Good Schools

What makes a good school? Last week in Michigan a few of us were discussing good schools. In that discussion, I was asked to clarify a statement I made about certain schools not being good. A friend looked across the table and asked, "do you really believe that?" A summary of my response is below.

What constitutes a school being of good quality? How do we define a "good" school? I will define good in regards to schools in two realms: spiritual and educational. These are my opinions and are in reference to those schools contained in my private conversations last week.

Spiritually, can any school be a good school if it does not have the truth? Jesus said that He was truth. Ephesians 4:11-16 seems to point to an education rooted in truth that leads one to "speak the truth in love" and "grow up in every way into Him who is the head into Christ." There are those who will attempt to separate the spiritual from the educational, but I do not believe the two can be separated. When one is engaged in the learning process one is engaged in a building of knowledge and values and morality. The very nature of the process produces some type of morality in students. What kind of morality will be produced if the truth is absent?

Educationally, we will focus on Bloom's Taxonomy because every school these days does. In Bloom's there are three domains of learning: the cognitive, what goes on inside the head, the psychomotor, the role of movement in learning and the affective, the role of morality in learning. Can any school that leaves out one entire domain of the three from its educational approach be considered good?

Our conversations went on but my point here is to make two important statements that are closely related but different: one, defining what is good as it pertains to schools can not be limited to just academics because the nature of learning is not limited to just academics. And, two, we must understand that when students engage in the educational process they are being molded and shaped in many more ways than just academics.

Hard questions all of us must consider at some point in time. Your answers to these questions will determine your educational choices for your children. Scripture is clear... these decisions are yours and rest with you as parents. As a school, our advice is to spend much time in prayer with your family regarding the educational choices for your children. Go with the clarity God provides and avoid the confusing choice as we all know... confusion is not from the Lord.


At Westminster our goal is to be one of the very best options available to Christian parents. We strive to be a school where every student receives an education that is both excellent in every way and rooted in Christ. We have no desire of being good; our goal is to be great! This is Westminster