Manitowoc Lutheran High School
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Manitowoc Lutheran High School is a private secondary school. It averages an enrollement around 200 students. The school is supported by federation churches in Manitowoc, Door, Brown, Calumet and Sheboygan counties.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The idea of starting a Manitowoc area Lutheran high school had been discussed by members of the Manitowoc
Conference for several years. The first organizational meeting of the Lutheran High School Survey Committee (Rev.
V. Weiland, Mr. L. Wehrwein, Teacher E. Kopitske, Teacher F. Manthey, and Mr. C. Sagerman as ex-officio) was
held at First German, Manitowoc in February of 1951.
In 1952, Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Register of Deeds and the State of Wisconsin in the name of
The Manitowoc Conference Lutheran High School Association, Inc. A Board of Directors was elected in 1953 to
organize and build support for starting a Lutheran high school in the Manitowoc area.
In January, 1957, Pastor Kenneth Seim of the Gibson/Two Creeks parish accepted the Divine Call to become the first full-time teacher and principal. Manitowoc Lutheran opened its doors with a pioneer class of 14 freshmen and four pastors as part-time teachers. At the November, 1956, meeting of the Association it was decided to add the tenth grade for the 1957-58 school-year. The Ladies Guild was organized in February of 1957.
1959-1960 MLHS officially became a four-year high school after a positive vote at the February 1, 1959 meeting of the Association delegates.
Manitowoc restricted the use of some of the floors of the Madison School due to the age of the structure. Also, with our enrollment growing, we were outgrowing the building. At the November 13, 1960, association meeting it was decided to purchase the Sundt property, a little over seven and one-half acres on the northwest side of Manitowoc, and negotiate an option on three or five acres of the adjoining Fricke property. The original purchase of “Sundt” property was a portion of the Sundt homestead which consisted of approximately seven acres at a price which was almost a “gift.” Since it looked like there was very little prospect of acquiring any adjoining land, some felt that seven acres wasn’t enough to support a high school campus with all the activities they hoped to provide. However, the association voted to go ahead with the purchase. Within the following year, the man who owned some adjoining land died and his estate needed to be settled. The association purchased the fifteen acre plot at a reasonable price of $9,500, and the MLHS campus was now 22 acres.
Now over 3,000 students have graduated from MLHS and the school is still thriving.
In January, 1957, Pastor Kenneth Seim of the Gibson/Two Creeks parish accepted the Divine Call to become the first full-time teacher and principal. Manitowoc Lutheran opened its doors with a pioneer class of 14 freshmen and four pastors as part-time teachers. At the November, 1956, meeting of the Association it was decided to add the tenth grade for the 1957-58 school-year. The Ladies Guild was organized in February of 1957.
1959-1960 MLHS officially became a four-year high school after a positive vote at the February 1, 1959 meeting of the Association delegates.
Manitowoc restricted the use of some of the floors of the Madison School due to the age of the structure. Also, with our enrollment growing, we were outgrowing the building. At the November 13, 1960, association meeting it was decided to purchase the Sundt property, a little over seven and one-half acres on the northwest side of Manitowoc, and negotiate an option on three or five acres of the adjoining Fricke property. The original purchase of “Sundt” property was a portion of the Sundt homestead which consisted of approximately seven acres at a price which was almost a “gift.” Since it looked like there was very little prospect of acquiring any adjoining land, some felt that seven acres wasn’t enough to support a high school campus with all the activities they hoped to provide. However, the association voted to go ahead with the purchase. Within the following year, the man who owned some adjoining land died and his estate needed to be settled. The association purchased the fifteen acre plot at a reasonable price of $9,500, and the MLHS campus was now 22 acres.
Now over 3,000 students have graduated from MLHS and the school is still thriving.