Our Lutheran Heritage
Wartburg Castle
From May 1521 to March 1522, Martin Luther stayed at this castle after he had been taken there for his safety at the request of Frederick the Wise following his excommunication by Pope Leo X and his refusal to recant at the Diet of Worms. It was during this period that Luther translated the New Testament from ancient Greek into German in just ten weeks.
Martin Luther
C.F.W. Walther
C.F.W. Walther
"I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God’s word becomes corrupt…. I greatly fear that the universities, unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates to hell."
“To the Christian Nobility” (Luther’s Works, American Edition (AE), vol. 44, p. 207)
C.F.W. Walther
C.F.W. Walther
C.F.W. Walther
"We the undersigned, intend to establish an instruction and training institution which differs from the common elementary schools principally in that it will embrace, outside of (in addition to) the general and elementary curriculum, all branches of the classical high school, which are necessary for a true Christian and scientific education, such as: Religion, the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, French and English languages; History, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, natural history, Introduction to Philosophy, Music, and Drawing."
John Schaller
C.F.W. Walther
John Schaller
"Educating children to be Christian does not just mean telling them they should be Christian. It also does not just mean that you can mentally teach them a certain repository of religious knowledge. Rather, it is to bring to them the worldview that God, their Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, is the supreme good and that His honor should be the goal of all human endeavor and that the self does not count. This, and not a hair less, is what Paul means when he says that parents should educate their children in the discipline and admonition of the Lord."
Our Story
The History of St. Paul's Lutheran School
St. Paul's Lutheran School was founded in 1902. On December 28, 1902, it was decided to conduct a Christian Day School in conjunction with St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Less than one month later, in January of 1903, St. Paul's Lutheran School was started. Its first teacher was Vicar W. L. Peterson, who instructed the children in the rear room of the church building until June 1904. The tuition was fifty cents per child per month for the first child, and twenty-five cents for the second child. All other children in the family were free.
In 1912 it was decided that the sacristy of the church was unsuited to serve as a classroom, and since the congregation had no parsonage, the congregation undertook the construction of the building that was to serve as school and parsonage. On May 9, 1912, a motion to purchase the two lots east of the church and to erect a school building was approved. Excavation of the new building was to begin in June, and on October 6, 1912, the congregation dedicated its new school building, which also housed a modern parsonage on the second floor. The cost of the building was $5,312.86; the lots were purchased for $615. In September of that year the school opened with 24 children.
In 1918, because of World War I, the school was able to enroll only ten children, so it was closed. In 1921 Pastor Oscar Rockhoff's efforts to re-establish a Christian Day School resulted in the opening of St. Paul's School with an enrollment of 12 students. The school closed again in 1922, when only four students were enrolled.
In 1925, the school enrollment continued to grow, and it became necessary to provide larger quarters for the school. On May 28th that year, approval was granted to erect a new parsonage, and convert the two rooms above the current school into a suitable classroom. The school had now developed into a fully accredited eight-grade school.
In 1923, under the crusading leadership of Mrs. Marie Verdon, who went house to house to encourage parents to support a Christian education for their children, St. Paul's Lutheran School re-opened in Fall of that year.
In 1957, the new St. Paul's Lutheran School, built at a cost of $200,000, was dedicated. A modular classroom was installed in 1974 to accommodate the growing enrollment. In 1976, enrollment was at an all-time high of 153 students. Over the course of St. Paul's 118+ year history, the commitment to Christian Education has remained.
