ST. PAUL AT JACKSON EXPANDS

JACKSON -- St. Paul Lutheran School is preparing for enrollment growth by building a multipurpose educational building.

Construction began on the building in November and is scheduled for completion before the end of the year. The building will include 10 classrooms, a music room, office area, cafeteria and a number of meeting rooms.

Principal Alan Lipke said the need was realized in 1997 after church members conducted a needs assessment within the congregation. Members listed expanding the school as a priority, so a year-long capital campaign was begun to finance the $2.4 million project, Lipke said.

"It was listed as a priority because we're running out of classroom space," he said. "Some of our classes have grown to more than 30, and we've had to split them to keep class size down."

About 226 students attend St. Paul. Lipke said the school, which serves first through eighth grades, has shown consistent enrollment growth in recent years.

With 16 students, the eighth-grade class has the smallest enrollment at the school, while the 34 first-graders enrolled make up the largest class of students. Lipke anticipates greater enrollment gains in the future.

He attributed the growth to several factors.

"We've had some families that moved in with the Procter & Gamble expansion. Some have moved into the Jackson area, and a lot of it is just within the growth of our own congregation as well," he said. "Our community has experienced a lot of growth; we're starting to feel that too."

Students in fourth through eighth grades will remain in the older school after the new building is completed. Students in first through fourth grade will attend classes in the new building.

Enrollment also will be expanded to include a full-time kindergarten program.

"It's a big project," Lipke said. "What we're doing is hopefully building for the future."