Montrose Christian School

Montrose Christian School
Location
5100 Randolph Road
Rockville, Maryland 20852
United States
Information
Type Christian school
Motto Shaping Leaders... Impacting the World!
Established 1977
Principal Dr. Ken Fentress (Chancellor)
Rev. Rich Halloran (Head of School)
Grades K–12
Campus type Suburban
Website Montrose Christian School website

Montrose Christian School is a K-12 private school in Rockville, Maryland, operated by the Montrose Baptist Church, Maryland's second largest Southern Baptist church.[1] It educates around 370 students.[2] Its first Senior High School class graduated in 1986 [3].

Contents

Early History

The history of Montrose Christian School is intimately connected with its parent organization, Montrose Baptist Church. While Montrose Baptist Church had established a nursery school in 1968 and a daycare in 1971, it recognized an opportunity to further its evangelical mission through the development of a full time day school. On April 30, 1977, Montrose Christian School was officially incorporated in Rockville, Maryland. Starting with an inaugural kindergarten class of five children, it quickly expanded the next year to include Grades 1-4. During each subsequent year, another grade or two was added until eventually in May 1986, it graduated its first class of High School students. [4].

Controversies

School Firings

The school was embroiled in a lawsuit, in February 1997, involving three employees, represented by the ACLU, who said they were fired for not belonging to the school's parent church.[5] While a judge initially ruled in the favor of the dismissed employees, the decision was later overturned on appeal in 2001[6] based on the argument that "'for a religious corporation, association, or society to hire and employ employees of a particular religion,' is severable and valid." [7].

Ray Hope's Resignation

Reverend Ray Hope, a.k.a. Dr. Otis Ray Hope [8], senior pastor at the Montrose Baptist Church, resigned in October 2002 after questioning by the church's governing council about his involvement with the Maryland International Students Association[9], an organization that recruited foreign students attending Montrose Christian School.[10]

Officials for the school's parent church alleged that the recruiting organization has failed to reimburse the school for the cost of the students' education; that Rev. Ray Hope owed the church's school more than $580,000.[11]

Athletics

The school has been recognized for its athletic accomplishments, particularly for those of its basketball team, which has been successful at recruiting players across the United States and around the world to play in Rockville.[1] Kevin Durant's transfer to the school led USA Today to name Montrose its preseason pick for the top spot on its Super 25 rankings of the top high school basketball teams in 2005-06.[12]

The school has appeared regularly on USA Today's Super 25 national rankings, finishing the season ranked 25th in 2000-01[13], 9th in 2002-03[14], 19th in 2003-04[15], 19th in 2005-06[16] and 22nd in 2006-07.[17]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ a b c Zengerle, Jason. "The Portable High-School Hoops Factory", The New York Times, February 6, 2000. Accessed December 1, 2007.
  2. ^ "Montrose Christian School", Great Schools, accessed 2 December 2007
  3. ^ "History of Montrose Baptist Church", accessed 2 November 2010
  4. ^ "History of Montrose Christian School", accessed 2 November 2010
  5. ^ Beadle, Andrew D. "Former employees sue Montrose Christian School", Montgomery Gazette, February 5, 1997. Accessed December 1, 2007. "Three former employees of Montrose Christian School in Rockville are suing the school, claiming they were unfairly fired last year because they did not belong to the proper church."
  6. ^ Montrose Christian School Corporation, et al. v. Walsh, 770 A.2d 111 (Md. 2001)., Maryland Court of Appeals
  7. ^ Recent decisions--primary and secondary education, Bnet, October 1, 2002
  8. ^ Montrose Baptist Church
  9. ^ "Church alleges tuition unpaid", Herald Mail, December 19, 2002
  10. ^ "Pastor Resigns Amid Inquiry at Baptist Church In Rockville", Washington Post, October 1, 2002
  11. ^ "Rockville Church Says Ex-Pastor Owes Money; Collection of School Fees Questioned", Washington Post, December 18, 2002
  12. ^ Aiken, Ben. "Adding 6-10 star boosts Montrose Christian", USA Today, November 14, 2005. Accessed December 1, 2007. "Durant's transfer pushed Montrose Christian to the top of USA TODAY's preseason Super 25 rankings."
  13. ^ "Super 25 boys basketball rankings", USA Today, December 16, 2001. Accessed December 1, 2007.
  14. ^ Final 2002-03 Super 25 boys' basketball rankings", USA Today, March 21, 2003. Accessed December 1, 2007.
  15. ^ "Super 25 boys' basketball rankings", USA Today, March 30, 2004. Accessed December 1, 2007.
  16. ^ Lawlor, Christopher. "Final Super 25 boys' basketball rankings", USA Today, March 27, 2006. Accessed December 1, 2007.
  17. ^ Lawlor, Christopher. "Super 25: Virginia's Oak Hill Academy finishes on top", USA Today. Accessed December 1, 2007.
  18. ^ "Jason Conley player profile". mutigers.com. CBS Interactive. 2010. http://www.mutigers.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/conley_jason00.html. Retrieved 2 June 2010. 
  19. ^ Picker, David. "In the N.B.A.'s Age Game, Colleges Are Big Winners", The New York Times, April 22, 2006. Accessed December 1, 2007. "Durant, a forward at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Md., has heard the endless chatter about where he would have been selected in the N.B.A. draft in June."
  20. ^ National Basketball Association [1]. Accessed March 13, 2010.
  21. ^ Tysiac, Ken."Q&A with Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez", Sporting News, November 29, 2007. Accessed December 1, 2007."Q: What was Kevin Durant like when you played with him at Montrose Christian?"

External links