A group of Maryland newspapers is currently featuring an article on the growth and popularity of Christian schools. One of our Grace Brethren schools is featured prominently in the article, and here is a short excerpt. To read the entire article, click here.
Gene Pinkard, headmaster at Lanham Christian School, which opened in 1977 as part of Grace Brethren Church of Lanham, said there are many reasons why parents are choosing to send children to church-exempt schools.
‘‘Some parents go to public schools and they just don’t like what they see,” said Pinkard, whose school has 292 students enrolled. ‘‘Some kids are afraid to go to school … there’s a fear factor there. A lot of them are also just not satisfied with the academics.”
Pinkard said many parents are worried about county public schools’ low test scores, overcrowding and safety issues.
Prince George’s County public schools rank second to the bottom in the state, topping only Baltimore City in overall standardized test scores such as the Maryland State Assessment and the High School Assessment. Baltimore City had higher scores than Prince George’s on the government portion of the HSAs this year, but county students scored better in biology and government.
‘‘A lot of our kindergarten parents are asking what our SAT scores are like,” Pinkard said. ‘‘That’s their mindset.”
Parents also see long-term advantages of keeping their child in one school from kindergarten to high school, and Lanham Christian goes from kindergarten to high school.
