Why do we need Lutheran Schools?

What makes Lutheran Schools so important?

Is it worth it for a Church to support a Lutheran School?

I have been in a Lutheran School since Kindergarten. Grade School/Middle School, High School, and College were all in the Lutheran School system. I have only taught at Lutheran Schools. So naturally Lutheran Schools mean a lot to me. For the good and bad, I wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for Lutheran Schools.

For the most part I have been involved in small Lutheran Schools. My grade school had combined classes. My high school had less than 400 students. The three schools I have taught at, enrollment topped at 200 Pre-School – 8th grade students. A lot of Lutheran schools are small and a lot of them drain a lot of money from their Church. The school I taught at first just recently closed because the Church could not support it anymore. So why have a Lutheran school when it is just a drain of money.

If anyone really sees a school as it is, they will know that a Lutheran school is the Church’s number one mission field. In some places many of the Lutheran Schools are still mostly Lutheran Students, but in the West at least, 60 to 80 percent of the students are not Lutheran and 10 to 20 percent are non-church going families. In the school I grew up in, most if not all the students were Lutheran (maybe not members of our Church, but Lutheran) Every student in my 8th grade class were Lutheran and were confirmed Lutheran. In my school this last year out of 22 8th grade students only 3 were confirmed Lutheran. In my area we have another disadvantage, we do not have a Lutheran High School nearby, so even if the 3 students wanted to continue their Lutheran Education, they could not. In my 8th grade class 90% of the students went to the Lutheran High School for at least 1 year. 80% of my 8th grade class graduated from the Lutheran High School. So is it worth it for a Church to support the Lutheran School, the answer is Yes!

Many Lutheran Schools give discounts or free Tuition to members. The reason this was done originally was the belief that the parent would be making up the difference in the offering plate. This is not happening anymore. When I was in grade school, members were allowed to attend for free. My parents and the other member parents were grateful for this. They would make it up in the offering plate, but it did not stop there. They made it up in volunteer hours also. My father was fortunate enough to have a crazy work schedule that he could volunteer to coach every sport my brothers and I were in. Other parents volunteer by cleaning up around school to help the Custodian. We all believed we owned the Church and School we were the Church and School. Today many parents and students do not have that ownership and Lutheran Schools need to get that back.

So what makes Lutheran Schools so special, well I say they are! The type of Education you get from Lutheran Schools, no matter how big or small is always a great education. Lutheran Schools thrives to give their students the best of everything. Across the Nation Lutheran School teachers have annual Professional Development conferences to be better equip. The LEA put on a huge conference every three years also to equip our leaders and teachers in the Lutheran School to be better.

Lutheran Schools prepare students to be Life-Long Learners and instill the Christian Attitude.

Please Support your local Lutheran School and your Lutheran School Teachers!