Is public, private, charter or home school best for your student?

Bevin Fink instructs her children, seated around the dining room table, with their lessons as they are home schooled. Seth has his back to the camera with Noah and Sara facing the camera. They are studying the human body. File photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post

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Gray Stone Day School Chief Administor Helen Nance (left) talks with math teacher Allison Stroud during class. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

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Bourque

Oliphant

Vaughn

By Sarah Campbell

scampbell@salisburypost.com

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

— William Butler Yeats

That’s the quote that sparked Bevin and Troy Fink’s interest in home schooling their four children.

Both products of the public school system, the Cleveland couple felt their kids could benefit from a different route.

“One of the main reasons we chose to home school is because we didn’t want a one-size-fits-all education for our children,” Bevin said. “And we wanted to be able to incorporate our Christian and moral beliefs into what our children are taught.”

Bevin said her own high school experience was also a major factor in the decision.

“I had a very bad experience and I would say that led me to look into home schooling,” she said.

Drawn to courses like chorus and drama, Bevin said those subjects were oftentimes neglected when it came to funding.

Bevin said the curriculum was also kind of limited.

“The one thing I didn’t like was that the subjects I was truly interested in and was actually good at weren’t offered,” she said.

By home schooling her children, Bevin said she can cater the curriculum to their interests.

“We approach education a little differently,” she said. “Our children have a say in what they learn.

“We want our children to enjoy learning because we could never teach them everything, but if you create a desire for learning in your children then they continue to seek out knowledge.”

Bevin said home schooling has also allowed her to adapt her teaching to her children’s individual learning styles, something that she feels may not happen in the typical school setting.

“I have one child that likes to read things for himself and one that likes to do hands-on activities,” she said. “I figured out what works best for each child.”

And the Finks aren’t the only parents seeking alternative forms of education.

The number of home schools in the area climbed from 766 to 809 in 2010-11 compared to the previous year, with an enrollment of more than 1,460 students.

Enrollment at Rowan County’s 10 private schools increased by 30 students to 949 during that time period.

Gray Stone Day School in Misenheimer has grown from 80 to more than 300 students since its doors opened in 2002. Head of School Helen Nance said about 25 percent of those students come from Rowan County.

“I think it’s great that there are so many options out there now in terms of educating our children,” Nance said.

Mixing it up

Everyone’s story is different.

Factors including academics, athletics, religion, class size and individual needs play into where students attend school.

Ann Bourque’s three children have gone to both public and private schools.

Her daughters, Kathleen, 16, and Molly, 11, went to public school until about two years ago. The girls now attend North Hills Christian School.

But 14-year-old Brendan continues to go to Knox Middle and plans

to start his freshman year at Salisbury High in the fall.

“For us, the decision was very cut and dry,” Bourque said. “Our three kids are as completely different from each other as you can imagination so we based our decision on what was best for each of them.”

Bourque said her daughters faced some social issues at public schools.

“Certain schools are very cliquey and if you don’t fit in then you become a target,” she said. “Kathleen has just spread her wings and taken off at this private school.”

Smaller class sizes at North Hills also meant more one-on-one attention from the teachers.

And the school’s Christian curriculum played into Bourque’s decision to send the girls to North Hills.

“We would have Brendan there too if it met his interests,” she said. “But our faith starts at home so what he’s not getting from school he gets more than enough from home.”

Being an athlete and a musician are traits that have kept Brendan in the public school setting.

“They have more to offer athletically, and they also have a more organized band,” Bourque said. “He really wants to pursue those interests.”

Bourque said financially it’s been a strain to send the girls to private school, but it’s paid off.

“It has been worth every sacrifice we have made just to see the girls thrive in this environment,” she said.

And Bourque said she’s happy to have found an educational balance for her children.

“All three of our kids have all their needs being met in both environments,” she said.

Christian values

Renae File’s three daughters also had mixed educational experiences.

Her oldest, Katelin, 23, went to public school for kindergarten and first grades.

“Due to some issues that arose during those two years, we started praying about the decision to enroll her in a Christian school,” she said.

Katelin attended Rockwell Christian school from second through 11th grade before dual enrolling at Stanly Community College her senior year.

Abby, 19, went to Rockwell Christian from kindergarten through eighth grade. She was home schooled for the remainder of her education.

File’s youngest daughter, Madison, 16, has been attending Rockwell Christian since kindergarten. She plans to graduate from the school in next year.

“We believe that we have a responsibility to our children not only to protect them but to provide them with a Biblical education,” File said. “We do not consider RCS a private school but a Christian school.

“Our desire for our girls was and is for them to receive a Biblically based education that will enable them to use their abilities for the Lord wherever His will may guide them.”

Both File and her husband attended public school growing up, but felt their children should take a different path.

“As adults, we realized there were some deficits in our education and felt the need to better the education our children received,” she said.

Hope Oliphant, a graduate of West Rowan High, said her faith played a large part in the decision to home school her four children.

“I’m in a different place now spiritually than I was when I was younger,” she said. “I see things differently and I don’t feel like if they were in public school they would be raised with the Christian values that we want them to have.”

Oliphant said she enjoys sharing her faith with her children.

“Everything we learn is from the perspective of a Godly view rather than a worldly view,” she said.

Oliphant said she taught public school for two years and her oldest son, Tripp, 16, attended through second grade.

“I’m not anti-public school,” she said. “I originally pulled them out because I felt like I could cater to their learning styles with more opportunities to learn than by just sitting at a desk.”

That includes opportunities such as Tripp’s internship at a local farm where he helps deliver baby goats.

“If he were confined to a school all day he wouldn’t be able to do that,” she said. “Now that my son is in high school I’m really starting to see the fruits of my labor and I’m happy with my decision to home school.”

Falling behind

Angela Vaughn said she opted to pull her youngest son, Noah Paul, 14, from public schools after he started falling behind in third grade.

“My two older daughters did well in public schools, but my youngest son struggled,” she said.

Vaughn said Noah Paul’s confidence took a hit as he fought to keep up.

“I knew things needed to change, so after praying about the situation I decided to home school my son his fourth grade year,” she said. “He needed more of a one-on-one teaching environment. He also need more repetition of the curriculum.”

After home schooling for a year, Vaughn enrolled Noah Paul at Rockwell Christian School.

“It was the best decision we ever made,” she said. “The caring and Christian atmosphere of the school helped my son grow academically, spiritually and also improved his confidence,” she said. “The loving one-on-one teaching has helped him succeed these past few years.”

Academics first

Nance decided to open Gray Stone after experiencing frustration that her own three daughters, who attended a rural public high school, weren’t prepared to compete in college against students from urban areas.

Her intention was to launch a high school that would place students with a more challenging atmosphere.

Susan Grathwohl said that’s why she sent her daughters, Abby and Maggie, to Gray Stone.

“More than anything, we looked at the fact that this school is focused on academics and preparing students for the university level,” she said. “I’ve seen firsthand what being in an environment that’s centered around a competitive attitude about academics versus a high school where there are all different motivation levels can do.”

Gray Stone freshman Frankie Goodnight said the academic reputation of the school drew him to enroll after finishing up middle school at Southeast.

“My brother went to school here and he got into an Ivy League school,” he said. “I’m just trying to get into a better college that I wouldn’t be able to attend if I didn’t go to a school that helped me prepare.”

Senior Sydney Safrit attended East Rowan High before making the switch to Gray Stone.

“I knew after finishing my sophomore year that I wanted to leave because there were too many cliques and so much drama,” she said.

Safrit said attending Gray Stone has improved her work ethic and prepared her for college at either Queens or Wingate University next year.

“I think the smaller atmosphere has made a big difference,” she said.

Gray Stone is the only charter school in the area and it serves seven different counties.

There is no cost to attend a charter school because the schools are funded through state and federal tax dollars. Anyone can attend, but after enrollment reaches its maximum capacity schools host random lotteries to determine who will be accepted.

No decision

For some parents and students, there are no options. Private school may be too expensive and with working parents home schooling could be out of the question. Although charter schools are free, space is limited and schools few.

“For very many people, being able to ‘decide’ where their children go to school is completely unimaginable,” said Karen Carpenter, a former Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education member.

Carpenter said many people rent or buy homes where they can afford them, which means the school their child will attend depends on where they live. She said their ability to decide on a school oftentimes hinges on access to affordable housing and things like after school child care.

“For those people, and as a single mom, that was my situation. The luxury of selecting a school for their child to attend is something they can only imagine,” she said.

That’s one of the reasons Carpenter served on the school board.

“I was a strong advocate for making all of our schools one in which parents would choose to send their children,” she said. “I absolutely believe the quality of education a child receives should not be determined by their home address.”

Patricia Sihler said if she could afford to send her two children to private school, she would.

“The smaller classroom setting to me is a better thing,” she said. “When it’s time for budget cuts, the first thing they cut is education and you can see it in the class size at schools.”

Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.

Twitter: twitter.com/posteducation

Facebook: facebook.com/Sarah.SalisburyPost