SAQs (Should-Ask Questions)

Certainly you’re familiar with the term “FAQs” (Frequently Asked Questions), but have you heard of SAQs? SAQs are “Should-Ask Questions.” What questions should you ask when searching for the perfect school for your child? Try these:

1. “How can you make this education affordable for me?” Instead of asking how much it costs and writing off a high-ticket education, ask instead how it can be made affordable. Some schools are free… and you get what you pay for. Some educations cost as much as a new car, and they expect you to pay every penny. But some schools, like ours, provide an excellent education that, while expensive, works with every single budget to make it affordable for anyone.
2. “Are your graduates prepared for college and career?” Don’t merely ask about graduation rates and GPAs. Those are deceptive. Rather, find out if graduates are prepared for life after high school. At LCS, we don’t try to make ourselves look good by handing out as many A grades as possible. Instead, we teach our students what is needed to succeed beyond high school.
3. “Can you help my child catch up or move ahead?” If your child is in elementary school, you’ll want to know how to either bring your child to grade level or how to help them excel farther. We have documented proof that we have been able to close academic gaps for students who come to us already behind, and many of those who are on grade level are propelling ahead!
4. “How invested is your staff?” It’s likely that at any school, the teachers will have experience and talent, as ours do. But beyond that, you’ll want to know if the staff is invested in their jobs and if they truly care for their students. Most of our staff attend our church and serve in some way, like AWANA or youth group. This means they choose to not only teach their students throughout the weekdays, but also choose to spend additional time with them some nights, teaching them even more important spiritual truths. Our staff cares not just about each student’s education, but more importantly, their soul.
5. “Will my child be safe?” There’s no way to guarantee with 100% certainty the safety of anyone. But you’ll want to know if your child will be both physically and emotionally safe, to the best of the school’s ability. At LCS, we do not tolerate bullying, either in school or online between our students. Teachers strive to stay aware of social interactions and the climate of their classrooms in order to keep their students safe.

These five questions will give you a good indication of a school’s heart, and whether or not they’d be a good fit for your child. We encourage you to schedule a personal tour with Lakeside Christian School today and ask these very questions!

“The Best Education”

“I highly recommend LCS to anyone who wants the best education for their child.”

This is a real quote from a real parent of a student at Lakeside Christian School. Is this something you can say about your child’s school? If not, we’d love it if you checked out LCS.

Here are some things you’ll find at LCS:

1. We offer an incredible education: we’re closing academic gaps and propelling students ahead in both reading and math, starting in kindergarten!
2. Our environment is safe, secure, and close-knit. We take great care to protect our students and create a place in which they feel comfortable and ready to learn.
3. A Biblical worldview is our backbone. More than anything, we want our students to know Christ.
4. It’s affordable. Yes, we’re a private Christian school. Yes, we offer a top-notch education. Yes, we have a close-knit, safe environment. But we also work with every family’s budget in order to make LCS affordable!

Call us today and come for a visit! We’d love to meet you.

Online Schooling < LCS

There are a number of options from which each family can choose the school that will best meet their needs:

Public school

Private school

Charter school

Online school

Home school

 

We’ve already discussed the perils of Florida public schools, the expense of private schools, and the cons of charter schools. If you missed those posts, check them out here. Home school is great, if parents feel up to the challenge. This leaves online school.

Whether from home or another location, whether one student or a handful, online school is where students complete their education in front of a computer screen. For some, they consider this ideal. They can home school without learning how to teach the material to their child. But online schooling is simply not a good option if you hope your child will become college and career ready by the end of their time in high school.

Consider this:

Jason Burns wrote an article for Michigan State University last November. This article outlines a Stanford study that determined online schools to be ineffective. He writes, “According to this report, the academic growth of students who attend “online charter schools,” where a majority of instruction takes place over the internet, falls far behind the growth of students who receive their education in traditional settings.”

The article details the fact that students who attend online schools are often an ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR behind in math, and about HALF A SCHOOL YEAR behind in reading. These facts cannot be shrugged off. How will your child be college prepared when they may be an entire year behind their peers?

This is just one article of many that highlights the ineffectiveness of online schools. Think carefully about your child’s education. Convenience and low price might be appealing, but in the end is like buying a cheap, old car. This car might look like it will do what you need for much less than other cars. Yet if it doesn’t get you where you need to go, it’s worthless, and a waste of money. In that way, your child’s education needs to get them where they want to go. An online education won’t do that.

We encourage you to take a look at Lakeside Christian School. Unlike public schools, we have high-quality academics. Unlike other private schools, we can make it affordable for you. Unlike charter schools, we have control over what we teach and how money is spent. Unlike online schools, we use best practice teaching. Unlike home school, we offer the complete school experience- including sports, fine arts, and chapel.

Your child’s education is of utmost importance. Call today to set up a tour of Lakeside Christian School, and let us show you how we are different.

To read more about the failure of online schools, read the original quoted article here.

 

Stuck Like Glue

Parents are happy with what we are doing at Lakeside Christian School.

How do we know this? We have an over 90% retention rate. Perhaps it’s purely academic: we are closing learning gaps among our elementary students. This means we are bringing most of those who were behind, up to and above grade level. Or it’s our desire to prepare all students for college and career, starting LONG before high school begins. Maybe it’s the fact that we teach each class and every subject from a biblical worldview. Or it could be the environment- safe and secure, with loving staff and a family feel. It could be any number of things, like our athletics or drama program, for example. But we believe it’s most likely the unique combination of all these things that makes Lakeside Christian School such a special place.

Schedule a tour today to find out what’s different about Lakeside Christian School, and why our families don’t just attend; they stick around.

Can You Afford a Private Christian Education For Your Child?

The primary reason parents do not place their children in private school is the sticker shock. Most parents will scoff at the price and never take another step in that direction, for fear that it is completely unattainable.

At some schools, that may be the case. Not at Lakeside Christian School.

Take a look at this checklist. If you can check off most of these things, you should look into LCS:

1. You live in the greater Clearwater area.
2. You desire an excellent education for your child.
3. You either need your child to catch up to grade level or need to see how far ahead you can encourage your child.
4. You are looking for a safe and secure learning environment.
5. You want qualified educators using best practice instruction in your child’s classroom.
6. You desire (or at the very least aren’t opposed to) your child’s classes taught from a biblical worldview.

Obviously a private Christian education such as this will be more expensive than public school or charter school. But like most things, you get what you pay for. It is absolutely worth it to invest in a private education for your child.

You really should see it as an investment. When you invest in an education like the one your child could receive at LCS, it will pay off with a child who graduates ready for college and career with a wealth of knowledge and, Lord willing, a solid biblical backbone to prepare them for real life.

But what if it’s an investment you just can’t afford?

Then you haven’t spoken with LCS yet.

Here are some quick details:

1. FACTS financial aid provides us with detailed information that helps LCS offer a scholarship that reduces our regular tuition.
2. Step Up for Students scholarships provides massive assistance. At this point in the year, they have closed new applications, but we can offer tuition that works for the year, then you can apply for Step Up for Students next year.
3. At LCS, we are able to meet individual needs 9 out of 10 times, and make tuition work for each family.

A private education is well within your reach when you consider Lakeside Christian School. You don’t have to settle for less than the best when it comes to your child’s education.

Call Lakeside Christian School today to schedule a free tour!

 

LCS Fine Arts Quick Facts

Step Up For Students: Your Ticket to Private School Education

For most, the mental image of private Christian education might include wealthy patron, people who drive expensive cars, and students with trust funds. While that may be the case for some (and there’s nothing wrong with that), most of our students and their parents don’t live that way.

Don’t assume an excellent private education is out of your reach simply because you’re not wealthy. There are many scholarship opportunities, and one very important one is Florida’s Step Up for Students scholarships.

According to their website, “Step Up for Students is a state-approved nonprofit scholarship funding organization that helps administer two scholarships for Florida school children: the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (FTC) for low-income families and the Gardiner Scholarship (PLSA) for children with certain special needs.”

Step Up for Students was dreamed up by founder John Kirtley, who began the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Tampa Bay. After legislation supported the ability of parents to use these scholarships to place their children in better schools, we have what we now know as Step Up for Students.

It’s an incredible organization that gives to those who need it most. Step-Up For Students writes, “A state-commissioned researcher has determined that scholarship students “tend to be among the lowest-performing students in their prior school, regardless of the performance level of their public school.” Lakeside Christian School welcomes students such as these, and uses evidence-based best practices to accelerate learning and brighten their futures. Within months, many of our new Step Up students are performing above grade-level in a rigorous academic program. More and more parents are using the Step Up for Students scholarship and taking charge of their children’s education and their future.

These scholarships can change your child’s life and Lakeside Christian offers a safe learning environment and a quality education to all regardless of income or status. Read more about the Step Up for Students scholarships and its partnership with Lakeside Christian School here. Consider giving your child a fair shot at an excellent education and college preparation. Now is the time to apply as new funds typically run quickly. Step Up For Students works on a first-come, first-served basis, so apply today, and then call Lakeside Christian School! We’re looking forward to your call.

 

 

Worldview

Nothing defines a school as much as worldview. Worldview is essentially the lens through which one views the world. It is from this worldview that all decisions are made, and it is behind every purpose and action.

At Lakeside Christian School, while we place tremendous importance on academics and preparing each student for college, we place greater value on the principles on which we base our worldview: God’s inspired Word as found in the Bible.

Here are just some of the beliefs that shape our worldview at Lakeside Christian School:

 

1. Each student has value: Each person is made in God’s image and therefore has value. God has created each person individually, with strengths and weaknesses unique to them. At Lakeside Christian School, we strive to amplify strengths and improve weaknesses (Eph. 2:10, Gen. 1:27)
2. Each student is in need of the Savior: Everyone is born a sinner and desperately in need of a Savior. God is Holy and Just, demanding that all who sin pay the ultimate penalty. Our sin is a spiritual crime against God’s Holy law which requires our absolute perfection to it’s standards. But God offers us forgiveness through His Son, Jesus Christ, who died as a substitute in our place to pay the price for our sins, a cost beyond our ability to pay. That’s the gospel, and we want each of our students to understand it and trust that through the perfect sinless life, substitutionary death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has provided a way for all to receive eternal life. We daily pray that many of our students would turn to Jesus for everlasting life (Rom. 3:23, Rom. 6:23, 1 Cor. 15:3, Eph. 2:8-9).
3. It is our responsibility to teach and train our students: God’s Word is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. We strive to use the Word as the foundation of all of our teaching (2 Tim. 3:16. Deut. 11:19).
4. We must always do our best: God has created us with massive potential and has a plan for each person. We must not grow weary in doing good (Gal. 6:9,2 Tim. 2:15).
5. We do all we do for the glory of God: We love because He first loved us, and we strive for excellence that He might be honored (1 Cor. 10:31, 1 John 4:19, John 3:30).

 

Because of our worldview, science is taught from the understanding that God created the world in six literal days. Math is taught with the knowledge that God is orderly and has created his world to be orderly. Language Arts is taught with an understanding that God gave use the ability to communicate so that we could communicate His love to others. History is taught with the realization that there is nothing new under the sun, and man will follow the same patterns again and again.  While many points of view are taught, we emphasize that the biblical view is truth.

In a world where so few believe in absolute truth, we provide an anchor for our students: the truth of the Word of God.

Whether or not you believe in the Word of God, you can trust that a worldview anchored in God’s Word will ensure that we treat your child with respect, teach them with love, and strive for excellence. If you’d like to read more about our worldview, read our statement of faith, philosophy of education, and value & mission statement here. Call Lakeside Christian School today to schedule your free tour and find out more about what we believe!