Author Archives: MLC

Increasing Effectiveness and Learning Through Flipped Classrooms

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Written by Adam Mateske

The use of technology is commonplace in the lives of today’s students. Consider the dramatic change these students endure after they step into their elementary or secondary schools and are asked to sit in desks and focus on traditional teacher-led instruction. In response, classrooms around the world are introducing flipped learning to students. A flipped classroom model provides teachers the opportunity to effectively focus on student achievement while allowing student learning to excel and grow. Continue reading →

Prospect Management for Schools — Part Three: Data Use

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Written by Martin Spriggs

This article is part 3 of a four-part series.

In part 2 of this series, we dealt with the process of prospect “acquisition” and answered the question of how to build a database of prospects. After all, your prospect database has to have real live prospects in it! Yet having a database full of names, addresses, phone numbers, and notes isn’t enough. What can you do with that data? How is it useful to you and your school? That is the subject of this third installment of “Prospect Management for Schools.” Continue reading →

Are the Claims About WELS Principals True?

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Written by Dr. John Meyer

Recent reports claim that pressures on WELS principals are threatening the position’s viability and contributing to a personnel shortage. For example, a 2015 synod convention report stated that inadequate compensation may “influence strongly . . . the difficulty the synod is having in filling principal vacancies” (Ad Hoc Commission II, 2015, p. 187). Similarly, the 2013 synod convention reported that “nearly 40 percent of our principals would prefer not to be principals,” adding “that if WELS had an improved model of principal training as well as the necessary time resources to fulfill the role well, that a greater number of our men would be more receptive to the idea of entering into and remaining in the principalship” (Task Force on Lutheran Schools, 2013, p. 55). Are these claims actually true? Continue reading →

A School Ministry Model

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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. Continue reading →

Is There Room for the Common Core in Lutheran Kindergartens?

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Written by Rachel Arnold

Like it or not, we live in a world where graduation requirements have been raised, where academic content has been pushed downward, and where teachers are expected to cover more advanced material in developmentally appropriate ways.  No amount of complaining about push-down academics and bemoaning the influence of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will change that reality.  Our question should not be “Can play and push-down academics co-exist in the kindergarten classroom?”  Rather the question should be “How can we as teachers ensure that play and push-down academics co-exist in the kindergarten classroom?” Continue reading →

Prospect Management for Schools — Part 2: Filling Your Database

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This article is part 2 of a four-part series.

Written by Martin Spriggs

In part 1 of this series, we explored the foundational elements of prospect database maintenance and activity tracking. The accuracy and completeness of your list will insure that your outreach activities to potential students and their parents will be as good as they can be. Only when your school records every “touch” with a prospect can you build an accurate picture of the relationship and determine next steps. These touches need to be faithfully recorded into the database by everybody who might have a role in the prospect nurture process.

Today’s post deals with another kind of process: prospect “acquisition.” Just how do you begin to build a useful database of prospects? Continue reading →

Getting Lutheran Students Out the Door

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Written by Jeremy Seeger

Outdoor schools have seen growing popularity in the last few years. Perhaps you have seen the posts about them from a friend on Facebook, or perhaps you’ve seen an article about one online. Norway and Switzerland both have well known and successful outdoor preschool programs that have served as a model for some startups in the United States. Continue reading →

Lutheran Schools Need More Male Teachers

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Written by Harmon Krause

I did not expect to hear anything unusual while MLC President Mark Zarling gave an update at my teachers’ conference. However, as Zarling gave his presentation on the college, he stated something that took me a bit by surprise. He said something that would make an applicable introduction for this article. He said, “Men aren’t going to college, and I don’t know why.”

Zarling’s comment comes from an even larger issue than men going to college — a lack of male educators. Continue reading →

How Can Lutheran Schools Serve Children in Poverty?

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Written by Julianne Foelske

The number of children living in poverty is growing, even in suburban schools. Children living in poverty face many challenges, including emotional and social challenges, chronic stressors, and cognitive lags, which have negative effects on behavior and educational achievement. WELS educators who understand the impact of poverty will be better equipped to help their students achieve academic success. Continue reading →

Prospect Management for Schools – Part One

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This article is part 1 of a four-part series.

Written by Martin Spriggs

One important but often neglected function of any school office is “prospect management.” It wasn’t always that way. In the early days of our church-connected schools, we relied on filling our desks with the children of members and the only “managing” that we needed of those prospects was generating a list of all the kids in our congregation. We then simply made sure we had enough space, textbooks, and teachers to meet the need. Those days are over. Continue reading →