why did they take u to a funeral home for a trip? I've seen dead bodies b4 but it didn't bother me that much, but i was more like 14 rather than 6. i can see it's a disturbing field trip though and i don't see the purpose except for to try and engrain the idea into your brain that life is short, so be religious.

Taking a group of elementary aged students to a funeral home is UBER-sick. I was creeped out over it for awhile. But I guess the pastor justified it in his mind teaching to kids the concept of death. There could have been better ways to do that.

Making us watch "Deceived" and getting us involved in the Lester Roloff incident (see previous postings) went over the line. As a six-year-old kid I worried about getting thrown in jail. That's too much to put on the shoulders of a child.

I remember something else that was a little strange. Starting out, the ACE school at my church was almost like a cult within the church. From all outward appearences, the church seemed like any normal Southern Baptist church you would find in the min 1970s. They sung from the Baptist Hymnal -- mostly traditional songs and an occasional contemporary song, such as Hymn #308 (People to People). The youth group was a hodge-podge of normal looking teenagers. Occasionally they would all sing in the choir on a Sunday night. And yes, they wore jeans. There were two teenage girls named Barbara and Christine who joined the church along with their parents. Barbara and Christine wore jeans to church. Their family wound up joining the church. And of course Barbara and Christine enrolled in the ACE school.

Wearing jeans for for ACE students was off limits. In YEAR TWO (1979-1980), Barbara, Christine, and another friend changed into t-shirts and jeans after school and were hanging out in front of the church, waiting for their parents to come get them. I overheard much of this because I was serving detention. They were brought into the principal's office to wait. When Barbara's and Christine's mom came in, she was yelling and screaming at all of them. Apparently Barbara's and Christine's mom was caught up in the holy hoopla.

I have often heard that whenever a cult member leaves a cult, the rest of the cult will turn against that person. Some time later, Barbara and Christine withdrew from the ACE school and then left the church. Someone told me that their parents were getting divorced. Someone else went as far as to say, "Barbara is addicted to drugs."

But eventually the cult spread to the entire church. Years later the church eventually split from the Southern Baptist Convention, identifying themselves as "Independent & Fundimental." The church also shared a ministry to teens known as Youth Ranch. The church broke off from the other youth ranches. I remember in a sermon where the pastor discussed why the church does not associate with community events or make any community contributions. From the pulpit, the pastor explained something like, "...(community involvement) makes the world a better place from which to go to hell."

It's funny how things changed. When the cult-like atmosphere spread, most people either got on board or left for another church. And other "likeminded" people joined the church. When I go back home, I don't go back to that church. Last time was in 1999. 2004 if you count my brother's wedding. The Christian school is still there. ACE-free for more than 20 years. The school has a student body of about 175. Although the church still identifies themselves as "Independent & Fundamental" the cult-like atmosphere doesn't seem to exist. Parents send their kids there. But I gravely doubt any of them know the price we had to pay. And the dysfunction we grew up in, many of us to this day still pay the price to for a church to have a Christian school.

Well, one thing that bothered me was one time me and another female student were physically attacked for no reason by a male student. I was severely punched in the head and my head hurt for days. I told my teachers of the incident right after it happened and he received no punishment or rebuke. i'm not sure the reasoning, but he always got away with anything. we were all about 16 and he was way too old and strong for it to be ok to hit a girl.

I don't remember if this was the exact film we were shown but the film we were shown was something like this. This is part 1 of 7. After we were shown the film on a Sunday night church service, we were all thinking we would be going to jail in a couple weeks. I was scared!

[www.youtube.com]

I was deeply saddened as I read through these posts about the A.C.E school system. I personally just recently graduated from an A.C.E school with Honours. In regards to the complaints about the system, I would first like to say that no any one thing or person is perfect, and this includes A.C.E. True, there are a number of problems with it, but there are also a vast number of benefits.

I noticed there was mention made against the stance A.C.E. (School of Tomorrow) has towards Catholics and towards Evolution. I have been through the system, and I would have to agree that it does come from a certain viewpoint, but who doesn't. The World History PACEs look at History as it was... They do not paint the Catholics to be the bad guys and the Protestants to be the good guys. Each of them did have their short comings. Also, as Christians, we are given the Creation account in the Bible as the basis for our worldview... Yet why do so many of us wish to take the unproven theory of Evolution and state it as fact and choose to accept it over the authority of the Bible? A.C.E. has done a very good job of presenting science as it is - fun and interesting - from a Biblical standpoint. Overall, the system is up to par with other schools and has put out a lot of very intelligent students.

I was saddened to read of the stories of those who have been abused or mistreated by schools that run on the A.C.E. system. They are right, there is no place for such behaviour, but just because the A.C.E. system was used, doesn't mean that it is their fault.

The A.C.E. system is designed specificaly so that each student can enjoy learning at their own pace and speed without being hastled and pushed through without actually getting to learn anything. Yet I must admit, each student is unique, and therefore needs a different amount of supervision and care. I guess this is why the system has done better as a home school system. Yet I wouldn't count it out. The A.C.E. school I attended had no church backing and was run by a group of concerned parents. The standards in the school were high, but no painful. There was no physical corporal punishment, each child was given an one-on-one talking to by the principal or Director of the school board. Everyone in the school loved the school and they functioned like a family. As for grades, they were all high, even though there were a large number of not so bright students.

I cannot deny that simply because a school is a christian school it won't have its weaknesses, and every school has its fair share of them. But lets look at it from the big picture.

I am extremely happy with how I did at school and I very muched enjoyed the system. I give a big hats off to the School of Tomorrow for its diligence in attempting to bring us a godly education.

Sorry if I offended any with my views. I merely wished to show that A.C.E is not what it has been put out to be. I would encourage parents to individually look into the school that they wish to send their child to if it uses the A.C.E cirriculum. Check to see if the School's mission statment and vision are up to scratch. Don't let any Christian Cult ruin your child of his or her future capability simply because of a poor education... All the Best...

ACE is also being used by homeschoolers. Personally, I have no strong feelings for or against the program. I attended two different Christian Schools that used ACE-in the 70's it was the only curriculum that was being used by Evangelicals.

Yes, there was corporal punishment (the public schools back then were swatting the kids as well), one of the schools I went to used the whole cubicle thing, the other actually used the PACES as textbooks and we had class participation. I attended both a Christian College and Public University, my transcripts were never an issue.

I also used ACE for about 2 years homeschooling my kids, honestly did not work for one of my kids, the other one loved the PACES (except Math). I often found I had to work around some of the theology and social aspects of the curriculum (we come from a sacramental view, does not always jive well with ACE).

What I worry is those who ONLY are using ACE, I do not think you can get a good, well rounded education based solely on it. It HAS to be supplemented, I also do not like the "Literature" the books are second rate at best, there is no much good literature I want my kids to be raised on good things and I don't think my kids need to live in a world were everything is in two categories: Christian and Non Christian.

Of course many have mentioned that ACE has been helpful as a supplement to a standard education. In a situation where ACE is the only curriculum, it can be destructive. Not only will it provide a poor education, it will also give the participant a disdain for continuing education. only a few of the students I attended ACE school with went on to get a college degree. The ones that did attended religious institutions. The church that sponsored the school was a ripe breeding ground. A year before the church had split with the Southern Baptist Convention over the definition of repentance, contemporary Christian music, as well as a few other things. The church had a youth ministry that brought in many non-churched teenagers known as Youth Ranch. There were about 4 other Youth Ranches in the area. They adopted more contemporary Christian music and our Youth Ranch broke fellowship with them.

The church seemed to be hot and heavy on splitting with as many other churches as possible regardless of the cost. This became evident in what was what became known as "The All Night Bus Ride." On the cusp of YEAR NINE another baptist church in the area sponsored an all night skating party, to begin at another baptist church. The evening started with us taking a bus from our church to their church. We met in the sanctuary and the evening started out with singing, a few skits, a karate demonstration, and a few people giving testimonies. Following the break, they dimmed the lights and had a few "cool" young adults bring up electric guitars, to take a swing at performing contemporary Christian music. I was tapped on the shoulder and we were told we had to go. We then got back on the bus and drove to the roller skating rink, where the chapirones attempted to find out whether or not contemporary Christian music would be played. It seemed like we waited for about an hour until one of the adults announced our boycott. The church bus then drove us home. I remember my brother and I got home at approximately 3 AM. I was looking forward to meeting other kids from other churches. But that didn't happen. Thanks to the all night bus ride.

The Gospel according to St. Matthew documents when Jesus Christ told a parable of the weeds sown into the crop. The workers asked the land owner "should we pull up the weeds?" The land owner replied by saying no, because it will also damage the good crop. In the attempt to weed out the weeds, the church drove many kids away who were seeking after God. For what seems like a long time I would not even think about attending church. And rarely will I attend the church where I grew up.

I went to an ACE school from 75-79. It was an upstart school from the church that my family attended for 16 years. My father was one of the Pastors and even though my sister did not attend the school, my parents were obligated to send me. Picture this, I grew up with the other students in sunday school and youth groups and we would see each other once or twice a week. Now we were put into a setting where we were together all week long. The "Supervisors" were older members of the church, none had college degrees. The "Monitors" were members of the church who were barely older than we were. Even when my sister graduated from public school she was given a job as monitor for a whopping $200 per month. Talk about familiarity breeding contempt, this was a free pass for all of us just to run rampant at the school.

There was one other ACE school in our city. The one I attended decided to use the same name only adding the word "Christian" in the title. Even though both schools were Christian there was a rivalry that turned to hatred and lawsuits. The school I attended changed the name 4 times during my high school years. They are still in operation today under yet another name.

What I have read on this message board is very common to what I experienced. The cubicles, flags, score keys, etc. But I haven't read where anyone had the close ties that I had with the school administraion itself being a preachers kid. As I said my father was one of the Pastors in the host church. After I graduated high school, he fell out of grace with the Pastor, and left to attend another church. This of course was a sin and was told he was going against God's will. Shortly after that I felt pressured by the Pastor and was an outcast from his son and daughter who I had grown up with since age 5. I havent spoken to them in over 30 years.

Flash forward to 2010. With the use of Facebook, some of us from the school and church have reconnected with each other and are trying to have a reunion. The school is run by the original Pastor's son who is now head of the church and school ( my friend from age 5). In 30 years the school has not attempted to have any kind of event for alumni and has so far not wanted any part of our informal reunion even though the current Pastor was in the same graduating class as I was. My father is mad at me for reconnecting with them even though he sent me to that school and its the only high school memories that I have. During my growing years I lost quite a few friends due to church politics. I have 2 children of my own in college now, they went to public schools. Sending them to an ACE school was never an option.

ACE school from 75-79. Brings back so many memories.