Walther Lutheran Academy Press Releases

WALTHER LUTHERAN ACADEMY @FOREST PARK HOLDS OPEN HOUSES (February 6, 2008)

Walther Lutheran Academy @Forest Park will hold Open Houses on Tuesday, April 22, and Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. for families with children preschool through 8th grade. Parents and students are invited to visit with teachers in their classrooms, talk with the principal in the library at 7 p.m. and receive 2008-2009 registration and admission information. Walther Lutheran Academy includes a comprehensive Early Childcare Center and students are regularly exposed to advanced educational opportunities. The Academy is located at 305 Circle Avenue in Forest Park and offers the benefits of multiage learning in a caring Christian environment. Educational partnerships with respected academic institutions give the Academy an emphasis on high academic standards and broad-based extracurricular opportunities.

“We’ve been exposing our students to a higher level of science over the last couple of months,” says Principal Stephen Zielke. “Mr. Matt Tuomi, science and math teacher at Walther Lutheran High School, visited us last month bringing high school level science lessons and experiments,” he added, “and just yesterday, AccuWeather meteorologist Joe Lundberg, who is heard all across the country, came to teach us about weather trends, courtesy of WMBI radio.” “Learning at the Academy is greatly enhanced,” explains Zielke, “through the partnership in education we share with Concordia University Chicago, St. John Lutheran Church of Forest Park, Oak Park Christian Academy, our Golden Teachers group and, of course, our own Walther Lutheran High School.”

As a Concordia University Partner School, Walther Lutheran Academy and its students benefit from the focused attention of teacher training programs at Concordia University Chicago and the excellence of a dedicated staff. “We are blessed at the Academy to have teachers with both experience and expertise in their field,” said Zielke. “Parents and students alike will be impressed with their teachers’ dedication, attention and a contagious enthusiasm for learning,” he added. The school provides classes for ages 3 through 8th grade along with extracurricular activities and extended care from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Walther Lutheran Academy @Forest Park operates on the campus of St. John Lutheran Church of Forest Park, where Lutheran education has been offered to the surrounding community since 1870. Today in the Chicago metro area, Concordia University Chicago has taken the lead in education and teacher training, working with over 3000 graduate students each year. An emphasis on nurturing the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical developmental needs of children is behind the latest innovations in multiage learning. Walther Lutheran Academy @Forest Park applies the success of multiage learning in a positive and healthy educational setting that is available to busy families for up to 12 hours each weekday.

The Academy operates under the umbrella of the Walther Lutheran Association which is the parent organization of Walther Lutheran High School. The college preparatory school in Melrose Park has been a cornerstone of Lutheran Education in the Chicago area since 1954. Walther relies on a strong relationship with elementary and middle schools throughout the region, serving them with a variety of interactive grade school activities of an academic, athletic and social nature and offering a quality, college preparatory secondary education. A favorable teacher-student ratio and an advanced degree faculty have created an atmosphere where excellence is the norm.

Don Gillingham, Executive Director of the Walther Lutheran Association, explains the philosophy that undergirds the Academy. “It is time for educators to look at what we need to do to prepare our kids for the changing competitive world that awaits them. We believe that this includes developing a hunger for the spiritual things and an understanding that being excellent in our approach to the wisdom of the world is a God pleasing thing.”

Together the Walther Lutheran Academy and the Walther Lutheran High School campuses offer superior classroom instruction and extracurricular experience for students from age 3 through 12th grade. In partnership with Concordia University Chicago, the total Lutheran Educational experience is designed to continue into college and beyond. For information about Walther Lutheran Academy @Forest Park call 708.366.2764 or visit Walther.com.

Press Release contact: Lori Solyom, Public Information Coordinator