. As always, the elementary performances were delightful blessings, even leading us to worship at times.

Of course, there are as many different perspectives of a school year as there are students, teachers and parents who are involved in it. Not all of our students are involved in extra-curricular activities, and so the success that is experienced there might not have any affect on them. Some students struggle with school, for a number of reasons, and so the experience of getting up to come here each day is not always pleasant. Wondering, at the end of each grading period, and then again at the end of the year, whether your grades are going to be acceptable or not, does have an affect on how you perceive the school year. But regardless of how the year is perceived, or a student's athletic ability, singing or acting talent, or aptitude and ability to perform well in class, our mission and purpose starts with the words "to glorify God...."

All of these things that are mentioned here are gifts, given by God, to enhance and bless those who are a part of the ministry of this Christian school. And regardless of any individual perspective, these are gifts which God uses to bless us. They affirm us, strengthen our faith and trust in God, and in and among them are the answers to many prayers.

Our response should be to give all of these things to the Lord as an offering, specifically for the purpose of glorifying the name of Jesus.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1, NIV

So as we wrap up this school year, and look forward to another one, we pause, and give all of the blessings we received back to the Lord, as an offering, to his glory. This is part of the abundant life that comes to us through our trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We are able to take pleasure in, and enjoy blessings that God gives to us, responding to him with gratitude.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-58227583974043651952017-05-16T15:56:00.000-04:002017-05-16T15:56:43.884-04:00What's Happening in Legislative Advocacy?At the State Level
As many of you know, I am a member of the committee known as ACSIPA, which is involved in legislative advocacy for Christian school education in the state of Pennsylvania. Specifically, we represent the 160 Christian schools in Pennsylvania that are members of ACSI. Since many of the issues that affect us also affect other private, religious-based schools, we work together with a couple of the smaller Christian school organizations, along with Catholic Conference, the Jewish educational association and the Quaker schools. ACSIPA is a member of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Council on American Private Education, which also includes independent private schools that are not necessarily associated with a church or religious organization. Only Catholic Conference has an office and staff member in Harrisburg for their school issues. The rest of us send volunteers several times a year to meet with legislators and their staffers.

We're fortunate in Pennsylvania to have a level of independence and autonomy as a private, Christian school that allows us to develop our educational system as we see fit. Our Christian schools are known for excellence, we do a good job of meeting, and exceeding the expected student outcomes, and we meet our acceptable yearly progress benchmarks. As a result, there is little interference with what we do. And at the present time, from a legislative perspective, there is a high level of pro-school choice support among the members of the PA house and senate. In addition to the tax credit programs, our schools also share in the state's transportation funding and in the textbook and equipment fund. The legislature appears headed toward an expansion of the tax credit caps by as much as a third of their total value, and there is support for further measures which will increase the choices parents have in their children's education.

Pennsylvania legislators have considered school choice measures like voucher programs in the past. There is some movement in the legislature to consider similar programs this session. We've been told that the voter voice we use on the ACSIPA website is helpful, and legislators do pay attention to the email they receive. To keep updated on what's going on in Pennsylvania, you can look at the ACSIPA website at http://acsipa.org.

Common Core is also a state-level initiative. In Pennsylvania, the Keystone Exams reflect Common Core objectives as minimum standards for passing and graduating from high school. There are a lot of myths about Common Core, many of them promoted by the media. This was an initiative started by the National Governors Association through state departments of education in 48 states and the District of Columbia. The aim was to develop uniform standards based on states where best practices were achieving the objectives and expected outcomes, and establish basic minimums in English/language arts and mathematics.

In Pennsylvania, private school students are exempt from being required to pass Keystone Exams to graduate from high school. Our standards and objectives exceed those of Common Core at every grade level, and the means of measuring our acceptable yearly progress, which includes the Terra Nova test, the PSAT and our SAT scores, show that PCS students exceed the expectations of Common Core objectives. Our Terra Nova scores average around the 70th percentile, which is about 12% higher than state or national scores, and our PSAT scores also run 10-12% higher than national norms. PCS has always placed an emphasis on mathematics and language arts objectives, including the instruction of writing skills beginning in middle school.

At the Federal Level
Many people have asked about what might be developing now that Betsy DeVos is Secretary of Education and what that might mean for private, Christian schools, since she is a product of them. To answer that question requires an understanding of how the department works.

DeVos met with leaders from CAPE (Council on American Private Education) a few weeks ago, and outlined her plans for the department. Primarily, the DOE will be focused on helping implement the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in January of 2015. The ESSA is the protocol for the DOE, replacing the act known as No Child Left Behind. It contains provisions and program initiatives for continuing to raise standards for public education, and oversight of the distribution of funds that have been allocated for the implementation of its programs. There are some benefits in the ESSA for private schools, most notably funding to assist with STEM initiatives, and some supplemental funds for textbooks, equipment and supplies for students.

A voucher program at the federal level would not originate at the DOE, but would have to come from Congress. There are a few legislators who have proposed bills, but the house study committee, which sets the legislative agenda for the year, and is controlled by the party in power, has not placed consideration of vouchers for private school students on the agenda. Federal expenditures on education average about $2,000 per student per year, so it is not likely that any federal level voucher program would provide enough money to cover all of the tuition and fees for private education. There are also a number of court decisions which restrict the channels through which federal tax dollars can be channeled into private education, especially religious-based schools.

I am also part of a group of about 20 school administrators from across the country who meet in Washington, DC in September to advocate for Christian schools and private education issues. There is just one legislative liaison in the nation's capital who works on behalf of all of the Christian schools in the US, so volunteers are used to help there as well.

Locally
PCS remains one of the area's highest achieving private, Christian schools. Ranked as the #2 Christian school in Greater Pittsburgh by Best Schools, based on parent surveys and school data, our staff continues to work toward accomplishing our mission and purpose, glorifying God, serving Jesus, partnering with family and church, and instilling high standards in our students. We value the unique combination of religious freedom and educational autonomy which allows us to incorporate Christian discipleship into the whole learning experience of children and youth.

Our needs include resources that will allow us to expand our ministry and share its benefits with other Christian families who live and work in our area. We believe that families have the right to choose the kind of education their children will receive, in the kind of environment in which they want them to receive it.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-52951091091553407852017-04-09T20:17:00.004-04:002017-04-09T20:17:51.682-04:00We Need Your Help Again: EITC/OSTC Increase Passes the PA HouseThe Pennsylvania house recently passed a bill that will expand the cap on EITC and OSTC scholarship tax credits. The program has been a success, so much so that previous expansions have allowed it to reach capacity in a relatively short period of time. It is clear that there are many families in Pennsylvania who are looking for schools that match their family values, and provide quality education.

PCS benefits from this program in a couple of ways. It helps increase our enrollment, because it enables more families to consider sending their children here. Our school's ability to provide the programs and activities that it does would be limited if those who receive EITC scholarships were not able to attend. It would affect all aspects of school operations, including academics, athletics, fine arts, and other activities. Across the state, over 40,000 students receive scholarships, representing almost 40% of those who attend private schools, including Christian schools. Several ACSI schools which minister in lower income areas would not exist if it were not for EITC or OSTC.

The expansion bill just passed by the house adds $50 million to the EITC cap, increasing it to $175 million, and adds $25 million to OSTC, increasing it to $75 million. It provides the potential for adding up to 20,000 additional students to the program.

This is not "state money." In school choice programs, there is always concern that tax dollars from the state going into private schools carry government regulations. That is not the case with EITC and OSTC. These are scholarships contributed by private businesses. They work the same way a charitable contribution works with tax deductions. If a business makes a contribution to a school's scholarship fund, it is allowed to deduct up to 90% of the contribution from its taxes.

How You Can Help!

The bill must now be considered and passed by the senate to be presented to the governor for his signature. The advocacy efforts on behalf of ACSIPA, Catholic Conference, and other private school interest groups have helped get the bill this far. Our legislators have heard from our constituency, and recognize that this is their constituency, too.

Please go to the ACSIPA website, at http://acsipa.org and click on the "Voter Action Center" tab. The screen will say "Active Issues," and the top issue is for Pennsylvania schools. Click on that issue, and you will be taken to the screen where you can send the email in the text box to your legislators. Based on your zip code, your specific representative and senator will receive the email, along with the governor's office. It is the count of total emails that matters, though you do have the option to write one of your own.

Everyone at our school benefits from this, so whether you receive a scholarship or not, your help in supporting the bill would be appreciated. It is becoming increasingly important for Christian schools to step up and take the initiative in financing the cost of providing education for students. Currently, only about 20% of Christian families have the required level of income to provide a year of tuition and fees for two students. If this ministry is to be successful in reaching students, and meeting the expected outcome of graduating students who are strong in their faith, and make their decisions from a Biblical worldview, programs like EITC/OSTC, and other means of providing choice for parents will have to be developed that make access to a Christian school a reality. That means that our business supporters will need to step up their involvement, and our churches will have to understand the many ways Christian schools are already benefitting their ministries.

Thank you for your help. Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-16223174544254659172017-03-05T22:15:00.003-05:002017-03-05T22:15:30.032-05:00Exciting Week Yields Three Championships for PCSIt's been an exciting week for Portersville Christian School. Since the middle school league merged with SWCAC, we are down to just a couple of alphabetic acronyms for the playoff venues in which we participate. SWCAC stands for Southwest Christian Athletic Conference, a group of about sixteen or so Christian schools in Southwestern Pennsylvania (and two in Eastern Ohio) who have come together to form a league which conducts tournaments and provides championships for teams in several sports. We participate in soccer, volleyball, boys and girls basketball on the middle school and varsity level. We also belong to a larger group, the NCSAA, National Christian School Athletic Association, which has a much larger membership of several hundred schools of various sizes, all across the country. The NCSAA offers pre and post season tournaments in a variety of sports, and over the years, PCS has participated in the soccer, volleyball and basketball tournaments at the high school level.

The last Saturday in February, at Matheny Field House on the campus of Geneva College, was perhaps the most exciting day in PCS basketball history as all four teams, middle school girls and boys, and varsity girls and boys, played in SWCAC championships, running from 1:00 p.m. until 8:30. That's a huge accomplishment. Let me put it into context for you. We had a pep rally on the Friday prior to Saturday's games, and introduced the team members, one by one. More than 50 out of the 135 students in grades 7-12 were standing on the floor.

Varsity Boys
PCS won its second straight SWCAC title, in its third straight championship game appearance on February 24, beating Cheswick Christian, the other perennial basketball power in the conference, for the second straight year, in the third championship appearance for both teams. In fact, the last time PCS lost to a SWCAC opponent was the championship against Cheswick in 2015.

That's exciting. Let me share with you something that is remarkable and noteworthy.

Many of the schools we play are small, and in some cases, getting enough players together for a team has been a struggle. There aren't many schools that can put both a varsity and JV team on the floor, so there are a lot of younger players, while PCS has experienced players, and an abundance of juniors and seniors. SWCAC isn't a league where, on any given day, any team can beat any other one, so there have been many games when PCS has allowed its younger players to carry the weight of the game, rather than play a game for the purpose of adding to the statistics of its starters. A win is a win, and in addition to giving the younger players a lot of valuable varsity experience, there was some contribution made to the atmosphere of the game for the players on the other teams.

That's not something everyone understands. But I think most of our players did understand, and accepted this approach. That's what Christian school basketball should look like. Thanks, guys, for a great season.

Varsity Girls
The varsity girls faced a challenging year, rose to the occasion, and overcame the adversity to finish an excellent season that exceeded expectations. This particular team is in the third season of a restoration of the program that enjoyed multiple successes, SWCAC championship appearances and victories, and was the dominant girls' team in the conference since it was started in 1986. Following a succession of championship appearances, and championships, that began in 2008, in 2013, there were not enough girls in the upper grades to field a team, and the decision was made not to pull up middle school players for varsity competition, so we didn't even put a team on the floor that season.

This year started with the highest expectations since 2013. Younger players stepped up to fill gaps left by graduation. Everyone was healthy, and Jennie Mangiapane was able to return after missing most of 2015-16. Then Abby Green injured her leg and went out for the season. But the team overcame the adversity, and worked hard. The main competition in the league came from Aquinas Academy, with a senior-laden, experienced team that had been aiming for a conference title since they joined in 2014.

Perhaps the highlight for PCS was beating Aquinas, a team against which we have always struggled, at home. It was a goal they set, and achieved. And while the rematch in the SWCAC championship didn't turn out to be a victory, the team did achieve a sound, solid win over the Greater Pittsburgh conference champion and top seed, Evangel Heights, and a first round victory in the NCSAA tournament to cap off a great season. Expectations are high for next season.

This team was characterized by a great attitude, and the kind of sportsmanship expected from a team that wears the name of Christ, and has the symbol of his sacrifice on its uniforms. After an exciting, hard fought victory at Union Area in New Castle, a parent from the other school came up to me and said that she was so encouraged by the attitude and actions of our girls during the game, and that the team played and conducted themselves in a manner that lived up to the name Christian. And that was the real win.

Middle School Boys
The Middle School boys' team had a great season, unbeaten in the conference, with just one loss in the regular season, to Heartland Christian from Ohio. The team ended the regular season with an exciting win over Heartland at home. They made it to the tournament championship against Central Christian, a team they beat twice during the regular season. It's tough, at this level, to beat a team three times, and unfortunately, the shots just didn't fall when they played at Geneva. But they capped off a great season, and the eight grade boys will form the core of what will be a very successful JV team next year.

Middle School Girls
No other team at PCS provided parents and fans with the kind of excitement generated by the Middle School girls' team this year. In a season that featured several come from behind wins in dramatic fashion, the playoff run was characteristic of the whole season. Injuries to key players just increased the drama. A triple overtime win in the semi-final game, in front of a large, excited home crowd set the stage for a dramatic finish in the championship at Geneva College, a rematch against Central Christian, whom they'd beaten twice in close games during the season.

You'd never guess that 13 points would be enough to win a basketball game, nor that getting even that many would be such a difficult challenge. But the shots finally started falling in the last four minutes of the game, at about the same time that the defense started keeping the other team from scoring. Yes, two middle school girls' teams had the fans yelling and on their feet for the last nine seconds of the game. "Never quit" was the characterization of the game, and the team.

Blessings
In perspective, there are many things more important than having four basketball teams play in championship games, or bringing home trophies from a national tournament. We're a week out from the state archery tournament, when another group of our students will go for competition with high expectations based on last season's performance.

It's exciting for our students, and contributes to the atmosphere of the school. It is a recognition of achievement, practice, and working to achieve a goal. In this context, it illustrates basic principles that are motivated by our faith in Christ, and our desire to please God in all things. Learning how to play as a team, to respect the work and commitment of others, and to do our best because it contributes to everyone else's effort and goals are the primary achievements. Success is rarely the result of selfish behavior. And even at this level, in our small, Christian school league, the principle works.

Thank God, for the opportunity we have for our students to understand how to put their talent and commitment to work, and see how that achieves success.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-1925114389241854892017-02-19T21:58:00.002-05:002017-02-19T21:58:54.920-05:00Committed to Mission and Purpose: Sustaining the Ministry of our Christian SchoolsThe Diocese of Pittsburgh announced the merger of a number of its schools this week, including the closure of at least one school in our area. Citing increasing costs and declining enrollment, in some cases, two schools are being consolidated into one, for more efficient operation in one building. This is not just a local diocese issue. It is something that Catholic education is facing all over the country.

Catholic schools were born out of a necessity seen by the church to preserve and protect its teaching from anti-Catholic sentiment in the public education system. The term "Christian Education," as they defined it, meant that the children of church members should be enrolled in schools operated by the church, from kindergarten through twelfth grade, driven by the mission of having five days a week in addition to Sunday to strengthen their faith. The church assumed the burden for the costs of school operation. They utilized classroom space in church buildings that stood empty all week except for a couple of hours on Sunday. Almost all of the teachers and administrative personnel were drawn from various ministry orders, priests, monks and nuns who were committed to serve under a vow of poverty, and required no salary in exchange for their services. A portion of the budget of each diocese, from collection plates, went to support schools, and a whole long list of well known Catholic fundraising ventures was put into place to secure equipment and textbooks. For many years, Catholic families didn't have to pay tuition and fees, and even up until recently, the tuition rates have remained low compared to most private schools.

Things have changed. The costs of providing a quality education have increased substantially, and as that has happened, the number of Catholics entering orders has sharply declined. Schools are no longer able to rely on enough nuns or priests to cover all of their classes, and have had to hire teachers in a competitive market. Offerings and fundraising are no longer adequate to sustain the expense of operating a school, and having to increase tuition and fees for Catholic families has contributed to a decline in enrollment among those not able to afford the additional expense. Students educated in Catholic schools are the largest single source of church clergy, and the decline in school enrollment directly correlates with the current severe shortage of priests that the church is now experiencing, along with declining attendance and membership.

These trends are worth noting, because the same thing has been happening among Christian schools operated by Evangelical Christians. There are many similarities in terms of having a mission aimed at having students educated in an environment favorable to their family faith and values, and in preparing the younger generation for service in the church. We have our own version of vows of poverty when it comes to teachers and staff. Perhaps the main difference is that most Evangelical schools have been tuition driven, and tuition dependent for their entire existence, since independent and autonomous Evangelical denominations and churches haven't been willing, at least up to this point, to share in Christian school ministry support. An average of 25% of the budget of a Catholic diocese goes to its schools, while the typical Evangelical denomination spends less than 5% on school-based education, with most of that money going to colleges, universities and seminaries. Most Evangelical Christian schools are completely dependent on their tuition collection, and any outside fundraising they can scrape up.

More than 300 Christian schools in this country close their doors each year. Circumstances come together in many cases which lead to their closing. Declining populations in some areas make it difficult to sustain a school where it was once possible. But for most of them, the reasons are similar to those of the Catholic schools. The cost of operating a school has increased substantially, and as they go up, the balance that must be in place between tuition and other resources as income must remain in place, or enrollment will decline. The impact is felt immediately in most Evangelical schools, because there is no buffer when it comes to church support. Voucher programs and financial aid tax credits have slowed down the closure rate, but they are not adequate to meet a growing need that goes all the way up to the middle class.

Many of the factors which are now considered to be common among Christian schools that are surviving into the 21st century are present here at PCS, and are contributing factors to our continued existence. Schools that have made a commitment to academic excellence as a partner with a distinctively Christian atmosphere are surviving. Fewer than 5% of the schools that close in any given year have pursued accreditation. Willingness to pursue affordability and equalize expenses for families through tax credit scholarships, contributions, income-based tuition and even vouchers is also a factor. Recognizing that a Christian school is not just for the 20% or so of the general population that could afford it is an indication of a philosophical foundation that is a force in the school working for sustainability. As a school, at the present time, our sustainability is good, but we need to stay on top of a changing situation, and keep the balance in place that has allowed us to enjoy the blessing of an excellent school, and make sure that future generations can also enjoy it.

Some schools have made sacrifices to cut costs in an effort to remain viable. Some may hire individuals without degrees or teaching credentials to work in their classrooms. They may consolidate grade levels in a single classroom, or depend on cyber classes to fill in gaps where they don't have staff. There are some school models which have been tried, including some combinations with home-based education, in order to cut costs. The problem with those models is that the balance in the sacrifice includes the quality of the education provided to the students. And over the long haul, those are characteristics of the schools which are closing.

It's time for a prophetic voice, and a vision. Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-29634983981359146262017-01-02T14:03:00.001-05:002017-01-22T18:14:54.579-05:00Honoring our Students and Their AccomplishmentsIt doesn't seem like its been all that long since we started the school year. In just a couple of weeks, our high school students will be taking their mid-term exams, and we will be halfway through the school year. It won't be long before the winter sports season finishes up, the musical cast will be involved in rehearsals, archery will be in full swing, and the Seniors will be anticipating graduation and their college admissions.

"In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

One of the core elements of a student's educational experience is the recognition of success, and doing so in a way that allows us to be proud of what they've accomplished, without being prideful or arrogant. It's important to distinguish between the two, and being proud of what our students accomplish is fine, if it goes hand in hand with bringing honor and glory to God, acknowledges his help, and provides encouragement. With that in mind, there are some congratulations in order as we head toward the end of the semester.

College Entrance Exam Results
At PCS, we use results and data from the PSAT and the SAT to make adjustments in our curriculum. The detail that is now provided by the testing service makes it possible for us to see patterns in the performance of a group of students, as well as in individual student performances. We generally see scores that are above the state and national averages, because most of our students are in advanced level courses in math, and many of them take college-level English in 11th grade.

First of all, congratulations are in order for the senior class. Most of them have already taken the SAT at least once, and in the tradition of their predecessors, did very well. This particular group of students has been high achieving all along, so their performance wasn't a surprise, though initially the scores did cause some surprise until we realized that this is the new version of the test, and the perfect score has been adjusted to reflect changes that make the top score 1600 instead of 2400. Our seniors have achieved scores well above state and national averages, with a class average of 1154 as of now.

Congratulations are also in order for the Junior class. Their collective average score showed significant improvement from last year to this year, particularly in math. Since about half of the class is still taking Algebra 2, which is the basis of much of the math on the PSAT, and they took this test in October, their scores were excellent. Those in English 101 had just started that course as well. And we have a couple of students in the 11th grade who are in the top 1%, which is the rank required to achieve national merit scholar finalist or semi-finalist recognition. We are hoping for good news along those lines.

Our sophomore class really knocked this one out of the ball park, with a collective average score well above the state and national averages, on a test based on 11th grade academic requirements. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they do on this test next year, because they potentially could be one of our highest achieving classes ever. There were many high achievers, with about two thirds of the class actually finishing with a percentile rank at or above the 70th percentile. So congratulations are in order for this group as well.

Student Athletes
After a season of huge successes in Archery last year, the team is already turning in top performances in interscholastic competition. Their achievement reflects practice, hard work, and good coaching and support. Top scores were turned in at a recent meet in Belle Vernon, demonstrating the potential for another run through the state and national tournaments. Congratulations!

After a very successful season that included conference and league titles, and the Division 3 Championship of the NCSAA tournament last season, the varsity boys basketball team is deserving of a different sort of congratulations. Following last season's success, the schedule got beefed up with the addition of some WPIAL schools, and not just the smaller ones. The team has played against Ellwood City Lincoln, Union, Riverside, Western Beaver, Allegheny-Clarion Valley, and Sharpsville, in addition to several of our regular Christian school opponents. All of those schools are larger than PCS, three of them four times our size. The varsity went 2-4 against that lineup, playing without at least one of the regular starters in three of those games. They capped things off with an exciting 48-46 overtime win over Sharpsville in their last game of 2016.

The varsity girls won the conference title last season, and finished second in the league. They also beefed up their schedule with WPIAL competition, adding in a game with Union, and a tournament at Commodore Perry High School about 30 miles up the road. They've had their share of adversity, with one of their players benched at the beginning of the season because of a season-ending injury last year, and another starter sidelined with a knee injury early in this one. But they've had players step up to make a difference, and while the Union game got postponed because of weather, they finished 1-1 in the tournament at Commodore Perry.

Television Stars
Three of our seniors, Austin Patterson, Eli Grove and Justin Harbison, represented PCS on a local television game show called Hometown High Q. The show airs on Saturday mornings, and brings in nine students at a time, from three different schools, competing in a game-show format by answering questions and taking risks on their values to achieve the winning score. PCS competed against Deer Lakes and Sharpsville, and though they didn't win, they were impressive in their representation of the school. We hope participation becomes a regular occurrence for PCS in the future. Thanks for getting us started.

Keep watching the blog. There are more congratulations to come.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-78495483277625358412016-12-13T11:15:00.001-05:002016-12-13T11:15:45.173-05:00A Real Chance to Make a DifferenceA Christian school is private, in that it must generate its funding and support from private sources. It is private in that it is an educational alternative to publicly funded schools. It is private in that it does represent a choice for parents who decide that's where their children need to be. It's private in that since its primary means of financing is tuition paid by those who make the choice to send their children, it is also an income decision.

Practically, it is those things. Inherently, it is not. If we genuinely believe in our mission and purpose statements, and in the general Christian philosophy of education that most of our Christian schools have in common, then that puts a Christian school squarely in the middle of the church's assigned function of discipleship. Instead of a couple of hours a week in a church program, some of which isn't even devoted to discipleship and learning, a Christian school has students under its influence and teaching for more than six hours a day, five days a week. That much time makes a difference. It is visible, not only in the disproportionately high number of Christian school graduates in the ministry and on the mission field, but in the fact that, among the younger generation, while more than 80% are leaving church by the time they graduate from college, that figure virtually reverses itself among Christian school graduates and former students.

Unlike most other private schools, Christian schools generally tend to be self-supporting. In some cases, schools do receive some church support, or have access to grants and endowments, but for the most part, the funding for a Christian school comes primarily from those parents who consider it the best choice for their children. We're right up there when it comes to academic achievement, extra curricular activities, and even in educational services, but most of our income depends on the parents who send their children. Since those same parents also pay taxes to support the public school system, by default, not design, Christian school education is not accessible to most parents who would make that choice if it were possible.

As part of our advocacy for Christian education, PCS participates with ACSIPA, an organization of Pennsylvania Christian school administrators who meet regularly with state legislators on behalf of the Christian schools that they serve. Pennsylvania does recognize a parent's right to choose their child's education, and combines that recognition with some financial benefits that are designed to make that choice easier, and not solely based on income. ACSIPA supports the continued existence of school bus transportation funds and tax credit programs for private schools, among other benefits, which help make schools more accessible to families regardless of their income.

The EITC/OSTC program is one of those benefits. EITC stands for Educational Improvement Tax Credit. Scholarship money is provided from private sources for students to attend private schools, including Christian schools. In exchange for the contribution, the state provides a tax credit, as much as 90%, return on corporate taxes paid to them. The money is used to provide scholarships for students whose families qualify by income, equalizing the expense of sending them to a private, Christian school. The OSTC scholarship is similar, an "opportunity scholarship" for income-qualified families to get their child out of a low-performing public school system and into a school where their child's academic growth can be nurtured, along with their spirit.

Any business in Pennsylvania which pays corporate tax can apply to be able to receive tax credits for scholarships at private schools. In addition to the 90% return from DCED, the whole amount is also deductible from federal taxes, so Christian business owners can provide a blessing for Christian schools, and be blessed in return. The state legislature, as a result of the advocacy of groups like ACSIPA, recently expanded the cap on the scholarship programs, and increased the scope of the kinds of taxes eligible for this program. That means that up to $75 million is available for scholarships for students attending Christian schools, and up to $50 million is available to students from low performing school districts, including the one in our area.

If you own a business and would like to understand more about the scholarship program, and the ways your business could benefit from it, please contact PCS at 724-368-8787.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-2504607358066233912016-12-07T11:35:00.003-05:002016-12-07T11:35:43.691-05:00Repentance and Grace in Christian School Discipline"...Neither do I condemn you...Go, and from now on, do not sin any more." John 8:11, HCSB

You've probably not ever been involved in a Christian school as a teacher or administrator if you've never had a student cite the example of the woman caught in adultery from John 8 in a disciplinary situation at least once. And if you had a dollar for every time the concept of grace, or forgiveness, was brought up in a situation where a student was facing consequences for something that they had done, you'd be relatively wealthy.

The fact of the matter is that Christian principles and practices are a core value in a Christian school, and since grace is one of the primary values of Christian experience, any plan that a school develops for handling disciplinary issues with students will be directly affected by its application, provided, of course, that the application is consistent with the interpretation of both the incident requiring discipline, and grace itself.

We need discipline in a Christian school because our students, (and our faculty, staff, administration, board members and parents) are sinners, and even though the majority of them have experienced redemption and new life in Christ, they still live in the flesh, are tempted, and they still sin. It's important to distinguish the difference between actions in a school that are sinful, and require discipline in a spiritual sense, and actions which require discipline as a reminder to students about the rules which establish order, based on the school's way of operating. Disciplinary action is required for both, but there is a clear distinction.

One of the major components of grace, and receiving it, is conviction. Grace cannot be experienced or understood without acknowledgement of guilt. It's not easy to discern whether a student is remorseful and repentant because they got caught, or because they genuinely know that what they did was wrong. Conviction requires a clear understanding of what is right or wrong, as it pertains to the action or situation to which discipline is applied, and experience tells me that most students, 7 or 8 out of 10 across the board, do not really have an internal belief that what they've done is really wrong, because they do not accept the premise for the rule that they have broken. Their perspective is usually relative to their own situation, or to the circumstances of the rule violation.

For example, students are aware of the school's dress code. But there are clothing items prohibited by it that they would wear anywhere else, except at school. So they choose to wear something that is prohibited, and are disciplined for it. They know they've violated the school rule (especially if they've brought proper clothing with them "just in case") but they don't particularly share a conviction that the rule is right in what it prohibits. Grace might be given, but it would not be understood in this situation, because the student didn't experience a need for it, other than to just avoid a disciplinary action.

Repentance is the response to conviction which leads to grace. Repentance is understanding that what you did was wrong, and you respond by accepting the consequence of your actions. You are not expecting to be "let off the hook." Grace occurs when you are. You might benefit from grace because you've never previously demonstrated the same behavior, or because the individual administering the discipline senses a genuine attitude of repentance and sorrow for what you've done, and decides to be graceful rather than punitive. It might be that you've previously demonstrated reliable behavior, and grace is given because you're attitude has been witnessed before, and those responsible for discipline discern that you are genuinely repentant, and won't err again.

The most important element of a school's application of discipline is its effectiveness in leading the student to understand exactly what conviction, repentance and grace mean, and how they are experienced. They need to understand the difference between being sorry for getting caught, or being genuinely sorrowful because they did something that went against the expectation of their Christian faith, and wasn't consistent with their testimony. And they need to experience genuine sorrow, and personal conviction about their behavior, in order to understand the depths of grace.

Grace is unconditional. It is offered equally to all. Conviction and subsequent repentance is a human being's way of accepting and receiving it. Whereas love isn't love until it is given away, grace isn't grace until it is received. It's there, and it's available. A student's school experience is a great opportunity to come to an understanding of grace and everything that is involved with it. Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-10393084865913748652016-11-24T22:33:00.003-05:002016-11-24T22:33:34.302-05:00Giving Thanks a Few Days EarlyThe ACSI Student Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia always comes the Sunday through Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I think that's probably a calendar issue more than anything else, wedging it in between sports seasons and holidays. But it also provides students the opportunity to visit the nation's capital, Washington, DC, and to take an excursion into the city to see the sights.

This year, due to some difficulties with scheduling and some unexpected surprises, we were unable to tour either the White House or the Capitol building, which had been in our plans. Instead, we got an impromptu tour of the Supreme Court building, a visit to the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and a trip to the war memorials for those who served in Korea and Vietnam. It was a good time to visit both, prompting expressions of thanks from the students who went to see them, and from those who went to Arlington Cemetery afterward.

The existence of a Supreme Court, interpreting a constitution that protects the same individual rights as the soldiers who are named in those memorials died protecting, were fitting places to visit prior to Thanksgiving. And in spite of the political perspectives that have, in our day and age, become so heated, and in many cases, so selfish, the impact of both the court, and the memorials, was not lost on the students who visited.

In a day and age when science, technology and mathematics have taken over the emphasis of the education system, it is time to revisit the mission and purpose of American education in general. I think, in the realm of Christian schools, we have achieved some balance in the teaching of scripture, and of history, to our students, but I think we need to do much more. Discernment and critical thinking are not things which can be taught from a book, they must be learned by practical application. Compulsory education in the United States is considered to be a backbone of support for the entire democratic republic that we have in place to govern the country. It takes an educated population to administer the apparatus of the state, to the benefit of the people as directed by the constitution. So I believe we are at a point where our students need to be able to exhibit a clear understanding of this country, its principles, and how it works, before they can graduate from high school.

What is represented by those institutions at either end of the National Mall--the war memorials and the Supreme Court building, is the foundation of the democratic republic that is the United States of America. The values that are present go well beyond the perspective of an individual, to the collective good of the entire country. It is not hard to understand these values, though it is much more difficult to set aside personal preferences and biases. But it must be done, or the country will not survive intact.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-67418528086897286722016-11-04T14:52:00.003-04:002016-11-04T14:52:30.249-04:00The Approaching Election...Many people will be very happy when November 8 passes by. I know I will be. But there are some considerations that you might want to note before you go cast your ballot.

School choice is an important issue for those of us in the Christian school community. It never really gets high on the priority list for most politicians, but for those of us involved in private, Christian education, particularly those of us who earn a living from it, it is important, and we are affected by what happens on every election day.

School choice is primarily a state issue. So in those races that are "down ballot", when you get into state senators and representatives, it is one of the primary issues state politicians deal with. And because of the nature of the issue, and its relationship to education, which is its larger umbrella, party affiliation is not always a predictor of the level of support of any particular candidate.

The EITC and OSTC programs all operate based on limits and regulations from the state legislature, as does the transportation fund for bus operation. In the past couple of years, there has been a conflict between individual rights, and the school's religious liberty as a Christian institution that has the potential to create difficulty for us when it comes to the admissions process or hiring. The PA Family Foundation has warned us that exemptions which apply to religious institutions and allow for religious requirements in hiring practices is disappearing from legislation.

So while we cannot endorse candidates for office, we can encourage you to "do your homework," and find out where candidates stand on school choice. We've had a strong effect on the way the legislature has handled bills that affect private schools through the voter voice app on the ACSIPA and PACAPE websites, and are recognized by many legislators when it comes to deciding how they'll vote or pursue bills that affect private schools. There are several strong supporters of the EITC/OSTC program in our area, as well as proponents of protecting our religious freedom, and you need to find out who they are before Tuesday. Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-83239078720223329742016-09-18T20:05:00.003-04:002016-09-18T20:07:35.369-04:00Religious Liberty in Chaotic TimesR. Lee Saunders, Head Administrator

Bill Wichterman, senior legislative advisor from Covington & Burling, and a former policy advisor to President George W. Bush and Senate Majority leader Bill Frist, was the opening speaker for the 2016 ACSI Legal/Legislative conference in Washington, DC September 12-14. The title of this blog was the title of his opening presentation at the conference. It was a privilege for me to be invited to attend, along with 20 other Christian school administrators from 11 states. Bill's opening address provided not only information regarding the increasing pressure and difficulty that Christian institutions are encountering when it comes to navigating government regulation, but inspiration that will help us understand how to deal with it.

There is a lot of information, and mis-information which gets passed along when it comes to what the government is doing, and why, and it helps to hear from someone who knows, and is in a place where daily observation provides genuine and accurate insights. The balance between civil rights and religious liberty is changing, issues are arising from court decisions and legislation that is placing religious institutions like Christian schools in a precarious position when it comes to things like employment practices, admissions policies, and the civil rights of students. Things like the definition of "protected minority" and where the line is drawn between civil rights and the inalienable guarantees of the constitution are changing, and each succeeding piece of legislation or court ruling has the potential to intrude in areas where it has never intruded before. And if you think there's someone taking care of these things in Washington for us, you'd be right, except that it's probably not what you think. ACSI, which represents about 2,700 schools in the United States, with about 800,000 students, has a legal/legislative department in its Colorado Springs office with two staff members, and we have a Director of Government Affairs in a one-man office in Washington, DC. So the 21 of us who went to Washington last week, and were probably the only Christian school administrators to go to Washington this year, are it. And there is a lot that is happening.

Tuesday, we gathered in Congressman Joe Pitts' conference room in the Cannon House Office Building for morning and afternoon conferences built around the legal and legislative issues faced by Christian schools. We heard from Congresswoman Vicki Hartzler of Missouri, who was a teacher in a Christian school that her mother founded and is a strong advocate and protector of Christian schools. Congressman Steve Russell, of Oklahoma, has proposed an amendment to a bill which asserts the religious liberty rights of organizations in hiring practices. Senator James Lankford, of Oklahoma is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and served as a staff member at the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma, directing the largest Christian youth camp in the country prior to becoming a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, and then getting elected as a United States Senator taking former Senator Tom Coburn's seat. These legislators all had a powerful testimony of faith, and all have a direct connection to Christian schools.

Perhaps one of the most impressive presentations of the day, from my perspective, came from a young lady named Erica Suares. The daughter of immigrants from India, Erica is a graduate of Lakeland Christian School in Florida. With degrees from Auburn and Harvard, Erica's service record is impressive. She started out at the Heritage Foundation, and has been a legislative advisor to serveral Senators, and in the office of the Political Director of the White House. She was the deputy director of legislative affairs for the Romney campaign, and is currently the Policy Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Erica talked about how her education in a Christian school not only helped her come to Christ, but gave her a firm foundation from a Biblical worldview. Erica is a Christian school graduate who is making a difference. She arranged for her presentation to our group to take place in the Strom Thurmond room of the Senate wing of the Capitol building, and we were escorted there by a couple of interns from Congressman Pitts' office, one of whom was a graduate of Jefferson County Christian School.

Wednesday, we scattered out across Capitol Hill to visit with Senators, Congressmen and their staffs, from our own states. The three of us in the Pennsylvania delegation shared meetings in pairs with Senator Casey's office and Senator Toomey's office, and we met separately with our individual congressmen's offices. The goal was to share our specific concerns, especially on the religious liberty interpretation issues, and help the legislators understand how those of us who are directly affected and impacted by their decisions. Christian groups and churches which operate institutions like schools and colleges are being accused of using their claim to the first amendment guarantee of religious liberty to discriminate against those with whom we disagree, particularly on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, and as a means of protecting bigotry. Our legislators, regardless of their party affiliation, need to see us and hear from us, and we need to let them know about what our schools are doing, and help them understand that we are committed to a ministry that comes from a sense of mission and purpose that is firmly rooted in our Christian faith.

I wanted our legislators and their staff members to understand and see that we are committed to a cause which has a specific Christian mission and purpose to encourage and enhance the lives of our students and their families, and that our intention is not to discriminate, but to practice and live out our faith according to the higher law that we acknowledge as the written word of God. People come to our schools voluntarily, not through any kind of coercion, with the understanding that the guarantee of religious liberty of the first amendment allows us to integrate Biblical principles into the curriculum, and offer our students Christian discipleship through the educational process, which is exactly where it fits and where it belongs. We believe that the first amendment guarantee of religious liberty is all that we need to do what we do, not something to use in order to discriminate or to use as a means of justifying or hiding bigotry. We are exercising an inalienable right, guaranteed by the first amendment, and our lawmakers need to understand what we do, and realize that their actions will impact our work.

Almost everything we hear and see about our government is negative. And yet, our government is a representative democracy, and it is made up of representatives that we elect. The unavoidable conclusion of that fact is that government is a reflection of our society and our culture. The first three words of the constitution are, "We the people." My impression of our government was changed considerably by those three days in mid-September in Washington. We live in a pluralistic society, and it has been the fundamental liberties and individual rights we have as Americans that has been the attraction. We may not always be in the majority, and in fact, it is possible that we may never be. But there were 21 Christian school administrators who spend three days interacting with the members of our representative democracy on their turf. The conference room we used was borrowed from one of our congressmen from Pennsylvania, the other, from the majority leader of the Senate. We were escorted through the hallways of the Capitol building by their staff members, and collectively, we met with the political and advisory staffs of 22 Senators and at least 24 congressmen. Those who came to speak to us inspired us, and I hope that our presence there encouraged them. That's the way it works best.

I appreciate the work of those at ACSI who are on the line for us all the time, Thomas Cathey and Phillip Scott, who work in the Legal/Legislative office in Colorado Springs, and George Tryfiates, who mans the office in Washington, DC. They work on behalf of Christian schools and they need our support and our prayers.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-5717286510030788222016-09-01T15:02:00.000-04:002016-09-01T16:24:00.412-04:00Staying in Christian School through Senior YearUnderstanding that the early years of childhood are very important when it comes to skills development and faith formation, about two thirds of the Christian schools in our country are aimed at providing a faith-based educational environment through the 6th grade, and in some cases the 8th grade. Beyond that point, many parents begin to think that social development of their children may be better served in a public school that offers a wider variety of extra curricular activities in fine arts and athletics than smaller, Christian schools can offer. They believe that the spiritual foundation that has been developed during those early, formative years is strong enough for their children to "get out of the Christian bubble," or to "leave the more sheltered environment". And they believe that in the secular environment of the public school setting, their children's faith will actually be strengthened by this exposure to "the real world."

There are other motivations for making this kind of choice. One of them is certainly financial. As college costs increase, many families are hard pressed to continue paying tuition and fees for students to attend Christian school, especially if there are two or three children in the family. High school costs more. Finding another Christian school that offers what you're looking for in the upper grades is not always easy, and there's the social pressure if their friends opt for the public school instead of another Christian school. Many parents think that six, or eight years of Christian schooling is enough to lay a strong faith foundation for their children, and enable them to resist the philosophical, social and moral challenges that are a daily part of life in the public school system.

In fact, a few kids who come from a Christian school into the public school system are equipped to handle all of the challenges, are determined enough to remain committed and understand where their strength comes from, and have the kind of spiritual foundation at home that supports their continued growth in their Christian faith. But most of them, the vast majority of them, are not.

Dr. Glen Shultz, in the introduction to his book, Kingdom Education, points to several sources which indicate that a few years of Christian education is not enough to counter the influence of years of forced tolerance, relativism, subjectivism, and secular humanism that form the philosophical foundations of public education in America. Dr. Ravi Zacharias, a noted Christian apologist, points to five specific factors that have significantly impacted our culture, primarily through its public education system, including the rise of atheism, eastern mysticism, the controlling impact of the visual, a worldview oriented toward youth, and the loss of a single source of authority with the right to lay claim to moral direction. Dr. Zacharias asks the question, "How do you reach a generation that hears with its eyes and thinks with its feelings?" Dr. Shultz points out research which shows that only 7% of teenagers who consider themselves "born again Christians" base their moral choices on Biblical principles.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Dr. Voddie Baucham, a noted Christian apologist and pastor, says, "If you turn the education of your children over to Caesar, you should not be surprised when they become Romans." He's also said that whoever controls the schools controls the world. If you look around at the world, and at the culture and society in which we live, you must conclude that a few years--six, or perhaps even eight-- of Christian schooling, while it may be beneficial, is probably not enough. Weigh your child's future, and their faith foundation against a few sacrifices in social activity, athletics, or cost. It's easy to see the benefits, blessings, and importance that comes with those extra four or six years in Christian secondary education.

Staying at PCS
You won't miss much that you might find elsewhere if you decide to stay at PCS. And what you gain on the spiritual side outweighs all other advantages. The fact of the matter is that a Christian school is the only institution outside the home or church where teachers will instill a Biblical worldview in your children.

Our Bible curriculum, from 7th through 12th grade, has been restructured to provide students with a complete and solid Biblical worldview. Instruction is provided in basic Bible study skills with survey courses built around an approach that connects personal, moral decisions with scriptural principles, along with development of a systematic theology that teaches students to apply the doctrinal points that they study to their personal life. As they approach their junior and senior year, Christian apologetics are introduced into their core Bible class, and in their senior year, they wrap up the summary of their Biblical worldview with practical, real-life application.

Understanding the connection between themselves and the Holy Spirit, in order to become the "spiritually minded" follower of Christ that the Apostle Paul speaks of in I Corinthians 1 and 2, PCS provides many opportunities to students to live out their faith. Three school days each year are set aside for all students to engage in mission service, so that over the course of their junior and senior high years, they will have served in as many as 12 different venues, from assisting with patients in a nursing home, to preparing boxes for Operation Christmas Child, to helping a rescue mission serve Thanksgiving to almost 1,000 families. The weekly campus worship service is planned, and led by students who are developing their own skills, and building connections to the resources within the local churches. An international mission trip to the Dominican Republic is an opportunity for students to serve over spring break, and the senior class finishes out its high school experience serving together for a week on a class mission trip.

Leadership development is also a component of the junior and senior high school years at PCS. Leadership conferences are an opportunity for students to gather with other Christian student leaders from other schools, and the Student Council works to provide the funding and the opportunity for high school students to attend the leadership conference sponsored by ACSI in Washington, DC. The senior class starts their last year of high school together, through a four-day wilderness experience that is designed to build relationships on a spiritual foundation, reconcile believers and develop genuine Christian community in preparation for the major change that is coming at the end of the school year.

You're also not going to miss anything from an academic perspective by staying at PCS. Even as a small school, with limited course offerings, our students can graduate from high school with as many as 24 college credits already earned through dual credit and AP courses. The school has earned a reputation for excellence in academics, with students earning the county's highest SAT, ACT and achievement test scores. We believe that students will achieve what is expected of them, so in writing our own curriculum guides, we aim for a high level of accomplishment, expect that our students will do the work to get there, and that approach gets the results we seek.

The fact that our graduates can go to any college of their choosing, and be successful is evidenced by the long list of them who are enrolled in engineering, nursing, pre-med, business and pre-law programs in some of the top colleges and universities in the region. But the fact that we are achieving our expected spiritual outcomes is evidenced by the fact that many of our graduates are pursuing careers that will enable them to do ministry, and by how many of them choose like-minded, Christian colleges and universities that share the same Biblical worldview. And those outcomes are incomparable to things like the social atmosphere, or where your friends go to school, or whether or not you got to play football.

Yes, it is a sacrifice to stay in Christian school through 12th grade. But, considering these outcomes, is it any more of a sacrifice than it would be to leave these things behind?

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-42396235699890798842016-08-18T15:53:00.000-04:002016-08-26T21:55:08.492-04:00Kingdom Education in the 21st Century"The Christian school is the only system, outside the home, where the teachers will instill in your child a Biblical worldview." Dr. Glen Schultz, Kingdom Education

Dr. Glen Shultz has served as a teacher, head of school, and director of a curriculum publishing division of a major Christian publishing company. He wrote a book entitled Kingdom Education: God's Plan for Educating Future Generations a little over a decade ago. Our faculty will be taking a look at it this fall as part of their continuing education. Dr. Shultz's outlines the mission and purpose of a Christian school, links the basic education that is required to produce functioning citizens of our society with the church's Biblically assigned function of discipleship, or Christian education, and addresses the Biblical role and relationship between the institutions of the home, the church, and the school.

It's important for us to review this foundational material, because it goes to the very heart of the mission and purpose of Portersville Christian School, and why we are here. The waning influence of the gospel message of Jesus in our culture and society is what compelled church leaders to start Christian schools in the first place, but even though the movement enjoyed success in the 80's and 90's, both the church, and the enrollment in Christian schools, in our country is declining at an accelerating pace. Most church growth is transfer growth, not evangelistic outreach, and finding volunteer leadership has become one of the most difficult things that churches have to do.

Most Christian grade schools and high schools were started by churches, or groups of Christians, from 1960 to the mid 1990's. There was really not much in the way of unity of purpose or planning involved. The Catholic church established schools all over the country in the 19th century, mainly to counter the influence of Protestants who tended to dominate the public education system at that time. They connected the schools to the church's ministry of Christian education, and they funded the cost of providing the education by committing large amounts of church revenue to the schools, as well as utilizing those in the church who served under the calling of sacred orders, and a vow of poverty, and taught students as part of their service to the church. The end result was that for about two generations, the Catholic church saw its membership stabilize, and then increase in number, and its need for leadership on the local church level was filled. Even today, the majority of Catholic priests and nuns are products of the church's school system.

Protestants and Evangelicals were latecomers to the Christian school movement, but when they did get involved, the schools had an impact. The problems experienced by Christian school education on our side of the denominational divide has been a lack of unity of purpose and a lack of unity when it comes to planning where schools will serve. While the Catholic church accepted the responsibility for educating its children, and worked to ensure that most of its families could afford to place their children in a church-owned and operated school so that they would be under the church's influence every day, Protestants left their families pretty much on their own, to bear the full cost of sending their children to the kinds of schools that will undergird and support the values of their home and church, instead of teaching the opposite, or trying to tear those values down.

There are some good things that have come from the development of faith-based education, particularly Christian schools connected to a Conservative, Evangelical perspective. While up to 80% of the youth who are raised in church and active in their youth group will drop out by the time they finish college, those who have been enrolled in a Christian school that emphasizes and practices a Christian worldview are much more likely to stay in church, and not drop out at all. A significant percentage of adult church leadership in the US today is drawn from among the alumni and former students of the Christian schools. Christian school graduates tend to gravitate toward international missions in particular, making up a significant portion of those who leave this country to serve overseas, for the long term.

In spite of that record, Evangelical Protestants have not yet found a way to come together and cooperate across cultural and denominational lines to provide the kind of foundational support for Christian schools that would enable them to get past many of the obstacles they now face, and remain open. When the Catholic church refers to its budget for Christian education, they are speaking of the lion's share of the money committed to that purpose going to support parish, and diocese owned schools. When Evangelicals talk about Christian education, they are speaking of Sunday School, small groups, and programs that are inwardly focused to provide services for their own congregations and members. Using Christian education budgets to support Christian schools is almost unheard of in Evangelical Protestant circles. And yet, collectively, the dollar amounts that churches spend in the category of "Christian Education" would allow existing schools to more than double the enrollment they currently serve, increasing the effectiveness of what is provided every time another student graduates. Instead of seeing over 300 Christian schools close annually, and up to 80% of the young people raised in church leave by the time they graduate from college, never to return, that kind of investment would have a major impact on the effectiveness of the church's ministry everywhere.

"Kingdom Education" outlines a plan for Christian schooling that aims at preparing students for service in the Kingdom of God, namely, his church. It builds the foundation for a student's school experience on the truths of scripture, and links this experience to the task of discipleship which is one of the five Biblically mandated functions of the church as the body of Christ, and the local expression of that body. Every church that has one of its members involved in this Christian school is seeing that Biblical function carried out, according to God's will. And every home represented in this Christian school is engaged in a partnership to make sure that their children are taught truth, and connected to the God who is the source of it.

As Dr. Shultz says, "The Christian school is the only system, outside the home, where the teachers will instill in your child a Biblical worldview."

Think about that and let it sink in. Teachers, next to parents, have as much influence over what a child things as anyone. You may be fortunate enough to have your children in a Christian school like this one, but what about the other families in the body of Christ that is your spiritual family?

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-28896666937538215582016-08-04T20:57:00.003-04:002016-08-04T20:57:50.098-04:00It's August. And you know what that means!Three weeks from today, alarm clocks will go off all over the area in the homes of PCS students. The busses will start up, and head out. By 8:15, the students will be unloaded, and at 8:19 the bell will ring to signal the beginning of the 2016-17 school year for about 250 students at Portersville Christian School.

About 30 new students will be joining us, including some siblings of current students, and some families who are new to the area. Our theme verse for the year, I John 3:16, indicates our desire for all of us to come together as a body of Christians. We hope that happens quickly, that friendships and bonds between student form, and that we can get about the business of being a Christian school ministry.

We still have some openings for students, a few in grades K, 1 and 2, and a few more in 11 and 12. There might be some room in the middle, depending on being able to tweak a class schedule here and there. We also have some room in Pre-K, which is an excellent, affordable way to come to PCS, and guarantee a spot in the following year's kindergarten class.

All the way around last year, our students did an excellent job in their studies. The tests we use to measure student progress painted a glowing picture of achievement and progress. Of course, test scores are not the only component of expected student outcomes, in fact, they are only one of many indications of how students are doing, and of the quality of education that is provided in the classrooms. We use them to tweak our curriculum objectives, and to fine tune the academic program. But in every regard, the academic strength of PCS is visible. This is a good place to go to school, and the quality of the education is excellent.

Please join me in prayer as we prepare for the upcoming school year. The supplies and books are already hear, and are in the process of being distributed to the classrooms. The calendar is in place. Before long, the summer cleaning in the building is almost done, the teachers will be arranging their classrooms, and everything will be ready. We have a mission, and a purpose that turns education into Christian discipleship and partners with parents in the God-given responsibility of training their children. Education and the acquiring of skills goes hand in hand with understanding truth, and the source of truth is the Bible. Otherwise, without the Bible, learning takes place in a vacuum, and there's no objective foundation.

I believe this is our 54th year of operation. That makes us one of the oldest Christian schools in Western Pennsylvania, set on top of a hill in a township near a tiny town that straddles the line between two very rural counties. In an era when many Christian schools are struggling, and many are closing, we're still here.

Apparently, God isn't finished with us yet. So as we begin this coming year, let's find out what he wants us to do.Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-49165411030006310772016-07-16T19:33:00.002-04:002016-07-17T21:07:55.354-04:00A Vines and Branches Illustration"I am the true vine, and my father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:1-2

For the past 20 summers, I've coordinated a World Changers project somewhere, from Nashville to Missouri to Arkansas and Texas, to Indiana and now, in Pittsburgh for the past three years. This year's project was called a "combo," meaning that there were crews doing construction ministry, and crews working with local church planters.

The construction ministry works to assist low income homeowners, and older homeowners, with repair work that helps improve their home. Much of the work we do in Pittsburgh involves improving access, like building hand-rails along walks, and ramps from driveways to doorways. And one of the aspects of this work in Pittsburgh involves some weeding and pruning work around the house, especially for older residents who no longer have the physical ability, or financial resources, to work on their yard.

One of the crews, working in the New Kensington area, needed to clear out an entire lot before any work could be done. Vines had grown up all over the place, along with weeds, and even some wild trees, because the homeowner had not been able to get out into his yard for several years. As it happened, the scripture reading and devotional for Monday morning was John 15. And the crew devotion leader had a visible demonstration of exactly what that passage means.

Jesus uses the analogy of branches to represent our lives. When we are redeemed, he begins the process of removing the branches in our lives which are not spiritually productive. And he prepares those branches within us that are producing the fruit of the spirit to be able to produce more by pruning them. The idea is that we are to be spiritually shaped by Jesus, letting him have control of our growth, so that he can remove those things within us that are not beneficial to our spiritual growth, and taking care of those things which do.

The lot that the crew worked on Monday took two days to clear. There was a lot of undergrowth and overgrowth, which was preventing the light from getting to some of the flowers and blooming plants that were deliberately planted there. The old vines, with their thick, leafy covers and branches twined around all of the plants and trees, were keeping new growth from happening. It was amazing to see the array of plants and flowers underneath the growth, all of which now has a chance to bloom again. The analogy is very clear. "Pruning" doesn't mean that Jesus selectively removes people from his church that he doesn't think are productive, nor does that apply to anything else except your own self, and your own spiritual growth. He's speaking about that part of you as an individual that gets in the way of your own personal spiritual growth.

Think of yourself as the lot, and the overgrowth represents your inner self, your soul, before Christ came into your life. Then Jesus comes in, and brings his "vinedresser," in the form of the Holy Spirit. Just like that lot in New Kensington, there was no way that a crew of 8 kids and 2 adults could trim it and clear it out in a day, it took a little bit of work here and there for four days before it began to look like it should, and before the plants that were put there to beautify the space, would begin to grow again. The trimming takes some time, because the sin that has rooted itself in our life is not easy to get rid of, and it has a tendency to keep coming back, if it isn't kept trim. It depends on the vinedresser getting in there to use his tools, which is his word. And as the flowers and shrubs grow, they are pruned in order to continue to keep them productive, and to make room for new growth, which will eventually be strong enough to push out the weeds and the vines. From a physical perspective, all of this takes time, and likewise, it's not something that happens overnight spiritually, either. Sometimes there are setbacks. But faith makes it possible for the Holy Spirit to work in you, provide you with gifts for ministry, and bring about spiritual growth in your life.

Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-86888309037954898972016-07-11T14:40:00.003-04:002016-07-11T14:40:58.610-04:00We Know Love by This...Theme Verse for 2016-17"We know love by this, that He laid down his life for us--and we ought to lay down our lives for one another." I John 3:16

The chapter and verse divisions found in the Bible are not part of the original text, but were inserted to provide points of reference in order to facilitate the study of scripture. History credits the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, as the individual who used the chapter and verse divisions as reference points, and the Wycliffe translation into English in the 1300's was the first translation to use them. Since that time, Langton's reference points have been commonly used as the standard in all other translations. There is no content in these reference points, though in the way we read and interpret English, some of them do not seem to be well placed. But the intention of their use was never to change the flow or the actual reading of the scripture, only to make it easier to find specific passages and places with thesis statements and corroboration.

Understanding that makes it interesting that, among the works of the Apostle John, in his gospel, chapter 3, verse 16 is the place he is addressing the purpose of Jesus coming to the world, an act of the most supreme love by God. In John's epistle, chapter 3, verse 16, the same theme appears. The kind of love that comes from God, and can only be known in that context, is defined by the willingness to lay down one's life for another as a result of it, because Jesus laid his life down for us.

Love is defined by Jesus, and it was illustrated perfectly in his willingness to endure the suffering of the cross in order to set us free. Likewise, the kind of love that is expected of us, toward our fellow human beings, is exactly the same, "we ought to lay down our lives for one another."

There is some context here. John was writing to Christians in churches in Asia Minor. Whether he was writing to one specific church, or a group of them, they were probably living in the area in and around Ephesus, where increasing persecution was breaking out against Christians. John's words were penned to educate the church and strengthen its belief in Jesus as their savior, who was both wholly human and wholly divine, in contrast to some false teaching that was spreading. Christians there were faced with a very real threat of death because of what they believed, and John was writing to encourage them to stand up for each other, and protect each other, because within them they carried the kind of love that had led Jesus to his death.

It is an expectation that this is the kind of love that we will find in the Christian church, whenever we encounter it. This kind of love is a visible means of identifying the true believers in the body of Christ. There is no place in scripture that changes this concept, or defines it as a characteristic that only specifically applies to places where the church is in danger of persecution. The statement that follows this one clarifies and defines it even more, and provides a specific example of how that kind of love is demonstrated.

There are some specific references to the church in the New Testament when it did behave this way. In the early chapters of the book of Acts, after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the body of Christ came together as no other group of human beings had ever done before. Acts 2:43-47, and 4:32-37 describe particular signs that the church was being what God intended, and that the love they had for each other was real. This provided a foundation for miraculous signs and wonders performed by the apostles as part of their ministry, which was fuelled by the love that these people had discovered and demonstrated for each other.

Would the world be the way it is today if the Christians who make up the church had continued to have, and demonstrate, this kind of love for each other?

We see glimpses of this vision at times. The social media photos of our students enjoying play time with kids in the Dominican Republic is a good illustration of how the love that we are to have for each other works, even through a language and cultural barrier. Those mission trips make a difference for both the recipients and the participants.

But do we treat our fellow Christians, and the people around whom we live and work every day, with the same kind of love? That's a rhetorical question, and we already know the answer. So the challenge for our students, with this as our theme, will be to see what kind of a difference we can make for each other by demonstrating the kind of love toward each other that only comes from God. This year, we will teach them what this means, and encourage them to put it into practice.Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-14262853121624932992016-06-14T23:09:00.001-04:002016-06-15T08:47:49.137-04:00Theme Verse for 2016-17: Focus on I John"Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." I John 3:18

It is always difficult to choose a theme verse for the school year. It is a scripture which teaches a principle that we want to emphasize with our students, because we see it as a need, and we see the scripture passage as a means of addressing that need. We let our chapel speakers know what our theme is, and they often feel let to preach on it, using corroborating scripture passages to support it. In classrooms, especially at the beginning of the year, the theme verse is used in devotions to begin the day. It is important, because it is a means of enhancing the spiritual life of the student body.

Since school was completed last week, there's been a search and a study going on to find a theme verse for 2016-17. We are a school, made up of students, and our ministry is Christian discipleship. For the most part, as a student body, we are growing spiritually and moving toward spiritual maturity. The school community mostly consists of students, sincere in their faith, but still at a point where they have a lot more to learn, not only from being taught, but from experience. And it's real life experience. These are real relationships and real friendships, and they provide real joy and fulfillment, real opportunities for students to grow through them, and real support for that growth. They also provide real pain when things go wrong, real hurt that causes real problems, and requires real solutions.

I once heard someone make the statement that a Christian school should not be a shelter, but it should be a refuge. Given the events that are happening all around us right now, we need a refuge. And we need our school to be a place where students can have their faith strengthened, where teachers and staff come alongside each student, supporting them when they have doubts, encouraging them when they are discouraged, guiding them when they need direction, including discipline when they stray, and helping to build a strong, spiritual foundation on the truths of scripture, so that when they graduate, they will not become part of the 80% of young people who leave the church and the Christian faith by the time they finish college. And they need to learn, and see, how to give this kind of love and support to each other.

It is frustrating to hear someone say, "That shouldn't be something which happens in a Christian school." The fact is, a Christian school is not a perfect environment, and neither the staff nor the students always make the right decision that is consistent with what the Bible teaches, and what God expects. Things happen which are not consistent with Biblical, Christian faith. When they do, what makes us distinctive in our response is our faith in Jesus.

"For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God...If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness..."

We want our theme verse to be something that comes to mind in a particular situation, something which teaches a particular principle that will contribute to the spiritual growth of our students, and the spiritual life of the school. Something that they will remember, and which will add to the foundation of Bible teaching, worship, home and church which they already have developed. Something that will help them be a blessing when they are confronted by a complicated issue of the day, or when a major tragedy happens.

Both of the verses in this article from I John are possibilities. In fact, the whole theme of I John is about relationships that Christians have with each other. So at the very least, a set of devotionals and thoughts from I John might be on the table for first thing each morning.

So watch this space for the big announcement of the PCS verse of the year, 2017-2018Portersville Christian Schoolhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-945877836030464357.post-78375185819130062542016-06-08T21:47:00.003-04:002016-06-08T21:47:45.146-04:00In all your ways acknowledge Him..."Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV

Congratulations to the Portersville Christian School class of 2016. On Saturday, 25 seniors received their diplomas, and celebrated thirteen years of completed education. It was, as we say, a commencement, a beginning, and not a conclusion. The members of the class have been encouraged to trust in the Lord, at least from the moment that they enrolled at PCS, if not before that in their family and home church. We are praying that the foundation they received as part of their education at PCS will lead to their acknowledgement of the Lord, and their complete trust in his will for their lives, and for straight paths.

Standing in the gym, looking at those 25 seniors in their blue gowns and caps, shifting their tassles to signify their graduation, and receiving their diplomas, we were watching a miracle. No, it was not a miracle that they all passed, that they all met the requirements for graduating from high school at Portersville. It was a miracle that in the day and age in which we live, with all that is happening in the world, with instant communication by a dozen different means at our fingertips, with all of the influences of ideas and philosophies and religions, we watched 25 students step out into the world with a high school diploma that symbolizes the acquisition of basic skills, integrated with the principles of the Christian faith, measured by the Bible.

That did not happen in a vacuum. The education received by those students, represented by their diplomas, was the result of their own effort and hard work. And it was also the result of the effort and hard work made on their behalf by their teachers. It would not be what it is, however, if that is all that went into it. In both cases, the result required whole and complete trust in the Lord, dependence on the presence of his Holy Spirit, indwelling each student and teacher, to bring about the result of a class of 25 students who are ready to move forward to the next chapter of their life, equipped with basic educational skills, and with a growing, and strong Christian faith that is visible and evident in their lives.

We can't do what we do without completely trusting in the Lord. Education in basic subjects and skills is, in our philosophy, a part of the bigger domain of Christian discipleship. And discipleship is one of the five functions of the church, according to scripture, along with worship, evangelism and missions, ministry and fellowship. We are engaged in a partnership with the parents of our students who trust their children to our professional abilities to teach, and to model the principles of scripture that will protect their children's minds and hearts, and keep them in a place where their faith can develop and grow strong before they go out into the world. It takes the work of the Holy Spirit to bring all of those elements together to provide the students with what they need, and that is not something that we, alone, have the strength to do. We must trust in the Lord, and as we do, we show our students how to trust in him as well.

It has been one of the greatest blessings of my life to serve here at Portersville Christian School. One of the things that has made it so is being able to see what our students are doing with their lives once they leave here. Most of what I've observed to this point has been their college experience, but we are now having alumni who are completing college and moving forward into careers. That's exciting to see, but what is even more exciting, and fulfilling, is to see that most of our alumni are remaining faithful to the Lord, and are serving his church. Our current senior class left behind some prayer requests for the staff, which were distributed at our last day luncheon on Tuesday. They are asking us to pray for them as they search to find God's will for their lives. They want our prayer support as they go off to college, and make finding a church a priority. That's some evidence that trusting in the Lord is already working.

"Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed." Revelation 15:3-4, NRSV

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