A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. Students in Rome, Italy. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Christianity. ...

The nature of Christian Schools varies enormously from country to country according to the religious and educational culture.

Historically in Europe many schools were founded as religious as well as educational establishments. Religious instruction was considered a normal part of education. World map showing Europe Political map (neighboring countries in Asia and Africa also shown) Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ...

United States

In the United States, religion is generally not taught by the state-funded educational system, under the principle of separation of church and state (though schools must allow students wanting to study religion as an extracurricular activity, as they would any other such activity). The separation of church and state is a political doctrine which states that the institutions of the state or national government should be kept separate from those of religious institutions. ...

Over 4 million students, about 1 child in 12, attend religious schools, most of them Christian [1].

There is great variety in the educational and religious philosophies of these schools, as might be expected from the large number of religious denominations in the United States. Indeed, many conservative Protestants reserve the term "Christian school" for only schools affiliated with conservative Protestant denominations, excluding Catholic schools in particular.^[1]

Christian schools are privately run, often in conjunction with a church or a denomination. Parents who want their children taught according to their church's principles can choose to send their children to such schools, but unless the school is subsidized by their church, or is part of a school choice or education voucher program funded by the government, they must pay tuition. Some American Christian schools are large and well-funded, while others are small and rely on volunteers from the community. Some Christian schools, especially those sponsored by fundamentalist churches, will not accept government funding, believing that acceptance of funding would allow the government to dictate their school (and potentially their church) operations. School choice, sometimes called public choice, describes any one of several forms of publicly-funded alternative education program that allows students to choose to attend any of various participating private and public schools, usually based on a system of vouchers, tax credits, or scholarships. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Fundamentalism is a movement to maintain strict adherence to founding principles. ...

The Catholic church operates about 8,500 schools, often called parochial schools, and enrolls about 2.7 million students.[2] Most are administered by individual dioceses and parishes. The Orthodox church also operates Christian schools. The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ... A parochial school is a type of private school which engages in religious education in addition to conventional education. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... A parish is a type of administrative subdivision. ... Several Christian Churches or church bodies are commonly referred to as Orthodox. Most of them are identifiable as part of Eastern Christianity. ...

The largest association of Protestant Christian schools in the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). ACSI serves 5,300 member schools in approximately 100 countries with an enrollment of nearly 1.2 million students. The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) is the largest association of Protestant Christian schools in the United States. ...

Another, smaller, association of Protestant Christian schools is Christian Schools International (CSI), with approximately 500 schools and 100,000 students.[3] Christian Schools International (CSI) was established in 1920 and supports Christian school teachers who want Bible-based textbooks for their classrooms, principals and school administrators investigating employee benefit plans, Christian school board members seeking information about governance, and parents looking for a Christian school for their children. ...

Although several publishers compete for sales of textbooks to the homeschool market, the market is dominated by two major players, A Beka Books and Bob Jones University Press. A Beka Book is a publisher of K-12 curriculum that is used by fundamentalist Christian schools and home schooling families in the United States. ... Bob Jones University Bob Jones University (BJU) is a private, non-denominational Protestant Fundamentalist, liberal arts university located in Greenville, South Carolina. ...

One movement among Christian schools in the US is the return to the traditional subjects and form of education known as classical education. This growing movement is known as the Classical Christian School movement, represented by the Association of Classical & Christian Schools, with 70 schools and 8700 students. The Association of Classical & Christian Schools (ACCS) was founded in 1994 to encourage the formation of Christian schools using a model of classical education. ...

Canada

Unlike the US, in Canada public funding of religious education is not only permitted, it is sometimes required.

According to the Canadian constitution Roman Catholics, in certain provinces, have the right to have their children educated in Catholic schools, and to have such education paid for by the state. Such provinces therefore have at least two major parallel school boards, one for Catholic education (known as Separate Catholic) and one for Public (or secular) education. In some cases there may also be Separate Protestant school boards. The combination of this right and the right of linguistic minority education means, in some provinces, like Alberta and Ontario, there can be at least four school boards operating in parallel, in the same location (e.g. English-Public, French-Public, English-Separate, French-Separate). Some provinces have moved away from this, obtaining constitutional amendements to allow them to organize strictly on linguistic lines, without a Separate system for any religious group. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Motto: Fortis et liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English (see below) Flower Wild rose                         Tree Lodgepole Pine Bird Great Horned Owl Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 28 6 Area Total  - Land  - Water  (% of total... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English (French has some legal status but is not fully co-official) Flower White Trillium Tree Eastern White Pine Bird Common Loon Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty...

Many non-Catholics, send their children to Separate Catholic schools, preferring the values and standards, despite not supporting the Catholic faith. Typically, such students are exempt from specific religious instruction classes, but Catholic values are still represented to them in all subjects and aspects of such schools.

While Public (as opposed to Separate) Canadian school districts in Canada, normally have no religious affiliation in modern times, they may still accommodate religious instruction for Christians within their community. They may do this by creating an individual special purpose Christian school, or they may offer religious instruction within an otherwise secular school.

Private Christian schools on the American model, usually run by Protestant denominations, also exist throughout Canada. Like private American Christian schools, these private schools normally charge tuition. Often, these schools (directly or indirectly) will receive some provincial grant money, though generally far less than a government run school. Each province is free to decide what if any funding they give to private religious schools. Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

See also: separate schools A separate school is a publicly funded school which includes religious education in its curriculum, as opposed to a private school or public school. ...

United Kingdom

The Church of England was historically a provider of many schools throughout the UK. Such schools (called 'Church of England schools') were partially absorbed into the state education system, with the church retaining an influence on the schools in return for its support in funding and staffing. Such schools are required to accept pupils regardless of religious background, though if they are oversubscribed they can, and often do, give preference to applicants of the relevant faith. The curriculum taught is virtually identical to that taught in state funded schools. The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ...

Because of the availability of church-run schools and the tolerance for religious activity in state schools, private Christian schools are a relative rarity.

Australia

Church schools were established in Australia by both Roman Catholic and protestant churches during the 19th century. Many of these schools, often with long traditions, continue to form the bulk of the private or independent school sector in Australia. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Private schools, or independent schools, are schools not administered by local or national government, which retain the right to select their student body and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition rather than with public (state) funds. ... An independent school is a school which is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operation and is instead operated by tuition charges, gifts, and perhaps the investment yield of an endowment. ...

The modern protestant Christian school movement began in Australia through the efforts of Dutch migrants who had enjoyed Christian schools for many decades in their home country. Most belonged to the Reformed Churches of Australia (now Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, and sometimes incorrectly called the Dutch Reformed Church, which is a name only correctly used of South African Reformed churches). During the 1950s these migrants founded associations of parents who wanted to start Christian schools, and the first schools opened, at first without any government assistance, in the early 1960s. The first schools were affiliated with a national body known at that time as the National Union of Christian Parent-Controlled Schools, which later became Christian Parent Controlled Schools Ltd. (CPCS) The Christian Reformed Churches of Australia has its roots in the great European Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries, affirming the Biblical truths that God saves us by grace alone, in Christ alone and through faith alone. ...

This first model of Australian Christian school was operated not by churches, but by associations of parents who individually belonged to churches but worked collectively for their common aim. These schools were established not because of innate dissatisfaction with government schools, but because these parents wanted schools which would actively integrate their Christian faith into the whole school curriculum. Because these schools were operated by parent bodies, people from churches other than the Reformed Churches were welcomed and able to join the work of these schools.

From the late 1970s, Christians from many other churches became increasingly concerned about standards and social change in government schools and started establishing Christian schools to provide an alternative education option. In this phase, many such schools were commenced not by parent associations but by churches themselves, although uniquely in Western Australia several parent groups from outside the Reformed Churches studied and adopted the parent-controlled model and have commenced schools which, while they have no Dutch or Reformed Church connections, have still affiliated themselves nationally with many schools which do.

In 2006 the leading umbrella organizations include Christian Schools Australia, Christian Parent Controlled Schools Ltd. and the Australian Association of Christian Schools.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands the question whether or not public schools should be christian and in what way was subject of much debate between 1806 and 1917. During the second half of the 19th century this "School-struggle" reached its summit and dominated politics along with voting rights and the district system. In 1917 most of these 3 matters were resolved by the Pacification of 1917. From now on both confessional (religious) and public schools would get equal funding.

In the second half of 2006 there are 6318 christian schools in the Netherlands; 4955 primary schools, 1054 high schools and 309 colleges and universities.

Africa

In many parts of Africa Christian missionary organisations have founded schools, often in places where no other schooling is available. Such schools generally provide a complete education in a Christian context. For other uses, see Africa (disambiguation). ...

Associations

• American Association of Christian Schools
• Association of Christian Schools International
• Association of Classical Christian Schools

The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) is the largest association of Protestant Christian schools in the United States. ... The Association of Classical & Christian Schools (ACCS) was founded in 1994 to encourage the formation of Christian schools using the Classical Education model. ...

References

1. ^ David Sikkink, "Diversity in Christian Schools", Education Next, Summer 2001. online

See also

• Parochial school
• Catholic school
• Lutheran school
• Nazarene international education association