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Colorado Springs Christian School is a Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade school in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Its mission statement is "To provide an excellent education from a Christ-centered, biblical perspective for lifelong service."

Athletics

The high school is known for having very good athletics among small schools. The girls volleyball team has won the state title four years in a row, dating back to 2004. The boys football and soccer teams are regular contenders in the state playoffs, and the girls tennis teams are consistently impressive.

Scandals

The school has been involved in numerous scandals with students in the past five years, including knowingly ignoring many students' use of alcohol and drugs, and failing to report complaints of sexual harassment and assault. Numerous faculty members have been de-certified by their respective unions because of violations such as these.

Smoking scandal

In 2003, a student, a star three-sport letter winner, was caught smoking marijuana by the vice principal, who was also the basketball coach. The vice principal decided to ignore the use and not risk a poor basketball season. The student regularly smoked on campus, both marijuana and tobacco, for the rest of the year.

Zach Tomayo incident

In 2005, a counselor accused Zach Tomayo, a well-liked but average-grades student, of raping two girls at a party. Although there was complete lack of evidence of any incident, the school prompt expelled Tomayo.

Matt Schrader incident

In 2006, a not-yet-certified school counselor reported to the principal that a student, Matt Schrader, had made a bomb threat to the school. He reported that Schrader's younger sister had ratted out her brother, saying that Schrader had said he'd "Go out with a bang and take people with him." The counselor repeatedly harassed Schrader in the meeting to dismiss him, saying Schrader "won't ever amount to dirt" and that he "would be forgotten, just like all the others" (students that had left CSCS). The counselor also presented third-hand quotes from other students who would later be kicked out.

Later, the counselor's close friendship with a student were discovered. A 14-year-old girl, and a friend of Schrader's, had complained to the counselor about this student sexually assaulting her, but the counselor had ignored the complaints because of his friendship with the accusee. Schrader, who had come under heat with the counselor and principal for a student newspaper that was "not educational enough" bt highly successful among students, was told that he needed to leave immediately, and was escorted out by a police officer.

The incident highly divided the students, as Matt Schrader had been a prominent figure, as an honors student, the editor in chief of the student newspaper and a member of student senate. The event led to comments at the class' graduation the following year, when students said their favorite past memory was "fun times with Schrader."

Later, more was discovered about the case. Schrader had repeatedly been harrassed by the principal, and the counselor's quotations were fabricated and he had meant to remove Schrader from the school for personal reasons. Schrader went on to attend the selective University of Southern California's prestigious Annenberg School for Communication, studying journalism and film.

Westpoint incident

The counselor was fired after another incident the following year, in which he neglected to submit a student's application to Westpoint on time. After the students parents intervened and fixed the situation, the counselor failed to invite a representative to welcome the incoming Marine, something customary for all branches of the military.

Soon after, he was denied re-application for membership in the national counselors association that certified him. The principal resigned the following year.

External links

• website

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