Erial Community Church Christian School Set for 29th Year

A 30-year anniversary is referred to as a “pearl anniversary.”

And a pearl is what some just may call Erial Community Church Christian School, which finds itself on the cusp of 30 years of educating area children.

The foundation of Erial Community Church dates back to the Civil War. Yet, the Erial Community Church Christian School, which once started as a small nursery, is about to enter its 29th year as a pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade school.    

Apart from the pre-K and nursery school, class size per grade averages about 15 kids. Pre-K has up to 30 kids—growth in recent years that caused the school to add a second pre-K class.   

Principal Sandy Gainsford helped open the school nearly three decades ago. She and others approached Pastor Carlyle Melleby about starting a daycare.

In the beginning, the daycare proved unsuccessful, according to Gainsford.   

“No one wanted a day care. They wanted a Christian school,” she said.  

That is when God’s Little People was created in 1984. At the time, the school was only for pre-K and kindergarten, but it soon expanded. After the first two girls had graduated from kindergarten, a grade was added just about every year until the school reached eighth grade. 

Nursery school (for 3-year-olds) to sixth-grade students are instructed in single classrooms during the day.

Seventh- and eighth-grade students' days are structured more like a traditional high-school setting. Math and science are taught in one classroom, while reading and English are taught in a separate room. Both grades are located in the newest wing of the building, complete with computer lab and library.    

Erial Community Church Christian School offers so much more for children than traditional public-school settings, according to school officials. The most obvious difference is Bible study—all students study the Bible for a half-hour each day. Students also go to chapel once a week. The school teaches fundamental Christianity—all lessons are pulled directly from the Bible.

However, Gainsford maintains that Bible study is not the only thing that sets her school apart from public schools in the area. She explains that while most public schools have rigid student-teacher boundaries, it is not uncommon for teachers to hug their students at Erial Community Church Christian School.

“We have a love for our children,” she said.  

Gainsford believes showing students love is fundamental to their educational growth. She says it’s not uncommon for a 3-year-old student who simply wants to be picked up to be on her hip. She says that affection in a large way sets the school apart from others.

Gainsford points out a sign she has hanging outside her office. It reads, “Love grows here.”   

Joanna Dickinson, an administrative assistant, agrees the “love” aspect plays a large part in the educational process at the Erial school. She goes on to say the sense of family in the school is also a driving force in education.          

“It’s not a subject or a thing—it’s the fact that we are a family,” she said.

The majority of staff members at the school were once parents of children who attended the school.   

“One of the things that impresses me the most is the longevity of our staff,” says Dickinson.       

Dickinson, who came to the school with her son, says she was immediately pulled in by the fact that they had students reading and writing in cursive at just 4 years old. Gainsford explains that children are taught to write in cursive first, guided by the philosophy that cursive mirrors the early drawing strokes of children.    

Yet, it's not just Bible study and the love that Gainsford and Dickinson spoke of that puts Erial Community Church Christian School ahead of the curve. The school uses Stanford Achievement Tests and the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) as standardized testing. Gainsford says that many of her seventh- and eighth-grade students test at a post-high school level. She also refers to the scores of her third-grade class that tested in the fourth- and fifth-grade range.  

Gainsford has been told the curriculum of Erial Community Church Christian School is about two years ahead of that of public schools. Gainsford and Dickinson also credit the small classroom sizes to how well their students perform. Since there are only about 15 kids per classroom, teachers have the ability to work closely with each kid.    

The school uses the A Beka curriculum based out of the Pensacola Christian College. They are currently integrating Spanish in the curriculum for grades four through eight. They also offer Algebra I for eighth-graders.   

The school also takes many field trips, including to local farms, aquariums, ball games and even to New York City to catch a Broadway show.

Erial Community Church Christian School also offers a once-a-year retreat to America’s Keswick for sixth- to eighth-grade students.  

Gainsford says the school is ideal for children who have had problems with bullying or other issues in public schools. Erial Community Church Christian School has a strict, zero-tolerance policy on bullying. It has Gloucester Township Police officers come in for DARE programs, but also the “Keeping It Real” program that follows up on DARE lessons and aims to discourage bullying.    

“The more knowledge we give them to face the world, the better,” Gainsford said of the GTPD programs.    

For more information on the Erial Community Church or its Christian school, call 856-346-0105.