Luther Preparatory School (LPS or Luther Prep) is a residential four-year secondary school located in Watertown, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1995, it is owned and operated by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). LPS focuses on preparing students to become WELS pastors and teachers and to continue their education at Martin Luther College (MLC), a WELS college in New Ulm, Minnesota. Curriculum at LPS focuses on the liberal arts and religious studies.
LPS has an enrollment of approximately 415 students, with slightly more girls than boys; three-fourths of these live in dormitories on the 40-acre (160,000Â m2) campus. The campus has a main classroom building, dormitories, a student union/gymnasium, an auditorium, and cafeteria. There are several sports fields, including a track, tennis courts, a football field, a soccer field, and softball and baseball fields. There are 35 full-time faculty members and eight additional piano instructors. Nine tutors live with students in the dormitories.
History
Luther Preparatory School is the oldest Lutheran high school in the United States. It occupies the former combined campus of Northwestern College, a preministerial college established in 1865, and Northwestern Preparatory School (NPS), a high school, both run by the WELS. In 1995, Northwestern College was moved to New Ulm, Minnesota and combined with Dr. Martin Luther College to form Martin Luther College. In the same year, Martin Luther Preparatory School (MLPS) of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin was closed and combined with NPS to form Luther Preparatory School.
Purpose
The mission of Luther Preparatory School is to prepare and encourage young men and women for the full-time ministry in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Athletics
Prep's mascot is the Phoenix. LPS plays in the Capitol Conference of WIAA. Fall sports include football and soccer for boys, volleyball and tennis for girls, and cross country for both. In the winter, there is boys' wrestling and boys' and girls' basketball. Spring sports are baseball, softball, track and field, boys' tennis, girls' soccer, and golf. Luther Prep also offers intramural sports, such as basketball and bowling.
References
- [1]
- Braun, John A (2000). Together in Christ: A History of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House. ISBNÂ 0-8100-1211-1
