A small, rural Minnesota town where half the students are on free or reduced-price lunch hardly seems a likely place to support a vibrant, growing Lutheran school. Yet St. John enrollment has grown by 54% in the last five years under a ministry-focused, low-tuition approach. Principal David Gartner shares the story of God’s blessings and provides a model for other Lutheran schools.

By David Gartner

It’s Call Day in 1992. I wait with eager anticipation. Where will I be assigned? Then comes the announcement. “Dave Gartner, St. John Lutheran School, Redwood Falls MN, grades 2-3, athletic director, Minnesota District.” Redwood Falls has a population of 5,200 and relies a great deal on its farming community, but I grew up in Milwaukee. Enough said.

My first 17 years at St. John were spent looking for a new place to relocate the school due to growth in enrollment. Finally it happened. We decided to add on to our facility. We had the money and were moving forward. Is that what the Lord had in mind? Nope! A few days later a lawyer stopped our congregation chairman in the store and asked, “Is St. John interested in purchasing 80 acres of land on the outskirts of town?” Our chairman was doing cartwheels out the door. We had enough money to immediately buy the property. At this same time, a committee had been formed and decided to start an all-day-every-day St. John Early Childhood Learning Center in our annex building across the alley. The first year maxed out at 24 students. Wow! Imagine if we could have more space for more students?

The rest is history. Email or call me, and I will tell you the rest of the story if you are interested.  We ended up building a $3.8 million facility in 2010 and in 2015 we have $1.2 million left to pay on it. We opened our new doors with 113 students in PreK-8. Last year our school hosted the Minnesota District Lutheran Teachers’ Conference with 250 teachers, and we were asked over and over again, “How do you do it? What is your secret?”

First, I remind people that the Lord is in control of all things. We know we are his servants doing his work. Our congregation prayed that God would bless our building project and he has. What means has he used? The Lord has filled St. John Church with members who are committed to doing ministry. They are willing to support the school financially and with their prayers and hard work. They were willing to vote yes to building a $3.8 million facility in rural Minnesota while several schools in our area had closed. And finally they are willing to make Christian education affordable to all people—members, area WELS members, and non-WELS members. They are always looking for evangelism opportunities.

What does this look like on paper? In a day and age when many in leadership roles are saying, “Charge non-members full price. They will pay it if they know they are getting a quality program. They will pay it if they know the teachers are quality. They will pay it…”

Will they? Even if they live in Redwood Falls, a city labeled as low-income according to the state of Minnesota? It currently costs $4,700 per child to attend St. John. We have half our enrollment on free or reduced-price hot lunch. Do you believe they can afford $4,700 or be willing to pay it? The members of St. John support ministry to the extent that they are currently charging $550 per child that belongs to our congregation, $2,000 for those who are non-WELS and $4,000 per child to the area WELS congregations that send their children to our school. (We have 10 area WELS congregations within a 35-mile radius of Redwood Falls.) St. John Church members pay the remaining dollars needed to operate the school.

Where has this gotten us? We actually grew out of our new facility in 2013 and had to modify our interior to add more classrooms. We currently have 175 students only five years after moving into our new facility. Next year we expect 185-190. Right now we are about seven weeks away from the completion of a 10,000 sq. ft. addition that will have four more classrooms, offices, restrooms, a new faculty room for 13 teachers, and a play area for younger students. This will allow us to have a separate classroom for each grade.

Why the growth? First, the congregation is ministry-minded and wants to win souls. Second, the families come to our Early Childhood Learning Center and pay about $2,500 a year for All Day Every Day Preschool and then get a discount to enroll in kindergarten at $2,000 or less. The last three years we have had almost 100% of 4-year-old preschoolers go on to St. John kindergarten and plan to stay through 8^th grade. Third, we also continue to hear from parents that they like our school because our early childhood teachers are properly trained, friendly, and care not only for the children, but also for the adults that walk in their doors every day. We offer before-school, after-school, and summer care for $2.50 an hour, the same as daycares in town. We are a “One-Stop Place to Shop.”

The Redwood Falls community finally sees St. John as a vital asset to the community. We are growing and doing it in a very unconventional way by some people’s standards, but it is working with St. John in small-town Redwood Falls USA. Maybe it could work for you, too.

Dave Gartner MLC (’92) teaches fourth grade and serves as principal at St. John-Redwood Falls, Minnesota. In 2010 he completed a Master of Science in Education degree with a leadership emphasis at Martin Luther College.