How Choosing the Right School Can Benefit Your Family

What’s the point of school? Plenty of students and parents ask this question each year. Finding the right school increases a family's chance of success both in the future and in facing current challenges. Schools are a resource for families to form foundations for their children. Knowing this, there are two important realities parents and students need to interact with as they consider what school will support their family.

In Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" he writes that people who are masters of a skill spend 10,000 hours honing that skill. He essentially said the differentiator between a novice and an expert is time invested. Students spend over 10,000 in school from Kindergarten to sixth grade, and another 10,000 from sixth grade through twelfth grade. The question is what are students becoming masters in with their 20,000 of grade school and high school training?

At Hillcrest, we guide students to Christ in every class and with every lesson. That means that while students grow in proficiency in mathematics, grammar, science, and the arts they are becoming masters at understanding God's design. When a student closes their high school experience by singing their class song on the front steps of the Castle at Hillcrest they do so with over 20,000 hours of practice in seeing God's hand in the world.

Essentially, every school equips students to be masters in a worldview. Either a student sees that God is active in the world in every area of life or they see that man is the master of every area of life. Hillcrest helps students see that God is in control and they are invited into His story and his plan of redemption for the world. Students learn to use tools in grammar, logic, mathematics, the arts, and other academic and social disciplines to join in God's grand story of redemption.

The second component families need to consider in choosing a school is that the 10,000-hour principle also applies to society. Students learn the purpose, design, and their role in community through the family, and that training is honed at school.

Students learn unique skills and giftings during their high school years. These skills are fostered in a school community to encourage and benefit the community. At Hillcrest students learn that their giftings are God-given and useful for the edification of the community and to make much of God and His love for everyone.

In the 20,000 of training Hillcrest students receive they receive training to be experts in joining a community to bring about a Christian aim. They understand, highlight, and explain how God is active and moving in their lives and in the lives of their community, which is all a part of a great story that God is writing for all of humanity.

There are many supporting options for families as they train their students to hold tightly to faith and share Jesus in their communiites. We have seen Hillcrest as one of the most encouraging and supporting options to guide students to live active lives in their church and to build strong families for the glory of God.

Do you know a family looking for a supportive school to encourage their students? Call Hillcrest today and schedule a tour. Our staff and teachers will explain what they do in the 20,000 hours of teaching they provide and how it guides students to live lives of eternal significance.