Oakdale Parent Steve Staggs recently wrote the following reflection on the desire for a "Christ-centered 'small school' that through the staff and students reflects the diversity inherent in the Kingdom of God."
What is it that Oakdale parents want? Based on our conversation during the most recent Oakdale District Board Meeting, it would appear that there is no consensus among Oakdale parents with regard to this question. To be sure, Oakdale parents would provide many different answers to this question. However, based on previous parent meetings and conversations with Oakdale parents, I submit that Oakdale parents are certainly in agreement on these central points: a desire to maintain a Christ-centered "small school" that through the staff and students reflects the diversity inherent in the Kingdom of God.
One of the primary reasons my wife and I enrolled our daughter, Emma, at Oakdale was that we wanted her to attend a Christian school where she would not only interact with classmates from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, but also have teachers, administrators, and other staff members who were ethnic minorities and placed in positions of authority over her. Both my wife and I attended Christian day schools in the suburbs of Chicago that were, on the whole, exclusively white. As a result, the racism that saturates our society was not challenged. Rather, it was reinforced. We want our daughters attending a Christian school in which they will be taught to combat the sin of racism. In our minds, Oakdale has the potential to become an anti-racist institution within the Eastown community.
On the southwest side of Grand Rapids, Potter's House provides a useful model it seems to me. Potter's House is a Christ-centered "small school" that is ethnically diverse. Unlike the Grand Rapids Christian elementary schools, Potter's House has a waiting list for its pre-school through first grade programs. The administration maintains a waiting list because they are dedicated to the "small school" concept and want to maintain an ethnically diverse student-body. In order to make Potter's House accessible to the broadest constituency as possible, tuition is based on income. As a result, only 20 % of the $ 3.1 million budget comes from tuition each year. The rest comes from both small and large gifts to the school.
Our hope is that we will be able to continue to send our daughters to Oakdale, a Christian "small school" within our community; one that is dedicated to becoming an anti-racist institution.
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