Since schools are here to educate, a good education is usually foremost in people's minds when they choose schools. Private schools must first offer good teaching in order to stay competitive. Because we are free from government restrictions and bureaucracy, private schools can choose curriculum that works. We can avoid politically-motivated trends and educational experiments that always come with costs. Currently, test scores seem to be driving the curriculum in the public system. It is important to hold schools accountable for achievement, but when the tests begin to drive the classroom activities, not all students are learning what they should. In many local elementary schools, science and social studies are no longer taught except as they are covered in the reading curriculum. The new standards are another driving force. It is good to have challenging standards for which to aim, but if the standards become more important than student needs or ability, the cart is then before the horse. As a private school, we can adjust as needed to meet the needs of students without the threat of test scores determining our future.

In a Christian school, we have the ability to connect education to the word of God. Since God holds the corner on truth, how can true learning be obtained apart from a connection to the power behind that truth? John tells us, "The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth." In a Christian School, we benefit from a long history of success in parochial education. We are not a school that has no connection to authority or accountability, one that struggles to exist year to year and finally folds. We have a link to a larger educational system with the resources to achieve success.

At the same time we remain accountable through accreditation and testing. So much is said lately about standardized testing scores. While many schools have not participated in the past (both private and public), Gloria Dei has offered SAT 10 (formerly the SAT 9) testing for as long as we current employees can remember, which goes back at least 20 years. We have always seen the value in standardized testing as one tool for assessing achievement. Our historical SAT testing indicates two trends: Students at Gloria Dei graduate on average about three or more years above grade level, and Gloria Dei is competitive with the highest achieving schools in the area.

We have always said that Gloria Dei is like a family-we are a community of families who share like values. We all value education, we all value moral responsibility and hard work, and we all value teaching within the framework of faith. Because we share like values, we function as a greater family. While we are not without a family's typical squabbles and differences, we know as in a family, we work together and support each other for the same goals. This also creates an environment of safety, another feature important to all families.

Gloria Dei also offers one feature unique among private schools in our area-ethnic and economic diversity. You will be hard-pressed to find another private school with the representation of these kinds of differences. And what is the pay-off? Ethnic and cultural diversity represent a better picture of the real world in which we live, and we are enriched any time we encounter others who can offer us a perspective different from our own. Few if any of our children will attend high school or college or get jobs in a community where everyone is the same. The world is diverse, and those who learn to respect and welcome diversity will be the most successful. It is so encouraging to watch children at Gloria Dei grow up in an environment of openness that we would like to see in society as a whole.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we offer an environment of Christian nurture at Gloria Dei. Because of this, we become an extension of the home as we teach and encourage the same values. While you may find a public school which does a good job of teaching (and there are many that do), you will not find that teaching in concert with the spiritual and moral instruction here. Some argue that they do not want their children in a Christian school because it is not representative of "the real world." I beg to differ-Christian schools may not be representative of the false image of the world set up by the evil one, but they do represent the real world-after all, if God's world is not the real world, what is? I want my children to learn about the real world which will last for eternity. As a Christian school, Gloria Dei provides Christian training with accountability to the historic church. Too many Christian schools represent a narrow view of the Christian faith and have no accountability in areas where they may err. Also, too many Christian schools are entrenched in one particular denominational slant-those on the "outside" never really feel a part. We at Gloria Dei have always celebrated our ecumenical spirit-we are Christians, but we are also diverse in spiritual backgrounds, both staff and student body. And we have one thing in common-together we serve the Lord Jesus Christ and desire to further His kingdom on earth.

-Noel Hesser, Former Principal, Gloria Dei Lutheran School