This just summarizes the success of an inner-city Lutheran School in East St. Louis, which is supported by churches of the Southern Illinois District, (including our congregation), and even other churches and schools around the country. The full article details how they’ve managed to succeed, when so many other Lutheran schools with better odds are failing, and what kind of difference they’re making in children’s lives.
“Odds said Unity Lutheran Christian School wouldn’t make it.
It opened in 2003 as other urban faith-based schools were closing. And it took hold in East St. Louis, a place where the two Lutheran churches were barely scraping by, and most parents could not afford private-school tuition.
Nevertheless, a Lutheran mission board wanted to open a school in this struggling city, where the public school system had failed for years. And ever since, Unity Lutheran Christian School has defied the odds, growing from 17 that year in preschool and kindergarten to 150 students this year through seventh grade. Next year, there are plans to add eighth grade. About 20 students are on a waiting list.”