St. Paul Lutheran has open house

FARMINGTON — An open house will be held Thursday and Friday beginning at 6 p.m. in the commons area of St. Paul Lutheran Elementary for students interested in attending St. Paul Lutheran High School next school year. The open house is for students Freshmen through Seniors who are interested in attending the high school.

Duane Giesselmann, interim principal and head of the steering committee said they could have five to 15 freshmen next year enrolled.

“We won’t know for sure on the numbers until the applications are in. But we have had several interested,” said Giesselmann.

New Principal Andrew Sherrill said they already have a freshman student enrolled next year.

Sherrill was named as the new principal for St. Paul Lutheran High School and will begin at the high school on July 1.

Giesselmann said the current school class schedule will be adjusted for next year’s students. This year’s students are combined freshmen and sophomores, and they are all taking biology. Next year the sophomores will take physical science and the juniors will have chemistry.

If the students have already taken some of the classes offered, the student will be given the choice to take online courses. Giesselmann said there are a couple who have done that this year. There is another student who is taking an engineering class at the high school.

He said they have come a long way with the technology since the beginning of the year. When they started the school year, they had a couple of classes without books on their iPads. They have now gotten all their books on iPads and are able to use technology for almost everything in each class. Very rarely do we use paper, pens or pencils anymore, he added.

“Not long ago we had one student who was sick and home from school. She sent me her homework from home using the dropbox application. I rarely hand out papers anymore, but that particular day I handed out a paper to the class. One of her classmates took a picture with her iPad, sent her the picture so she could have the paper I handed out. Technology has come a long way,” said Giesselmann.

He added that each student is given an iPad when they begin their classes at the high school. Their text books will be on the iPads and most of their homework is done on the iPad.

 Giesselmann said during the open house sessions they will also discuss financial assistance with families. Tuition payment options include paying for the full year, by semester, or on a 10-month payment plan. There is also a $200 non-refundable registration fee at the time the application is submitted.

Tuition assistance is awarded to families who qualify on the basis of ability and need. The information should have been completed  with the Grant and Aid Assessment before June 1 in order to be considered for tuition assistance.

Each student is required to pay $1,000 minimum in tuition and additional tuition assistance will be determined based on other funding available.

At the time of enrollment potential students must indicate if they are a member of one of the four association churches. That list includes St. Paul Lutheran, Trinity Lutheran in Park Hills, The Bridge and Parkland Chapel.

Sherrill said part of his job as the new principal is to be out marketing the new high school. They want to include more churches and have more students and families involved in the high school and association.

The high school has begun the accreditation process which Giesselmann said is important to the school and the families. They have been filling out the paper work for accreditation and in the spring hope to have a team come to visit the school.

Giesselmann said the school should know by late spring or early summer if they have received the accreditation or not.

“Other schools have received accreditation within the first couple of years and it helps to set goals for the first five years,” said Giesselmann.

For more information on St. Paul Lutheran High School visit their website at www.stpaullutheranhs.com or call (573) 756-1099.

Maridee Lawson is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 756-8927 or mlawson@dailyjournalonline.com.