Private schools earn high marks

Desert Christian School, a nondenominational Christian school, and Paraclete High School, a Roman Catholic school, are listed by enrollment in the Journal's Aug. 7 edition. Desert Christian boasts 1,900 students in grades kindergarten through 12, and Paraclete has 700 students in grades nine through 12.

Although Desert Christian Director Cecil Swetland admits his school is not able to pay teachers as well as public schools can ($23,000 is the starting salary at Desert Christian, compared to $30,000 at public schools last year), he said the advantages to teaching at Desert Christian are great.

Teachers usually have only 20 students in a classroom, and morals and values are enforced in all grades, Swetland said. It also offers some of the lowest tuition of the 25 schools on the list.

Annual tuition runs from $2,805 for primary school to $3,278 for high school. That is lower than tuition at Village Christian Schools, with 1,905 students in Sun Valley, which charges $4,870 a year at all levels, and is a considerable savings over the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, where tuition costs $16,000 to $18,000 a year.

"We really want to make Christian education affordable," Swetland said. In that vein, Desert Christian budgets tightly, with 66% of its $6 million budget going to salaries, which he said are some of the highest in the private school sector. Salaries are in the top 25% among Association of Christian Schools International, Swetland said. They have also met the standards of and become a member of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Desert Christian has a Tuition Exchange Aids program so parents who want their children to attend but can't afford tuition can trade some of their time for tuition costs. They receive about five applications for every staff position that opens, he said, and have built a Web page to help parents keep track of their children's performance, attendance and grades.

Paraclete High School is closed for the summer, and school officials were not immediately available for comment.

Uploaded August 16, 2000