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The students questioned the ethics of cloning: Does it interrupt God's plan?
"God picked a time for everyone to die," one student said. "That would be unnatural."
Their humanities teacher, Grant Horner, who is also a professor at The Master's College, pushed the debate.
"So should you not take medicine, go to the hospital or call 911?" he asked the class of focused students. "In other words, what do you mean by natural?"
"I think natural is the way God made it," a student responded.
It was a typical conversation at Trinity's Rhetoric School, but a conversation that would not exist in a public school setting.
The Santa Clarita Valley is home to at least 13 private schools.
Enrollment at the top three private schools, Legacy Christian Academy, Trinity Classical Academy and Santa Clarita Christian School, has stayed strong and stable despite the down economy and the fact that tuition can top $10,000 a year.
In the 2008-09 school year, nearly 8 percent, or 533,180 students, of California's total K-12 population attended private schools, according to the California Department of Education.
From that figure, nearly 78 percent of California's private school students in 2008-09 attended a school with a religious affiliation, figures from the state show.
Because the schools are privately run and families pay tuition, school leaders have more freedom in the curriculum they develop for students. While not all private schools are religious, many in the Santa Clarita Valley offer a Christian curriculum.
In the classroom
Whether it's a public school or a private school, educators want the best for the students and their futures.
"But the difference is that we take that knowledge and we want our students to go, ‘Wow, what an awesome God we have,'" Santa Clarita Christian Principal Derek Swales said.
Differences between public and private education can be seen in all subjects, especially science.
"We will teach evolution as a theory and not as a fact," Swales said. "From a Christian perspective, we believe that God created the Earth instead of the Big Bang Theory."
Legacy uses secular textbooks and sixth-graders learn about evolution, but it's only taught as a theory, said Tim Bourrel, superintendent, co-founder and former public school educator.
Last year, the school hosted a talk about creationism versus evolution.
Public schools teach evolution and are not required to teach other theories about the origins of man, said Leslie Littman, president of the Hart District Teachers Association.
"I think it's a theory that has a lot of validity," she said. "I think in general, you would see science teachers teaching it in a public school setting."
Public schools allow students to opt out of assignments that differ from their religious background, Littman said.
Public schools can also teach religion in a historical context. For example, the Hart district offers Bible as literature classes, but those classes don't use the Bible as a teaching tool to promote Christianity.
But preaching is kept out of the classroom.
"It's not our job to make them better practitioners of faith," Littman said.
Santa Clarita Christian, with about 440 K-12 students, is a ministry of Santa Clarita Baptist Church. However, about 60 churches are represented at the school.
"Christian education is to really help young people see the attributes of God in every subject area so they can have a great relationship with God," Swales said.
While some may argue that private Christian schools limit what students learn, private school leaders say they are able to give their students a worldview.
Leaving out Christianity creates an incomplete education, especially when teaching about the history of civilization and the role of religion, said Wally Caddow, Trinity's director of communications.
"We can have the conversation that's not in public school," Caddow said.
It doesn't mean public school doesn't have its merits, some are quick to point out.
"I think certainly in a public education, you are going to learn to socially grow with different types of people," said Suzan Solomon, president of the SCV Trustees Association. "People from all walks of life."
Strong and growing
But the differences aren't limited to just what kids are learning.
Private schools aren't feeling the crunch of the state budget crisis.
Class sizes are kept small and often, like at Legacy Christian Academy, classes of 26 are taught by a teacher and an assistant teacher.
Private schools thrive on elective classes, like music, art, foreign languages and technology that start from a young age.
This year, Trinity's Rhetoric School took the PSAT and 95 percent of ninth-graders scored at or above the national mean for tenth-graders.
Every one of Trinity's 10th-graders score at or above the national mean for 10th-graders.
Already settled in its new home with NorthPark Community Church, Trinity plans to add 11th grade next year and 12th the year after.
Nearly 300 students are enrolled at Trinity this year and school leaders project enrollment will hit 520 by 2018-19.
Legacy Christian Academy, now a K-8 school, has a development committee focused on establishing a high school for students, Bourruel said.
Still, educators agree it comes down to what parents want their children to learn.
"It's pretty much whatever families feel meets their core beliefs," Solomon said.
