Tom and I visited four schools over Thanksgiving break while he had off from work. We went to three private Chrisitian schools and one public school.
1 – We are zoned for Lansdowne Elementary which is a partial magnet school. This means that half of the school is zoned for it and the other half elects to send their child there. The entire school is taught the same curriculum: international baccalaureate. Sounds fancy, but to me it seemed like your typical public school. Maybe it was the surroundings – older school with a mix of free lunch and magnet students. People have told me that it is a great school. If we could not send her elsewhere, we would have felt ok sending her to Lansdowne.
2 – The next school we went to was Covenent Day School in Matthews, NC. I decided to tour this school because it is close to our house and have heard good things about it. We loved it!! Our tour was phenomenal. We were very impressed with the Biblical teaching, the curriculum, class size (18 max), the music teacher and the art teacher. Almost every class that we walked into was well behaved and the teacher came out to chat with us. The art teacher talked our ear off, but it was evident that she loved her job and could translate how a child expressed themselves with art into the regular classroom. We left that school knowing that Faith would go there next year. It was “abundantly clear”.
3 – The next day we visited Carmel Christian and Arborbrook Academy. Carmel Christian is where we thought that we would send Faith. I have learned over the years that I can’t just assume that I will do what my aunt or friends do. I have learned that I need to research the subject myself. Too many times I have just gone with others’ decisions so that I don’t have to do any leg work myself. This is one of those instances where I am glad that I did the research myself. Carmel is a great school, but it was clear that she was not to attend there next year.
4 – Arborbrook Academy is a close second to Covenant Day. If it were closer to our house it may have been a much more difficult decision. It is a well known fact that I do not like to drive more than ten minutes in the car before I say, “It is too far”. This would have been a 20 minute drive each way. Not going to happen! It is a cute school. Classes are very small and we would homeschool on Fridays. The school’s philosophy is based on Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of school – children are to reading living books and to learn from nature. A great philosophy and later on down the road, it might be the school for us, but not next year.
So, after all of that explaining….Faith will be attending Covenant Day School in Matthews. We are excited for her. Of course, in my typical, indecisive way, I still am doubting my decision, but know that it is the only choice that feels right.