AREA SCHOOLS PREPARE TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL LUTHERAN SCHOOLS WEEK

Area Lutheran school officials said enrollment gains and continued financial support from area congregations are cause for celebration.

Lutheran schools in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Alten-burg, Perryville, Farmington and Farrar in Missouri, along with a school in Chester, Ill., will hold a rally Sunday in Perryville to kick off national Lutheran Schools Week activities.

The rally begins at 3 p.m. at the Perry Park Center. More than 1,500 Lutheran school students and family members are expected at the event.

The rally is the major event for the week, but each school also will feature smaller, daily activities.

"The idea of having all seven grade schools and our high school come together to recognize Lutheran education is very exciting," said William Unzicker, principal at Trinity Lutheran School in Cape Girardeau. He said he hopes "we focus on Lutheran education all year long, but for one week we're going to focus specifically on it."

Unzicker said the celebration, the first of its kind in the area, is an outgrowth of smaller joint programs held previously at Trinity Lutheran and St. Paul Lutheran of Jackson. The larger event was planned after it became obvious enrollment size and transportation issues would make the smaller events too cramped for comfort.

Growing pains

St. Paul has experienced growing pains similar to the Jackson School District.

The school of more than 290 students had to hire a second kindergarten teacher last fall in its first year of the program to accommodate an initial enrollment of more than 30 students.

All but two grade levels in the school's kindergarten through eighth grades have two classrooms, and Lipke anticipates splitting classes at every grade within the next three years.

"The kindergarten accounted for the bulk of our growth this year, but we're starting to see more nonmembers," Lipke said. "I think it's a combination of the concern by the parents looking for a Christian education for their children as well as the teachers that separates us from the public school system."

Principals have seen an increasing number of families drawn to the schools for the Christian education but found themselves later attracted to the Lutheran religious doctrine.

"The parents come looking around for the religious aspects of the education, but then as kids become involved in the religious curriculum, the kids ask to attend church, their parents come along and see what we have to offer and they also join," Lipke said. "I wish it would happen more often."

The enrollments of both schools consist mainly of students from member churches. These students pay no or reduced tuition to attend the schools, although both principals said financial support from these families was exceptional.

The remaining students come from other Lutheran congregations and from students of other faiths and pay regular tuition rates to attend.