ST. PAUL LUTHERAN GROWS INTO NEW FACILITY

A year ago St. Paul Lutheran School made its long-awaited move across Russell Street to its new $2.5 million facility. Today, Principal Al Lipke doesn't see how the school got along before.

"We're getting used to the building and certainly appreciate the additional space," he said. "I don't know how we operated without it."

The nearly 32,000-square-foot school and multi-purpose building has not been completely filled, yet. The school is getting close to doing so, however.

"We have one classroom empty this year," Lipke said, and he anticipates that being filled next school year.

"We were able to add kindergarten this year," Lipke said. "We have two classes. Both have very well-equipped rooms."

Thanks in part to donations of church members and others, Lipke rates the kindergarten rooms and their materials among the best in the region -- if not the state.

St. Paul hopes to have "double classes" -- two classrooms in each grade -- from grades K-8 in the future. This, of course, would not have been possible in the 1950 building across the street.

"When we get to 30 students in a grade, we try to split it," Lipke said. "This year we have 29 seventh-graders and 26 fourth-graders. The goal is to have double grades throughout the system."

Things have gone smoothly in the new facility. Lipke said that "nothing major" had to be overcome after moving in.

"You'll always have a few little things you have to work out," he said, "but things went very smoothly."

The building, which includes a state-of-the-art kitchen, with a dishwasher, fiberoptics, connecting the classes to the old building, and full handicapped accessibility, is also used by the church.

"It's a true multipurpose building," Lipke said.

St. Paul finished the 1999-2000 school year with 249 students and now has 290.