The need for students across Ohio to have access to high-quality Christian education has never been greater. Parents and church leaders are realizing that education always has worldview foundations and is never religiously neutral. Providing a place where students can make connections between their studies and biblical truths is a powerful means of discipleship because it reveals Christ as sovereign over all aspects of our lives.

Churches looking to invest in the children of their congregation and community often find that Christian schools provide the greatest opportunity of our times—a five-day, 30-hour per week chance to speak Living Truth into the formation of students’ hearts, minds, and souls.

This is why a collation of churches in the Hilltop neighborhood of Columbus partnered with Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) and its Ohio Christian Education Network (OCEN) to open Westside Christian School (WCS) this past fall. Thirty-three students in grades K-2 are now receiving a life-giving education they may have otherwise missed, and the school is poised to grow in future years. If you haven't already seen it, click the image below and take a moment to watch a video highlighting the impact WCS has had in just a few months. 

Up to five other schools like Westside are scheduled to open in Fall 2023 with help from CCV and OCEN. Each of these will be a traditional school starting with an average of 40 to 50 students.

At the same time, we know that a traditional school isn’t possible at every church that has been called to fill this need and start a Christian school. Perhaps the church doesn’t have adequate space in their facilities or is located in an area in which the population is not large enough to sustain a traditional school. Maybe the tuition barrier is too high for enough families to attend to make the school viable.

Whatever the reason, we want to help these churches—perhaps your church—start a Christian school using a different model, one that will work for as few as 12 to 15 students across multiple grade levels.

This “pod model” uses a no-cost online community school option (such as Ohio Virtual Academy) for core classes combined with an integrative Christian education component that serves as a wrap-around to their studies. Because of the flexibility that the online component provides, this can be done in a single community room in a church facility with students of various grade levels. And because the expenses associated with it arise almost solely from the wrap-around, the costs are greatly reduced and tuition is much more affordable to parents—perhaps as low as $1,000 per student annually.

We are looking for a church to serve as our pilot school for this model. If your church might be interested in discussing this opportunity, email OCEN Executive Director Troy McIntosh at troymcintosh@ccv.org.