“When schools flourish, things go well and the church is secure. Let us make more doctors and masters. The youth is the church’s nursery and fountainhead. When we are dead, where are others [to take our place] if there are no schools? God has preserved the church through schools. They are the preservers of the church. Schools don’t have a beautiful appearance, and yet they are very useful. Little boys have learned at least the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed in the schools, and the church has been remarkably preserved through such small schools.”
Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 54: Table Talk, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 54 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 452.
We currently hold classes for Pre-K3-6th grade!
Call for a tour today. We will give you information on the advantages of this curriculum, how it will strengthen and challenge your student academically and spiritually while lending itself to a more structured learning environment.
Check out our website at www.zlsnampa.org or call the school office at (208) 466-9141.
Zion Lutheran School is a classical Christian School and a ministry of Zion Lutheran Church. We have been educating students in Nampa and surrounding communities since 1961! At Zion, we cultivate the love for learning through Classical Lutheran education forming students of godly character and virtue. Come visit us and you will experience a warm and loving atmosphere. Our class sizes are small, so students enjoy more one-on-one time with their teachers.
A classical curriculum is traditionally Christian and gears at teaching toward the natural learning processes of young minds. This curriculum melds seamlessly with our already excellent biblical and religious courses, stimulates and challenges students academically, and helps develop critical thinking skills that are frequently lacking in today’s society.
For the youngest students, the classical curriculum begins with the Grammar Stage and teaches to the student’s natural inclinations. Songs, rhyming and the use of sound and rhythms strengthen and increase the student’s ability to absorb large amounts of information that will be used in later stages.
The Logic stage begins around grade three when the desire to debate naturally asserts itself. The classical curriculum teaches the student to create arguments that are true and valid and how to recognize poorly constructed arguments that have fallacies contained in their reasoning.
The Rhetoric Stage takes the student beyond debating and enables them to develop a thesis and support it with valid evidence. This stage preps the student for college and career.
“A classical Lutheran education is a formative education designed to incline the student from his earliest days toward that which is true, good, and beautiful through the liberal arts and sciences, guided by the great literature, art, music, mathematics, and ideas of Western civilization, while insisting upon the centrality of Holy Scriptures and the teaching of the [Lutheran] Confessions, as the child is granted faith through Holy Baptism, forgiveness through absolution, and remission of sins through the Lord’s Supper, so that he receives and nourishes his new life in Christ” (ccle.org).
What is “Classical” at Zion Lutheran School?
- The formation of a well-educated, virtuous human being who lives his life in noble service to others.
- The classic seven liberal arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, music, geometry, astronomy).
- Recitation and repetition during early stages and during introductory study of any content area.
- Diligent study and analytical thought as a child matures according to his or her natural development.
- The reading and analysis of good literature, particularly the Great Books of Western civilization.
- Cultivation of eloquence, beauty, and persuasion in the student’s writing and speaking.
- The pursuit and exploration of objective truth.
What is “Lutheran” at Zion Lutheran School?
- Christological – An emphasis on the Gospel – Jesus Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins and raised for our justification, that is, one is saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
- Sacramental - The Word of God and the Sacraments (Holy Baptism and Holy Communion) are central to our doctrine and life.
- Creedal – What we believe, teach, and confess is formulated in the historic Ecumenical Creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian) and the Lutheran Confessions collected within the Book of Concord, bookofconcord.org.
- Catechetical - Vigorous catechesis in the Christian faith, formation, and guidance for the soul.
- Liturgical - Rich liturgical life with a foundation of hearing God’s Word. Each morning begins with a short devotional service culminating with Chapel on the last day of week.
- Historical – Connection to the historic Christian faith throughout the ages. Our school is a ministry of Zion Lutheran Church, a congregation of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which operates the largest Protestant parochial school system in the US. Lutheranism has been educating students with a Classical education for 500 years.
- Vocational – Equips children with a well-educated mind and rightly ordered heart to faithfully live as Christians in the home and society.
Why a Classical Christian Education at Zion Lutheran School?
- Jesus Christ is present and the pure Gospel is believed and confessed daily.
- Quality education focusing on the classical liberal arts combined with Lutheran catechesis.
- Promotes wisdom, eloquence, and virtue for earthly citizenship; Lutheran catechesis teaches that in Christ alone we obtain righteousness for heavenly citizenship.
- Enables mastery of subjects addressing students’ mind, heart, and soul.
- Teachers and staff are joyful servants of the Lord.
- We invite families to partner with us in educating children in conservative, Biblical values and morality.
- Jesus says, “Let the little children come to Me, for to such belong the kingdom of God” (Matt 19:14).
Want to learn more?
Check out these videos from the 2022 Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education Conference