Editor’s note: Jerry Nixon is a member of FRCS’s Board.
Why do we send kids to Christian schools?
A great education just isn’t enough. Front Range has terrific testing and aptitude results, but it’s not the reason our families are here.
A great community just isn’t enough. Front Range has amazing faculty, friendly teachers, supportive parents, and fosters real character development, but it’s not the reason our families are here.
Aggressively affordable tuition just isn’t enough. Front Range has restructured its tuition for next year to help ensure a complete and holistic student experience from kindergarten through high school graduation is available to more families, but it’s not the reason our families are here.
Let me give you three things to think about.
First, our elementary school is a culture of prayer. From the beginning of the day to the end, and constantly in between, prayer isn’t an afterthought, it’s the status quo. This is the kind of thing existing parents already know, and new parents are amazed to find. This is exactly the kind of priority I want rubbing off on my daughters.
Second, our junior and senior high school hammers, like a drumbeat, how to define and defend the truth. From Seminar to Bible, and English to Math, every corner of our curriculum reveals, reveres, and lifts Jesus Christ as the foundation of the world. This is exactly the kind of muscle memory I want growing in my daughters.
Third, our teachers, as friendly as they are, are most importantly witnesses to our students that the Christian life is possible, real, and on display. They don’t hide their own struggles, and neither do they pat our kids on the head when Satan starts telling them lies. Our teachers, faculty, and administration engage honestly in ways that make a difference, using the kinds of words parents say to their own kids, but from voices that may be easier to hear during this young season of life.
These are exactly the voices of encouragement I want speaking into the lives of my daughters as I exchange the all-day influence I once had when they were little for the influence of Front Range Christian School, a faithful and proven partner my wife and I trust to confirm the truths we have planted in their hearts and try, every day, to live out in our own lives.
Is that enough? You bet.
As my daughters LEARNED more and more about Jesus, showing me not only in their classes and grades, but also in their ability to engage and discuss important issues of the faith, that made me happy as a father. But as my daughters LOVED more and more about Jesus, showing me not in their words but in their actions and the motivations in their heart, that trumped everything and anything else a Christian school might provide.
Today, the youngest of my three daughters has now graduated from Front Range and gone on to college. But all three love and serve the Lord. All three are girls with a heart for Jesus. And all three can attribute, at least some meaningful part of their story to Front Range Christian School. It’s the school their parents decided to sacrifice for and send them to; a decision we have never second guessed.
Today, for me, serving on the Board is a delight. Parent engagement is not optional here, it is transformational. Every mom and dad who shows up makes a difference, without exception. That truth is beyond dispute. Thank you for what you have done and for what you will do. Your children will benefit, and so will the entire student body.
