Luther Preparatory School (LPS or Luther Prep) is a residential four-year secondary school located in

Watertown, Wisconsin Watertown is a city in Dodge and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Most of the city's population is in Jefferson County. Division Street, several blocks north of downtown, marks the county line. The population of Watertown was 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Established in 1865, it is owned and operated by the

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwauke ...

(WELS). LPS focuses on preparing students to become WELS pastors and teachers and to continue their education at

Martin Luther College Martin Luther College (MLC) is a private college in New Ulm, Minnesota, operated by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Martin Luther College was established in 1995, when Northwestern College (NWC) of Watertown, Wisconsin, combined ...

(MLC), a WELS college in

New Ulm, Minnesota New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,120 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Brown County. It is located on the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River and the ...

Curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

at LPS focuses on the

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

and religious studies. LPS has an enrollment of approximately 415 students, with slightly more boys than girls; three-fourths of the student body lives in

dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

on the campus. The campus has a main classroom building, dormitories, a student union/gymnasium, an auditorium, and a cafeteria. There are several sports fields, including a track, tennis courts, a football field, a soccer field, and softball and baseball fields. There are 30 full-time faculty members and nine additional piano instructors. Nine

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...

s live with students in the dormitories.

History

Luther Preparatory School is the oldest Lutheran high school in the United States. LPS began its history as the prep department of Northwestern College, a pre-ministerial college established in 1865. The prep department received its own identity in 1974 as Northwestern Preparatory School (NPS). In 1995, Northwestern College moved to

, and combined with Dr. Martin Luther College to form

. In the same year, Martin Luther Preparatory School (MLPS) of

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Prairie du Chien () is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP Code is 53821. Often referred to as Wisconsin's second oldest city, Prairie du Chien was est ...

, 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 Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. 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 are boys' and girls' basketball, as well as boys' wrestling. Spring sports are baseball, softball, track and field, boys' tennis, girls' soccer, and golf. Luther Prep also offers intramural sports, such as basketball and volleyball.

References

* Braun, John A (2000). ''Together in Christ: A History of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod''. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House.

External links

Luther Preparatory SchoolNPS-LPS Brief HistoryWisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Web Site
{{authority control Private high schools in Wisconsin Lutheran schools in Wisconsin Boarding schools in Wisconsin Educational institutions established in 1865 Schools in Jefferson County, Wisconsin Secondary schools affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod 1865 establishments in Wisconsin