This

is the fourth in a series of articles comparing

Fayette County's public and private schools.

What

differences would a parent notice if she opted to

pull her child out of public school and put him

into one of the church schools now open in

Fayette County?

For that

matter, what differences would the student note?

In this series,

Sallie Satterthwaite goes inside some of

Fayette's public and private schools to provide

an indepth look at what's different, and what's

the same.

A family that has a

child in public school and another at a church

school might have a distinct perspective on the

differences - as well as the similarities

- between the systems.

Mark and Lisa

Skinner of Peachtree City visited St. Paul

Lutheran School with the idea that the particular

approach of the Lutheran Church-Missouri

Synod tradition might be more appropriate for

their son Eric than that of public school. Upon

seeing what was available, they decided against

it, for now, at least - but enrolled their

older daughter Jessica there.

"Jessica is

very high achieving," Lisa Skinner said.

"She went to St. Paul for sixth and seventh

grades, and it has been a very positive

experience.

"It doesn't

hurt to have the Christian atmosphere,"

Skinner continued, "but the main reason [for

enrolling her there] was academics. The grading

scale is tighter, an eight-point scale instead of

10, and she has to work a little harder."

She admits that she

worries a little about whether the kids are

missing out on some of the amenities available at

public schools - especially the younger

children - but, she says, St. Paul

"will come up to speed when they can."

Jessica loves

music, for example, and missed that experience

last year. This year, however, science teacher

Mark Abresch has added music to the curriculum in

the form of choral material and some in-depth

music appreciation.

"Mr. Abresch

is so enthusiastic and he's terrific on the

guitar," Skinner said, "and it's fun to

see Jessica's enjoyment." The popular

teacher, a native of Miami, is also teaching

Spanish at St. Paul.

Skinner said she's

not sure trips to Disney World, like those often

sponsored by public schools, do much to enhance

learning. St. Paul sees to it that kids get

outings, but they are on a more local level. Last

year Jessica went with her class to the High

Museum in Atlanta, to see an exhibit, The

Impressionists, and recently participated in a

bicycle excursion to Peachtree City's Line Creek

Nature Center.

"I like the

way teachers handle problems too," Skinner

added. "Kids always come first."

Meanwhile, Eric is

in a fourth grade class at Oak Grove Elementary

School and doing well. Skinner stressed that both

of her children had "good teachers and good

guidance" at Oak Grove, although she thinks

St. Paul gives a more "hands on"

experience than Oak Grove because classes are

smaller at the private school. Eric's class went

to 27 students this year.

She says she and

her husband haven't counted out sending their son

to St. Paul in the future, although the economics

of tuition and associated costs for two children

will be a stumbling block. There's also the

possibility that Jessica will return to the

public system for ninth grade.

"We're just

waiting and watching, and listening to what other

people do," she said. "We're also

interested in how colleges will look at the

church schools."

Skinner discovered

that her daughter's initial aversion to school

uniforms has disappeared. On the first day of

school, Jessica was complaining that the public

school kids "gave them grief" about

wearing the blue plaid outfits.

Recently, however,

when the St. Paul students were allowed to wear

jeans for a half-day session, Jessica spent 45

minutes in front of her closet trying to get the

look she was after. She decided uniforms were a

lot easier.

And when they

passed a school bus stop where every child was

wearing jeans and white shirts, she laughed out

loud. "Look," she said to her mother,

"they're wearing uniforms."

Uniforms are common

to the experience of students at both St. Paul

and Our Lady of Victory School north of Tyrone. A

further bond formed between the schools when six

youngsters transferred from the Lutheran to the

Catholic school this year. "It brought the

schools together," Skinner said.

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