School Profile
Harbor Light Christian School
School Overview
Harbor Light Christian School is a preschool through twelfth-grade school with the mission to prepare next-generation leaders for Christ.
Christianity offers real answers to life’s difficult questions of meaning and purpose. The fact that Christ is Creator, Redeemer, and Judge has tremendous implications on how we determine the basis of knowledge, truth, and morality, which are essential components to any philosophy of education.
God’s general revelation in nature provides a basis for several disciplines such as the field of science and history. However, such general revelation is limited in revealing the character of God, something that is found primarily in the special revelation of God’s Word. The divine authority of the special revelation of the Word taught in our curriculum is the distinguishing mark of Harbor Light Christian School.
Biblical truth is not only to be learned; it is to be lived. The student of Scripture needs both a keen mind and a willing heart. Education must not only inform the mind but direct life. Correct teaching of special revelation leads to application in personal life not just the scholastic pursuits of academia.
Christian parents are ultimately responsible for the education of their children. Harbor Light Christian School seeks to provide an environment where the Biblical beliefs of the home and church are reinforced and integrated into the educational instruction of children. Thus, Harbor Light Christian School, the family, and the church form the three-legged stool of a child’s education.
It is important for the staff, parents, and students who are a part of the Harbor Light Christian School community to know what we believe in order to make a good decision about joining us. We submit the following as a statement of our understanding of God’s testimony in the Word of God.
Key Attributes
Over 30 years as a Community Christian School
High parent involvement
More than 20 area churches represented by staff and students
Student-Teacher Ratio of 1:11
Faith-filled Education – Christian Curriculum, Biblical Christian-Worldview
High Standardized Test Scores
Quality MHSAA Athletic Programs – seeking victory beyond the scoreboard
AP & College Courses
Mission emphasis – local, national, and international opportunities annually
Highly committed faculty
Daily Bible instruction
Weekly Chapel
School History
Harbor Light Christian School opened its doors in the fall of 1985, but it was a vision that was birthed several years before by Pastor Bill Mindel and Dave & Bonnie DeRouchie. They believed that God was calling Harbor Light Community Chapel to start a school that would prepare children to be leaders for Christ in their community, country, and the world as well as teach from the perspective of a Christian World View.
The first year began with 47 students in Kindergarten through Tenth grades. In that first year, a family was formed, and that has not changed. Although teaching academics was and still isi a high priority, teaching students the joy of being a servant like Christ is also a huge part of the educational process. Taking a cross-cultural mission trip was a requirement for graduation from the beginning. Now students choose to go on multiple outreach experiences in the community, the U.S., or out of the country.
Because it is important for staff and parents to model what we teach, volunteering time to help the school in many ways also helps keep the tuition lower than most other Christian schools in our state. Staff, students, and parents came together to build the first part of the present school building, including the gym, foyer, and west wing classrooms. Since that time thousands of volunteer hours have helped fund and maintain the school.
Other areas of school life at Harbor Light that started at the beginning were the Athletic and Art programs. Over the years our coaches have volunteered hours to train our athletes physically, mentally, and spiritually. The Swordsman was chosen to be the school mascot because as Christians we should be able to know and use God’s word, the Sword of the Spirit, in our daily lives. Creativity is one of God’s gifts to us. At HLCS these gifts are used to develop skills and to bless others through the worship team, dramas, and art displays.
Since the beginning, the school has maintained its mission to educate Christian young people not just to hear God’s word, but to live God’s Word, love God with all their mind and strength, and love their neighbor as themselves.