Marla is in the fifth grade this fall. On sunny mornings, the 11-year-old wearing an ankle-length dress and white bonnet pedals her bicycle down State Road 19 to the spot where it suddenly veers right.
The pavement leads to a public elementary school with a cafeteria, gymnasium, and computers. But Marla rides straight ahead down a dusty farm road, past fields of corn and soybeans, until she reaches Pine Grove School. It's the newest of 20 one-room schoolhouses in the Nappanee, Indiana, Amish school district. Marla's family is one of several Amish families who built the school last year to relieve district overcrowding. Students are enrolled in grades one through eight, after which their formal education is considered complete.
The Amish tradition of eschewing higher learning springs from their belief in Christian nonconformity—a key component of their faith. Amish often cite the Biblical directive, "Be not conformed to this world," Rom. 12:2. and many of their customs stem from a conscious choice to remain separate from mainstream society and its perceived worldliness. But while classroom learning ends with eighth grade, vocational training continues. Amish train their children from youth to be farmers, homemakers, tradespeople, and carpenters.
