a word from the executive director
The Lord’s Blessings
How Came to Be By Barbara Freeman, M.Ed. Executive Director National Association of University-Model Schools® www.naums.net
T
he University-Model School® is near and dear to my heart, and for the past 20 years, it has been a major part of my life. I was first exposed to this model of education when my daughter and her husband, in Arlington, Texas, made the prayerful and pivotal decision to withdraw their children from public schools and enroll them in Grace Preparatory Academy, the nation’s first University-Model School®, which opened in 1993. At that time, I was serving as a public school principal, and the thought of my grandchildren not being in school all five days a week was somewhat disconcerting. However, my sister was a homeschooling parent, so I knew of the value of working at home with your children. As an educator, I also knew that true parental involvement was one of the six essential characteristics of an effective school.
January/February 2011
My plan was to watch and wait. Over the years, I saw my grandchildren, in a UMS environment combined with the love and support of their parents, grow into mature adults who love the Lord and have a true love and compassion for His people. Much of this I attribute to the opportunity afforded them through the educator-parent partnership offered by the UniversityModel School®. The passion I have for this model of education is the direct result of seeing it work in my own family! When the Lord opened the door for me to move to Fort Worth, Texas, in 1999, I took advantage of this opportunity to retire from public education after serving 33 years. I entered the world of Christian education, serving as high school principal and superintendent of a successful, traditional Christian school in Fort Worth. Since this school was an athletic rival www.umsjournal.com
of Grace Prep, I also had an opportunity to observe this educational model in action, literally from the sidelines. Through this experience, I met Barbara Van Wart, one of the main founders of Grace Preparatory Academy. She told me how God led a small group of parents to Parent-Based Education (PBE), later becoming the University-Model School® (UMS). Barbara told me of their struggles to open during the early 1990s. She described how well the experiment worked and how this educational option, for parents looking for a better way to educate their children, spoke to others across the United States. For several years, Barbara faithfully led workshops to teach other parents how to start schools of this type. She shared her vision for a national association that would lead this new movement. In the opinion of Grace Prep founders, it would be important to have a leader with a strong educational background in both public and private Christian education. She knew there would be a need to defend this new model of education. Through discussion and much prayer during the next two years, the National Association of University-Model Schools® (NAUMS) was formed, and I was offered the opportunity to become the first director. I humbly accepted the position. NAUMS opened its doors in 2002, even though the first office door was to my bedroom. Nonetheless, God tells us in His word not to “despise small beginnings,” and with the strong, sacrificial support of Grace Preparatory Academy, the inventor and catalyst behind this movement, we were off and running. As we enter a New Year in 2011, I am indeed humbled by all I have observed over the past nine years – parents tearfully calling, excited to hear about the UMS, bravely starting new schools all across the United 3