Several residents in Grand Forks are currently looking to start a Christian school for children in Grades 1 to 4, and possibly, 5.
They have approached the Seventh-day Adventist Church to see if they would be willing to open a school for their children.
Julia Butler, one of the group organizers, currently home schools her two children.
“I’m a single mom and I really want a Christian school for them to go to so that I can go to work,” she said. “Home schooling is OK, but as they get older I don’t have enough time to invest into it.
“There are several children who also attend the church and after speaking to other parents, they decided to explore the possibility of starting up a school.”
Last Thursday during a public meeting they discussed the details and collected information from the public to see what they would want.
Butler added, “Depending on the interest the idea a Christian school garners, they may consider adding Grade 5 curriculum to the school. Public response will impact what we offer.”
In Seventh-day Adventist Schools in Canada, teachers must be certified by both the Province of B.C., as well as by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada Office of Education. The school would offer a provincially-compatible curriculum but from a Christian worldview.
This would include study of the sciences from a creationist perspective and the Bible.
Butler hopes that this school can be up and running by this fall.
“Depending on the people who are going to come, we will have to customize it to the students that we will have,” Butler said. “There’s a lot of planning still to be done, which is why we’re interested in having people come out so that they can have a say in planning their children’s school.”
Actual tuition rates are yet to be set, and will be determined, to some extent at least, by the size of the enrolment.
There will be a follow up meeting tomorrow night (March 22) in the Hillview Fellowship Hall of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 4500 Hillview Road at 7 p.m. to receive further parental input into their expectations for the school.
For more information, call Butler at 250-442-8436 or the church at 250-442-5081.