St. John’s Lutheran School is growing.
A groundbreaking was held Nov. 18 for the Early Childhood Center at St. John’s church and school grounds, 3517 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold. St. John’s is building a 14,277-square-foot addition that will include classrooms and a multipurpose room that will double as a storm shelter.
The new building will be built to the north of the existing school, which has preschool through eighth-grade students.
“This has been going on for the better part of almost three years,” Michael Dean, St. John’s executive director, said of the expansion plans. “To finally get to this point, there is unbelievable joy. It is amazing. It has taken a lot of people to get us to this point, and I’m very grateful that we are finally here.”
About 400 people attended the groundbreaking. The school’s students, who were wearing different colored plastic hard hats, were among the crowd to watch church and school staff, area officials and others take turns shoveling dirt at the ceremony.
Brenda Spieler, St. John’s head of school, said she was happy the current students were part of the groundbreaking.
“It is a joy for them to be part of this process, and for them to see that this is because of them and generations to come,” she said. “They are all so excited.”
The Rev. Jeremy Schultz, St. John’s senior pastor, said the addition will cost about $6 million to build. He said the church has raised more than $4 million to pay for the project, and it continues to receive donations.
“I’m confident in our ability to pay this off,” he said. “I see God’s hand of blessing in different partnerships that he has given us in the community that are helping us with this build. It is continuing to grow.”
The church initially planned to raise $8.9 million to build the Early Childhood Center, renovate existing school classrooms and construct a two-story addition to connect the church to the school.
Schultz said St. John’s has adjusted its expansion plans, which had two phases.
The first phase was the construction of the Early Childhood Center and renovating the existing school’s classrooms before the start of the 2026-2027 school year.
A two-story addition connecting the church to the school was to be built during the second phase. That addition was expected to be completed by winter 2027.
Schultz said St. John’s is now only focusing on phase one, which has been scaled back to building the Early Childhood Center and partial renovation of existing classrooms.
He said building the connecting building and fully renovating the classrooms is on hold.
“Phase 2 will likely come in the future,” he said. “How quickly that comes, we don’t know.”
School expansion
Spieler said the Early Childhood Center, which will have eight classrooms, is needed because of increasing enrollment.
She said St. John’s Lutheran School is nearly at capacity this school year. There are 100 preschool students, with 18 in the 2-year-old class; 35 divided into two 3-year-old classrooms; and 47 divided into two 4-year-old classrooms.
The grade school, which has students in kindergarten through eighth grade, enrolls 199 total students. Spieler said six of the nine classes are at capacity with 25 third-grade students and 24 students in the first-, second-, fourth-, sixth- and eighth-grade classes.
Spieler also said the school has 18 kindergartners, 20 fifth-grade students and 16 seventh-grade students this year.
Spieler said St. John’s has 14 teachers among its 49 staff members, which also includes teachers aids, custodians and other employees.
“It is a joy to see it finally come together,” she said of the beginning of the center’s construction. “It is an opportunity to grow God’s kingdom. It enables us to reach more families.”
Spieler said the school is currently enrolling students for the 2026-2027 school year, and St. John’s is expected to have more students than this school year. She said the school is expected to have two kindergarten classrooms next school year, and the preschool is starting to reach capacity.
“The main driver for this is our enrollment continues to grow and grow.” Dean said. “We keep getting more phone calls from people who are seeking education, and we were in a position where we simply are full. We are blessed to have the majority of our elementary and middle school classes full. We want to grow and continue to support that need of Christian education in the community. The Lord just keeps bringing more students to us.”