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<h1 class="entry-title"> <a href="http://thewartburgwatch.com/2012/09/21/guest-post-our-experiences-with-a-doug-wilson-style-classical-school/" title="Permalink to Guest Post-Our Experiences With a Doug Wilson-style Classical School" rel="bookmark">Guest Post-Our Experiences With a Doug Wilson-style Classical School</a>
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<a href="http://thewartburgwatch.com/2012/09/21/guest-post-our-experiences-with-a-doug-wilson-style-classical-school/" title="04:51 PM" rel="bookmark">Fri Sep 21, 2012</a><span class="by-author"> <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="http://thewartburgwatch.com/author/dee/" title="View all posts by dee" rel="author">dee</a></span></span> <span class="post-avatar-tiny">
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TWW is pleased to have " Leila," a regular commenter, as a guest
poster. She is publishing under her pseudonym. We want to take this
opportunity to defend "anonymous" posts and comments. We believe that
many people have been deeply wounded in their Christian experience and
are reluctant to be hurt all over again. Also, some of these
individuals, who have left churches, leave behind family and friends in
that entity. Out of respect for the privacy of their family and friends,
they do not wish to identify themselves.
</p>
<p>
After a year of blogging, Deb and I went public with our names so that
we could advocate for those who wish to remain anonymous. We believe
that these narratives are stories that need to be heard by the greater
Christian community. We know the identities of those who post and hold
those identities in strict confidence. In other words, it would take a
subpoena and a guaranteed court fight to get us to release the names we
hold in confidence.
</p>
<p>
We thank Leila for sharing her insightful story.
</p>
<hr>
<p>
My husband and I planned, from the beginning, to send our children to
private school, since we weren’t happy with the public schools in our
area. Right before our oldest was ready to start kindergarten in the
mid-90s, a new Christian school opened in our area and we eagerly took a
look. We loved what we saw. This Christian school was started by
parents and was different from any other we’d ever seen. This one was
classical. They taught Latin starting in 3rd grade, had a phenomenal
writing and literature curriculum, a systematic approach through the
grades for history and geography, and, of course, that dangling carrot
for parents of students everywhere … small classroom sizes. The method,
we learned, was based on Doug Wilson’s “rediscovery” of the classical
trivium approach and which assured our children of an excellent
education.
</p>
<p>
Let me say right now that for the most part, we never had an issue with
our kids’ teachers. They were great. They were warm, caring, loving
Christians who were very good teachers. Nor did we have an issue with
the rigorous academic standards at the school. We still love the
classical approach … if it’s the right fit for the child. The school
our children attended is on the east coast, and is considered one of the
“flagship” schools of the Wilsonian classical schooling movement.
People from all over the country who attend a classical school have
usually heard of it.
</p>
<p>
What we didn’t love, as the years went by, was Wilsonian theology and
thought seeping into just about every aspect of the school. It was a
gradual transition, and it happened so slowly that we were like the
proverbial frogs who are placed in a pot of cold water while the heat is
gradually turned up. Unlike the proverbial frog, however, we finally
jumped out and escaped.
</p>
<p>
One of the first things we noticed was that normal childhood behavior
was often attributed to “rebellion.” For instance, I got a call one time
from one of the mothers who was a founding member of the school. Our
children were in first grade together. My daughter was a chatterbox.
Apparently, my little 6 year old was leading this woman’s son into
temptation by … gasp … talking to him in class! He, of course, being a
normal kid, would respond. The mom asked me to work with my daughter so
she wouldn’t tempt the little boy to talk in class with her … because if
he did, she was going to have to spank him. (For talking in class?
Really?) Another time, my son did something wrong (I don’t even remember
what it was) and his teacher confronted him about it. Immediately my
son denied it. (What kid doesn’t?) But within about 5 seconds, he broke
down and admitted it. The teacher punished him, not for the original
wrongdoing, but for “lying” about it. No grace, no willingness to give a
10-year-old boy’s conscience and the Holy Spirit five seconds to work!
</p>
<p>
One of our children, although very bright, struggled with paying
attention, focusing on multi-step tasks, and impulsiveness. A number of
times throughout the years, I asked the principal (who was also my
child’s teacher for awhile), could my child have ADD? No, I was told, my
child’s problem was sin and rebellion. It was a character issue. I
should have listened to my gut … because years later, while in high
school and tested with an IQ of 136, my child was practically flunking
out of school. We worked with a specialist and determined that yes, it
was ADD along with a couple of learning disabilities. But sadly, my
child was turn off of school forever by that point.
</p>
<p>
By the time our oldest child was in 6th grade (and we had two younger
children there as well), we knew something was very wrong. We could no
longer brush aside the gut feelings we’d been having. The school felt
spiritually oppressive and legalistic. When we tried to put it into
words, it was easy to start second guessing ourselves. (Was it
legalistic for administrators to write kids up for wearing the wrong
color ponytail elastic? Or was that reasonable?) And we were reluctant
to share our feelings with other parents who seemed to be struggling
with the same feelings … because the school administration constantly
admonished about “gossip.” Maybe our observations and the anecdotes
other parents had shared with us really were just isolated incidents.
Maybe we were overly sensitive. Nonetheless, the weight of numerous
incidents and observations finally forced us to concede that the school
was spiritually unhealthy for our children and after six years, we took
them out.
</p>
<p>
All the anecdotes and observations listed here were my own observations
or anecdotes related directly to me from another parent. If I added in
the third-party anecdotes (which I can’t verify), this post would be
ten times as long.
</p>
<p>
I would characterize the climate at the Wilson-model school as authoritarian, legalistic, controlling, and misogynist.
</p>
<p>
Women were to be kept firmly in their place. For example:
</p>
<ul><li>
Women teachers were paid less than men teachers, because men, of
course were “the head of their household” and needed to earn more.
</li><li>
It was frequently and loudly proclaimed that at the high school level,
the eventual goal was to have mostly or all male teachers because “boys
need strong role models.” (Because women can’t be strong role models?)
This goal hadn’t been achieved by the time we left. With 20/20
hindsight, I now wonder, could this really be have been code for “women
can’t teach men”?
</li><li>
Women were not permitted to serve on the school board.
</li><li>
Most alarming of all was what I saw happen to a key group of moms over
the course of the 6 years we were there. These were the women who were
married to board members or one of the founding families of the school.
When we started, these women were normal, happy, friendly moms who wore
blue jeans and laughed and just enjoyed life. They were friendly, warm,
and authentic. Then things started getting creepy … By the time we left,
you would hardly know they were the same women. They rarely smiled, you
could read their chronic tension in their body language, and most of
them wouldn’t be caught dead in blue jeans anymore – it was skirts only
for them. They really wouldn’t talk with anyone anymore about in depth
issues; they usually parroted and quoted their husbands, or deferred to
them. For example, one woman started a home catering business – but
anyone who wanted to engage her services had to first approach her
husband for permission to hire her! And they started having babies
again. Most of these women, when we started school there, were in their
mid-30’s and had pretty much finished having their families. By our last
year there, there was a baby boomlet among this group. Women now in
their late 30’s and early 40’s were suddenly having babies again after a
10-year gap. 20/20 hindsight: Was Wilson’s teaching of “covenant seed”
influencing these decisions?
</li><li>
Both parents had to attend an interview before they could even apply
to the school. One family was denied because when the husband arrived
late to the interview, the wife “did not display the characteristics of a
submissive wife by standing and greeting her husband with a kiss.” (I
have never forgotten those exact words related to me by that women, an
acquaintance, who is now thankful their children were not admitted to
the school.)
</li></ul>
<p>
The board and founding families were very much concerned with
maintaining control. For instance, they set up the school board to
ensure that they would keep it.
</p>
<p>
• The school board consisted of 3 permanent (male) members, founders of
the school, and two “at large” seats (to be held by men only), elected
by the parents … but the permanent members could veto an at-large
candidate even running.<br>
• If you had an issue you wanted put on the school board agenda for
discussion, you had to find a board member willing to do so. They could
decline to address any concern.
</p>
<p>
More ways they tried to keep control included:
</p>
<ul><li>
If a parent had any concern about anything at all, they were to
address it directly to the teacher and then on up the chain. It was
never to be discussed outside this chain of authority. Parents were
reprimanded for making remarks to other parents like, “I was not happy
that the kids were given so much homework tonight when they have to be
at school for the music program this evening for two hours” or “Johnny
is really struggling with the memorization of the long bible passages.
The last one was over 80 words long and they had only two evenings to
memorize it.” (Yep, I personally got scolded for the latter example for
“gossiping.”)
</li><li>
The permanent school board members and founding families formed their
own “reformed” church, and pressured faculty to join it. The pastor and
elders of the church were the same as the permanent school board
members. On at least two occasions that I witnessed, parents had
serious disagreements with a board member. The board member told them
they could bring it before his pastor to resolve … and you know how that
ended.
</li><li>
Three of my children’s teachers who attended Doug Wilson’s classical
Christian schooling conference one year were verbally attacked by one of
the “heavyweight” speakers there. The speaker told them they were in
sin for attending churches that weren’t truly reformed. He was so
virulent that it brought one woman to tears. (These teachers shared this
with me a few weeks after the incident at a Pampered Chef party I
hosted.)
</li><li>
The school founders and administrators pounded the point repeatedly
that parents were responsible for the upbringing of their own children,
and that nobody else had the right to decide what was best for your
children. Unless you were a teacher there, of course … because if you
taught there, you were contractually obligated to send your own children
to that school as a condition of your employment. And pay full price
tuition with no employee discount. If you had a child who might be
better suited to another type of school, tough.
</li></ul>
<p>
School founders clearly set out to create a school culture that set
them apart. One of their chief methods was to put down public schools as
often as possible. Only they weren’t called public schools, they were
called “government schools,” and always spoken of in a contemptuous
tone. The intellectual pride was astonishing. The children who
faithfully attended their school, they said, would achieve far more in
life than other kids. (Now that the kids who attended school with my
oldest child are in their early 20’s, clearly that’s not the case. Just
as many college dropouts, unemployed, cohabitation, etc., as the general
population.)
</p>
<p>
Vocabulary was very important to creating this culture. You heard the
words “godly” and “biblical” an awful lot. You also heard the words
“gossip” and “bitterness” flung around quite a bit too, when discussion
needed to be shut down. The vocabulary was even reflected in the
curriculum – don’t you dare call it the Civil War. It was the War
Between the States.
</p>
<p>
The school doesn’t have a prom like most high schools. They have a
“cotillion.” The students don’t bring dates or go alone like most people
who attend a prom. Instead, each young lady is assigned a male
classmate as her escort. After 11th grade, they go on a “grand tour” to
Europe. There have been several grand tours, I’ve been told by parents,
that pretty much turn into pub crawls with underage kids getting drunk
repeatedly.
</p>
<p>
Finally, we could ignore the weight of the evidence no longer. We chose
not to re-enroll our children after 6 years there, and found another
private Christian school that, although also classical, had a much
healthier spiritual and emotional climate. Was it as academically
rigorous? No. But it was good enough. And after 8th grade, we put our
kids in – horrors – government schools for high school! And they’re
doing about as well as the average kid – my ADD child has started and
stopped college three times, and is now working two part time jobs and
living with a group of friends. My second child has a 4.0 in college, a
full academic scholarship, will graduate one year ahead of time, and has
saved so much money that she’ll be able to buy a house next year. The
other two are still in high school, having fun exploring their interests
and making plans for what they’ll be when they grow up.
</p>
<p>
So a few months ago, we ran into an old classmate (I’ll call him T) of
my son’s. The boys had been good buddies in school from 1st through 6th
grade. T had graduated from the classical school and gone on to New St.
Andrews, Doug Wilson’s college located in Moscow, Idaho. This sweet
little boy was now fully grown. He was smoking a cigar and sporting a
fedora … Just like Doug Wilson.
</p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br><a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br><br><img src="http://users.moscow.com/waf/WP%20Fox%2001.jpg"><br><br>