CHS Blog

You've heard the saying "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans". This certainly rings true with our family. We were happy at our public school, did not plan on homeschooling, and never even considered a private school. But God had other plans!

Our family moved to Trumbull for the same reason a lot of families do - the great schools! My kids were in kindergarten, 2nd and 3rd grade at our local school when the world shut down in March 2020. We finished out the year distance learning and, as we looked ahead to all the unknowns, we decided to pull our kids from school and homeschool.

We called ourselves Taylor Academy. I spent the summer researching curriculum and trying to figure out how the whole homeschooling thing worked. While it is certainly not for everybody, we fully embraced homeschooling as a family and continued to learn together for two years.

During the two years of being a mom AND teacher, I realized the immense influence teachers have over children. I’d heard the statistic that a child will spend 16,000 hours at school from kindergarten through graduation.* It wasn’t until 2020 that I began to think about what kind of environment I wanted my kids to be in for the most vulnerable years of their lives. And that it should concern me greatly to know what is being taught as good and normal while my kids are under the care of someone else. I am now so fully aware of how much trust we put in a public school system that will not allow God through the front doors.

While homeschooling, I answered all my kids’ questions through the lens of my Christian world-view. We had many amazing conversations and I got to share God with them through so many different subjects. I realized that I could never relinquish my precious kids to public school again. Even if the teacher was “really nice,” it did not mean our values align. I wanted my kids to learn about the world the way God created it and through the Christian context.

Then, through a series of events that only God could orchestrate, I started working at CHS in the Finance Office, and my kids joined the student family. At first, we were hesitant because we truly loved the freedom that homeschooling gave us. On a selfish note, I truly treasured the time I spent with my kids watching them grow up. But once we got over the initial shock of starting school at 7:40a.m., my kids and I have never looked back!

We have been at CHS now for 2 years, and we continue to thank God every day for bringing us here. Aside from the academic schedule and extracurricular activities available, there are so many elements of being at a Christian school that I will never take for granted. The teachers pray for the students. They pray for MY kids! Students have chapel once a week where they get to hear a biblical message and worship God with their peers. They have Bible class during school that I can trust is teaching the actual Word of God. My kids are forming lifelong friendships with their classmates who share our Christian values. Even the sports coaches gather and pray with the kids before games. We are blessed beyond measure to be part of this community. And as a mom, I am eternally thankful to the teachers who love my kids and have committed their lives to pouring God's love out on students in a school setting.

*Battle for the American Mind by Pete Hegseth

Lara Taylor grew up in Pennsylvania and received her accounting degree from Messiah College. She moved to Connecticut after marrying Jeremy Taylor, a pastor at Black Rock Church. They live in Trumbull with their children Blake, Chad and Paige. Lara is entering her 3rd year as a Senior Accountant in the Finance Office at CHS. When not at school or church, you will most likely find the Taylor family on the baseball field, basketball court, or home enjoying being together.