THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411240267
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 32 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
WHEN KATHY BERGEY started school in 1961, she was allowed to attend class barefoot, and she had only one classmate in the first grade. Almost everyone in her school was a relative, either a sibling or a cousin.
Today, Kathy Bergey Silsley, 39, is principal of that same school, Mount Pleasant Christian School.
Begun in 1941 as a one-room school in an old store, it was opened as an educational facility for 42 children in grades one through eight who belonged to Mennonite congregations in Great Bridge and Deep Creek.
The school was moved to a brand new 30-by-40-foot, two-room concrete block structure in 1949, located at 1613 Mount Pleasant Road. With several additions over the years, the building grew to 3,200 square feet at that same location.
This year Mount Pleasant opened its doors with a 10,000-square-foot addition, changing its look from that of an old-fashioned one-room schoolhouse to one like the new public schools in its Great Bridge neighborhood.
The addition, which is simply called the South Wing, was built at a cost of about $400,000. It added six classrooms, a principal's office, two restrooms and a multipurpose room. There were also improvements to the old building, called the North Wing, and a new paved parking lot and a ballfield were added.
Eighty-three students, from kindergarten through eighth grade, attend the school. Tuition ranges from $1,250 per year for a kindergarten student to $1,950 per year for an eighth-grader.
``We have a homey atmosphere here that emphasizes family, extended family and community,'' Silsley said. ``There's a strong spirit of encouragement, which fosters cooperation rather than competition among our students.''
Today, less than half of the student body is of the Mennonite faith. The children who attend Mount Pleasant come from many denominations and a wide variety of backgrounds, Silsley said. Their parents have also enrolled them in the 53-year-old school for a variety of reasons, ranging from wanting to get them away from the potentially violent atmosphere of public schools to seeking a Christian educational foundation, she said.
Jason Franasiak, 11, has been attending the school for more than three years, and three younger siblings are also enrolled at Mount Pleasant. The sixth-grader said his parents sent him to the small private school because ``they wanted me to have a good Christian education.'' He said science is his best subject and he likes his teachers ``because they will hear you out when you have something to say.''
Julie Kauffman, 13, has never attended any other school. She was in Mount Pleasant's first kindergarten class.
The eighth-grader plans to attend public school for the first time next year. That will be a big change, Julie said, ``but I'm ready for a big change. I hear from my friends, though, that public school is crowded, busy, with all sorts of different people going there.''
Silsley said that, in the old days, when Mount Pleasant Christian Day School first opened, many Mennonites were ``separate,'' like the Amish, dressing in a distinctive manner and abiding by strong religious convictions, including an emphasis on having children attend a Mennonite-run school.
Today, Bible classes and daily devotions, as well as a weekly general assembly, are part of the curriculum, but gone from earlier years is the traditional Mennonite dress and separateness.
``I think we're aware of, and educated about, the differences in methods used in public schools. We look at them, then decide how we'll do things here,'' said Silsley.
``I think this school has been successful for more than 50 years because it's had strong congregational support and excellent teachers, taught nonviolence and peace and not been afraid to show affection to the students.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo courtesy Mount Pleasant Christian School
Mount Pleasant School was founded in 1941 in an old store building.
Photo by CARL CASON
Sixth-grader Jason Franasiak and eighth-grader Julie Kauffman enjoy
a lunch break in Mount Pleasant Christian School's multipurpose room
.
by CNB