Gordon College Welcomes North Shore Christian School to Campus 

North Shore Christian School (NSCS), a private interdenominational Christian school for grades PK–8, is moving its Beverly campus to Gordon College. The school will host classes for grades PK–2 in the building near Gordon’s Center for Balance, Mobility and Wellness and grades 3–8 in Emery Hall beginning in September, just a few weeks after Gordon welcomes its own students back to campus for the fall semester. 

This development is the latest in a longstanding partnership between Gordon and NSCS, two institutions with a similar mission: integrating faith and learning for high-quality education on the North Shore of Boston.  

A Cyclical Connection 

NSCS was founded by parents in Saugus, MA, in 1951 under the leadership of Charles Schauffele, who worked at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary when it was previously known as Gordon Divinity School. These parents wanted a school that would integrate faith and learning in a way public schools couldn’t offer. Schauffele’s wife, Ruth, was the first principal of NSCS.  

A few years later in 1954, Gordon moved from its Boston location to its current campus in Wenham, MA, to expand its offerings in Christian higher education. With many NSCS members already connected to Gordon and a similar mission shared by the two schools, an organic partnership quickly formed. Ruth Schauffele and the teachers at NSCS looked to Gordon for help, asking professors for advice and curriculum. Gordon professors also served on the NSCS board.  

In the decades since, the relationship between Gordon and NSCS has settled into a mutually beneficial cycle. Some Gordon students perform their student-teaching and field-based experience requirements on NSCS campuses in Lynn, Beverly and Hamilton, MA. NSCS students often come to Gordon for undergraduate studies after graduating from high school. Many Gordon education alumni have taught at NSCS, and some returned to Gordon’s graduate education program or to serve as adjunct instructors or professors, who then provided professional development for NSCS teachers.  

In recent years, with Gordon leading the way in the science of reading, NSCS was a reading clinic site. Gordon’s graduate-level students tutored NSCS students as well as public school students who struggled with reading during clinics in Beverly and Lynn, with tremendous success. Gordon’s preparation of teachers in the science of reading is used in classrooms at NSCS and across the country.  

A Miraculous Move 

Dr. Priscilla Nelson ’74 (education) had a vision back in 2017-2018 for what the next step of this partnership could look like. The idea of Gordon sharing space with NSCS came up; having the younger students on campus would reduce the need for Gordon students to commute to NSCS’s campuses and would provide practical opportunities for Gordon education majors to practice the teaching methods they learn in class.  

But those conversations came to a halt when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. A few years later, NSCS found itself in need of a new location for its Beverly campus. NSCS’s head of school, Pam Heintz ’89 and Patti Cook, NSCS’s director of finance and operations, reignited the conversations in November 2023 right as Gordon was preparing to launch the newly named Herschend School of Education.  

“Having things coming together so quickly really did feel miraculous to us,” says Gordon’s Director of Classical Schools and Homeschool Enrollment and NSCS board member Sharon Carlson ’88. “Everything just came together in a way that made sense for everybody on both sides.” 

Glorifying God in Everything 

The opportunities for both NSCS and Gordon are endless with this new step in their partnership. For example, in the past, Gordon theatre students have performed at NSCS, Dr. Kaye Cook (psychology) has had her child development psychology students observe NSCS students, and the Gordon soccer team did a soccer clinic. Those occasional occurrences can become regular interactions with the new close proximity, benefiting both student bodies. “There are many areas of mutual interest between the College and NSCS that could really heighten the experience for both college and elementary students,” says Heintz. 

Apart from academics, Gordon faculty and staff who have school-age children can now easily send their children to NSCS by bringing them to work, or have their public-school children join NSCS’s aftercare program. NSCS students can also take advantage of Gordon’s Children’s Choir and other extracurricular activities.  

While this next stage of the Gordon–NSCS partnership is still developing, both institutions are hopeful this will be a long-term relationship that will also deeply benefit the communities surrounding both schools and, by extension, the local North Shore area.  

“Gordon students may not realize this, but they’ve been role models for our students for years,” says Heintz. “The NSCS students look at the Gordon students as heroes. Whenever they hear Gordon students are coming to our school, they’re so excited. We really hope that other Gordon students who may have nothing to do with education will take delight in the fact that there’s an opportunity to do something a lot of other colleges don’t offer. Even though we’re going to be in our building hosting classes and they’re doing separate things, we’re doing it all for the glory of God.”