If you drive through the parking lot at Zion Lutheran Church and School, you might be able to steal a peek at some of the physical changes the school is undergoing. What you may not see, however, are the changes to the student body.
School enrollment has jumped twenty-five percent in the past year, from 176 kids for the 2008-09 school year to 220 for the 2009-10 school year. Principal Jeff Thorman credits much of the increase in enrollment to word of mouth, and the work of people such as Zion parent turned marketing director Jennifer O’Brien, saying that her hard work, along with that of other parents and members of the church is creating a new energy at 6121 E. Lovers Lane.
Read more after the jump.
Zion has long had a strong core of young kids and, thanks to the remodeling, was able to add to this for the coming year via the addition of another classroom for the early childhood program, meaning that each young age group — two, three, and four year olds — have two full classrooms.
In recent years though, the problem has been keeping kids once they reach grade school age. The middle school had been hit hardest, as its numbers dwindled so low that the 7th and 8th grades were combined. This year, however, that will not be necessary, as Zion’s middle school population doubled in size. On top of that, the grade school as a whole had, according to Thorman, a retention rate of 95-96 percent.
When asked what he thought of then enrollment jump in a time where the economy is hitting families hard, Thorman admitted he was surprised since many other private schools are experiencing declines in enrollment, but said that Zion represents a more affordable option than many other private schools, and that it takes just one family telling another family to get the ball rolling.
And when the parents of prospective students come to visit, "they are sold as soon as they talk to the teachers," said O’Brien.
On the physical side, the school hired an architect to study how space at the school could be used more efficiently. The result has been the addition of new classrooms, a music room, and what Thorman calls a "state-of-the-art computer lab." Most of the grunt work at the school has been done not by contractors, but instead by parents of kids at the school. "It’s amazing to see," said Thorman, "Because these people work eight hours a day and then are here from six to ten or even later, just working."
