Butler County has a number of private, faith-based schools which release their flocks to public schools or to higher education systems.

It is up to school administrators to make sure students are up to the task, not just academically, but socially.

Penn Christian Academy in Penn Township has about 320 students from preschool through sixth grade, each of whom could end up in one of seven public school districts or one of three private schools.

“For each of those, I have contact information for the administrator or guidance counselor (students or parents) will need to talk to,” said Sari Harris, director of curriculum and instruction at Penn Christian.

She said a leadership course for students taught by the school’s head administrator, as well as an “exit protocol” course for parents, are Penn Christian’s biggest tools in preparing students for the transition.

“Part of our leadership course is helping students move into a situation like this, where not everyone shares the same beliefs or values,” Harris said.

“We’ve found that our students have done well academically as they have moved on to public or other private schools.”

She said that often parents, not students, need more help with the transition, so the school created its “exit protocol,” a series of steps to ease the change.

“We usually hold a meeting with (parents) early in January to run through the timeline in their future school district, and discuss some of those practical things, like testing person contact information or where to get records preparation,” Harris said.

“That really went a long way toward helping parents understand what they need to do in preparing for that transition, starting not in April or May, but halfway through the last school year here.”

She said both parents and students are briefed on what to expect socially, as well.

“We do deal with the parents on the (social) end of things as far as what might be beneficial to students such as outside sports or other social situations like playing instrument or clubs,” Harris said.

“That gives students a chance to interact with kids they will be interacting with outside of the classroom. Many of our students also choose to participate in community drama or a community choir.”

At Homeacre Christian Academy in Butler Township, students receive a full education through high school level, but must be prepared for a continuing education that may not be faith-based.

Homeacre Principal David Fisher said the school’s curriculum leaves students well-prepared not only to deal with new academic challenges, but social ones, as well.

Instead of grades, Homeacre students work through 144 levels, with the goal of advancing 12 levels each year.

“One of the greatest things we have is preparing students for their education in college, there are no gaps in their educations,” Fisher said.

Unlike some public schools, where students may skip around in a textbook. Homeacre students finish what they start, and at their own pace, he said.

“Our curriculum is based on what they accomplish, rather than the time they spend,” Fisher said.

“If a student finishes his math goals in 20 minutes, he may be free to spend an hour and a half on his English work. They are not governed by a bell.”

College preparation is built into curriculum.

“Students begin earlier (than their final year) on studying various vocations, what they are all about. They study doctors, farming, a whole scope of things they might be interested in,” Fisher said.

“They learn to set their goals. We’ve had people come back from college and say that was the best thing to happen to them. They do that regularly with the curriculum.”

He added that social interaction beyond high school is aided by 68 character traits ingrained in the school’s curriculum, including honesty, respect and caring.

“People who have great character don’t have much trouble in a social setting,” Fisher said.

The school’s family-style approach also serves students’ social development.

“They do not, as they do in most public schools, interact only with their own age groups. Interaction in our school is in all age groups. Our beginning readers interact with our seniors, and all the way through,” Fisher said.

Building that character is as important to the principal as the education itself, he said, because employers value strong character just as much as education.

“The only thing I ever fear is that they could get the education faster on their own,” Fisher joked.

He said that Homeacre students who become adept at setting goals and driving themselves toward those goals may become bored with college lecture classes that repeat facts from textbooks they’ve already read.