Seventh-day Adventists to reopen school

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That children grow as Jesus did is the goal of Mountain View Christian School, a Seventh-day Adventist education facility at 305 Fleming St. in South Williamsport.

After a two-year hiatus due to declining enrollment, the school is preparing to welcome a new generation of students on their first day of school Monday.

Pre-schoolers and first- through eighth-graders from a variety of Christian denominations throughout the area will learn about traditional topics with religion mixed in. Pre-school students will have their own classroom while the other children will receive lessons in the same room.

"We try to grow kids like Jesus grew," head teacher Lori Roberts said. "He grew physically, mentally, spiritually and socially. We try to do that in all the ways we work with our kids ... We want them to get a balance."

A Christian curriculum

"We try to weave Christianity throughout everything," Roberts said. "In science it gets pulled in, we see social studies from a Christian basis and we try to be as accurate as possible."

With students of all ages in one room, a multi-grade curriculum means each person will be studying the same topic at different levels. "They might all be studying space, but the seventh graders are going to do different activities than the first graders," Roberts said.

History, language arts, math, art, physical education and the Bible will be regular topics of education.

The school will teach the church's doctrines as well. "If someone has a different belief, we are very respective of that," Roberts said. "But we are an Adventist school, so we do teach our specific doctrine."

The church, which grew out of the Second Great Awakening, has two primary doctrines, said the Rev. Tom Grove. "Our two main teachings are found in our name. 'Seventh-day' which we believe that the seventh-day Sabbath is still something we need to keep. And 'Adventist' means that we're looking for the soon-return of Jesus."

Church services and Sabbath school are held on Saturday mornings at the church's 201 Market St., South Williamsport location.

"About 50 percent of Seventh-day Adventists are vegetarians", Grove said, while all members follow dietary restrictions similar to Jewish Kosher laws.

"But we also believe that the diet God originally gave us was a vegetarian diet," he said.

Roberts said the school students will be encouraged to eat healthy and to bring healthy lunches. "We have a great health message," she said, adding that the church has hospitals throughout the world.

A unique atmosphere

"I think the biggest advantage of a one-room school like this is the individualized attention," Grove said, "let alone the Christian values."

Small classes mean that each child will have the opportunity to "be a leader," Roberts said. "We're going to have them up front in class and in church. They get to step up and find their strengths," she said, adding that students in a multi-grade environment help each other learn.

"Kids from a multi-grade (school) come out a lot of times better prepared," she said. Traditional schools are the only place "in the world" where students are only interacting with their own age group. "You get out of school and all of a sudden, you're with everybody. If you've already learned to work with different ages, you're a step ahead."

Roberts, who attended a private church school, said she loved the environment. "Sometimes it's the informality of it. Sometimes you can say 'We're really on this subject and we're not going to stop today.'"

She has taught in multi-grade classrooms for 18 years.

"I think it's a great experience to prepare you for life. You make friends, it's like a family atmosphere. We get to keep the kids over many years so we get to work with them and not have to start fresh each year with their abilities."

A small student body and relaxed atmosphere create unique learning experiences, the teacher said.

"We try to keep some formality, but I'm not into lining up and marching," she said. "We're only going to be nine kids, so it's almost a family atmosphere."

Roberts acknowledged she is not very formal. "We do keep a respect. Respect is what we're working for, which, unfortunately, is missing a lot in this world."

Like all schools, the Mountain View Christian School has a plan of discipline in place. "We strive to work toward self-governing and character," Roberts said. "There are consequences if they break the rules. We try to talk to them and work with them and find ways ... They can run laps, stand out at recess, lose some privileges, things that give them time to calm down and we can talk about it afterward."

Since Roberts also acts as the school principal, she said if a student needs more discipline, the next step is to call their home.

Education in faith

"If I wasn't pointing kids to heaven, I don't know if I'd find it worth doing," Roberts said of her job.

She said watching children grow in their faith is a unique experience. "The first time you hear a little kid pray who's never prayed before, you never forget it. I can't even describe the feeling. It sticks in your head. They're so sweet and innocent and that's what Jesus said we should be."

Prayer and songs are also part of the Christian-based education. During morning prayer time, "the kids raise their hand and pray for everything from the scab on their knee to someone dying of cancer," Roberts said. "I see them sing songs that can build character and show them the way to heaven."

School activities

While students pay tuition to the school, the local church is a regular financial supporter. "The church and the school are very supportive of each other," Grove said.

Despite having a small student body, children will have opportunities for extra-curricular activities and field trips.

"We put on Christmas programs and spring programs. And we also try to do community outreach," said Roberts, who is from Washington state. "I'm excited about learning of possibilities in the community."

Roberts she already knows the school will do a special Christmas-time outreach.

"Parents are very involved," Grove said. "They're the ones that coordinate hot lunches," for students once a week.

Roberts, who enjoys working closely with the parents, said she is excited that one parent just bought a van that could be used for field trips.

"I'm looking for all the culture and history in this area," Roberts said of potential field trips. "I know when we're studying the Civil War I definitely want to go to Gettysburg," she said. Caves, museums and more will provide first-time experience for both the teacher and her students.

"I'd love to see the kids go to Washington D.C.," Grove said.

The oldest students the school has ever seen have been high school sophomores. For those who want to remain in a Seventh-day Adventist educational environment, Blue Mountain Academy is a boarding high school in Hamburg, Grove said.