Christian Boarding Schools vs. Public Schools

Parents that are deciding on which school is right for their child have a lot of options. Christian parents also have even more options, especially those that are specifically tailored to their faith. In deciding whether Christian boarding school is right for your child over public school, here are some differences to think about.

Cost

Frankly, this is going to be the biggest detractor about Christian boarding schools because they are going to cost a lot more than public school. For some families, you can get scholarships, but others have to weather the cost on their own and it is not always easy. You might have to make choices about whether your faith is more important than some luxuries, which is not an easy decision because you might feel shame. Just so you know, there is nothing wrong with choosing the public school route and saving. But if you want a great Christian education, Christian boarding schools can be worth the price.

Going Away From Home

The biggest difference for the student is that they are going to be going away from home, potentially for the first time in their young lives. This can feel like a scary experience to some, but it can also be liberating and exhilarating. You start to learn a lot of new things about yourself when you get away from your parents.

Christian Education

For parents, the biggest benefit of Christian boarding schools is that you get to have the perfect balance of Christian values, lessons, and ethics with the same subjects that you would learn in secular settings. Studies have shown that Christian schools produce students with better behavior and that can be attributed to the values that they learn. When you are religious, you want to know that your child is serving Christ and making good on your family’s name, which is something achieved through strong moral values. Christian boarding schools commit your child to learning those values without sacrificing any of the regular lessons that they would learn in public school.

Independence

As mentioned, this could be the first time that the student is living on their own. They will not be fully independent, as there are still rules and people watching them, but this is one of the first times where kids can make mistakes without their parents to fall back on. You start to figure out how to interact in society and doing so at this young age can inspire kids to be more mature and responsible. You are not taking away their chance to be kids, but letting them explore more on their own and figure out how they fit in the world without you.

Community

One of the things that you lose out on by going to Christian boarding schools is the diversity of the rest of the student body. Although not all Christians are the same, you lose out on the ideological and cultural diversity that can challenge your worldview and make you see things from other perspectives than your own. On the flip side, you gain a group of people that share the same values as you, so you can build easy relationships with each other based on your commonalities.