Grace Lutheran plans expansion

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POCATELLO -- Just last week, Grace Lutheran Church added 150 seats to its chapel. Yet they were all full during Sunday church service.

Gabe Flicker, executive director of Grace Lutheran, takes it as evidence of how fast both the church and the school it operates are growing. The anecdote also highlights the need for a planned new building for Grace Lutheran middle school students.

On the first day of classes at Grace Lutheran Monday, in a chapel filled with parents and students attending a special church service to ring in the new school year, Flicker explained the building may also serve as an anchor for a future Grace Lutheran High School.

Grace Lutheran has purchased land between its current location at 1350 Baldy Ave. and Applebee's for the new building and has scheduled on outdoor church service and celebration to take place on the property for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 7. At the service, the property line will be marked. The event will be called "Celebrate the Land, See the Vision."

Flicker said Grace Lutheran plans to fundraise for the next two years for the project, which will cost between $8.5 million and $10 million. Grace Lutheran will teach elementary students in its current school once the new building is finished.

Grace Lutheran offers classes from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and has 400 students enrolled this year.

Mark Mansfield, chairman of the school board, has three children attending Grace Lutheran. Canyon is in first grade, Hunter is in fifth grade, and Madison is in seventh grade.

Mansfield said his sons were so excited about the start of school, they wanted to go on Sunday. They had their clothes laid out for Monday morning a full day in advance.

"It's a very calm and quiet environment. The children are well cared for. They open doors for each other. They say please and thank you without prompting," Mansfield said. "The teachers love the kids, and the kids know it."

The junior high consistently ranks among the top schools in the state, and Grace Lutheran awards about $40,000 in scholarships per year to students in need of financial assistance, Mansfield said. Mansfield said the students who receive the financial assistance perform exceptionally well in the classroom.

"You see those kids succeed, and you know we have the right model," Mansfield said.

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