My name is Valerie Burnette. I have been working in and with Christian schools for 30 years, and have helped other schools to get started. I go a long way back with Lighthouse Baptist Church, starting when I was about 3 years old. In the early 1970's, I assisted Rev. Norman Schneller in the preparations for Zion Christian School. I was administrative assistant, teacher of various grades, subjects, music director and became the principal in 1987. In 1995, I left to begin preparations for a Bible College and opening up a new Christian school in the Waukegan area where I was the Administrator/Principal and a teacher. I returned to Zion Christian School in 2006 as co-administrator of the school. I have taught every grade and almost every subject over my years in Christian Education. As you continue to look through our web site, created by my son, a former ZCS student and myself, you will see that I continue teaching in various grades. I love teaching and I enjoy my students. I expect them not only to learn in my classes, but also to do their best.
Here at ZCS, we have a very caring, loving faculty with a warm family atmosphere. We enjoy our students and parents. It is not uncommon to find students, parents and teachers, of various classrooms, talking and laughing together in the halls or classrooms after school. We are a traditional school that uses the A Beka Book curriculum. We are finding that this curriculum is from one to three years above the public schools in our area. Phonics begins in the 3 year old kindergarten and continues through the third grade. Students in the 4 year old kindergarten have 20 little books to read and the 5 year old can read a newspaper by the end of the year.
Cursive begins with the 4 year olds and continues through fifth grade. Math in the 4 and 5 year old classes begins with addition and goes into subtraction. The first and second grades continue up through borrowing, multiplication, equations, story problems and touch on division.Our third grade goes much deeper into math skills with fractions, long division - one and two digit divisors, multiplication - by two and three digit numbers.

Science, History, Health, Language/Grammar/Composition, Spelling, Poetry, and Reading begin in the K department and continue in all grades. As you look through our picture gallery, you will notice we are a very diverse school in both students and faculty.Our parents come from different countries and religions. We do not allow discrimination. No one feels "different" here, but just like family. A number of our parents are in the military as the Great Lakes Naval Base is about 15 minutes away. When parents are transferring to another base, we can provide them with a list of A Beka schools, as these schools are located all over the world, especially around military bases. Our school is open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. School hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Some of our classes are combined at this time due to small class sizes. We limit our combined classrooms to 20. We do have bus service from the Waukegan/North Chicago area. Parents often make transportation arrangements with other parents. On the side panel of our pages you will find links to admission to our school that will contain registration fees, tuition rates, finder's fees, book and classroom fees, our school handbook, and admission forms. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.


Announcements

Kindergarten
We accept 4 year olds that will turn 5 by October 31st into our 5 year old kindergarten. We also have sturctured kindergarten classes for 3 and 4 year olds.

Discounts
We have discounts for two or more children in the family. We also have pastorial, military and single parent discounts.

Transportation
We have transportation available from Waukegan, North Chicago, Beach Park, and Zion to Zion Christian School and back on a first come, first serve basis. The cost varies per location and per ride to, from, or both ways.

Computers
We will give a tax write off for your old computer with XP operating system. We will accept keyboard, monitor and mouse.




MISSION STATEMENT

It is the Mission of Zion Christian School to provide the people of our diverse low-income community, whose children attend our school, with a higher standard of education emphasizing academic excellence thereby enabling them to secure and improve their community socially, economically, and spiritually.
In accomplishing this mission, the Church School is utilizing the “A Beka Book” curriculum produced at Pensacola Christian College, Pensacola, Florida (established in 1974) due to the reputable history it has earned since it was first incorporated into the education of children in 1954 in Pensacola Christian Academy (formally, Pensacola Christian School). The A Beka Book curriculum has earned the respect of teachers across the country for its tendency to far exceed the requirements of public school systems. When compared by the Stanford Achievement Tests, students taught under this curriculum acquire consistently higher scores than the overall national test average, which includes scores from students of public schools as well as other private schools.
Zion Christian School will operate and maintain its goal to offer our children a learning opportunity that is not only free of gang and drug activities but that will also enhance their emotional growth and education, development opportunities in Physical Education, Technical Sciences, and the Arts. This will enable them to meet the challenge of an increasingly competitive environment.
Zion Christian School is a daughter organization of Lighthouse Baptist Church under the General Not for Profit Corporation Act of the State of Illinois in 1974, and is a 501 (c) (3) organization.