St. Paul Lutheran School To Open High School in Fall 2027

St. Paul Lutheran School in Peachtree City will expand to include high school beginning in fall 2027, giving families the option to remain at the Christian school from preschool through graduation.

St. Paul’s planned high school will follow a traditional five-day, on-campus school week, with in-person teachers, small classes, athletics, fine arts, technology programs, and opportunities for AP, dual enrollment, and college coursework.

Principal Sharon Wallace said the decision grew directly from requests by current families. A survey conducted several years ago asked parents how likely they would be to send their children to a St. Paul high school.

“Very likely, or likely, was above 90%,” Wallace said. “So it was a very loud, resounding, ‘We would love that.’”

The more difficult question was how to make room.

“Honestly, the biggest question was facilities,” Wallace said. “Where do we put the high schoolers?”

School leaders considered renting another facility and even constructing a new building, but both options came with drawbacks. Renting would eliminate the one-stop drop-off families wanted, while construction would require a major financial investment.

The plan they ultimately developed will move three of St. Paul’s six preschool classrooms to a separate location, expected to be less than five miles away and still in Peachtree City. Three preschool classrooms will remain on the existing campus, which will then serve students from pre-K through 12th grade.

The new high school is expected to open with about 40 seats, Wallace said, with room to grow to approximately 80 students within the school’s current facility plan.

That number fits St. Paul’s existing model of keeping classes small.

“It continues our St. Paul model of 20 in a class,” Wallace said. “We cap all current elementary classes at 20.”

The school plans to maintain in-person teachers for core high school subjects while also giving students access to Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, and online college courses.

Wallace emphasized that the high school will not be an online school.

“We will have teachers,” she said. “We will have a math teacher. We’ll have a science teacher. We’ll have an English teacher, etc.”

Students taking specialized online college classes would remain on the St. Paul campus, with a teacher available in the room for support.

That structure is part of a larger plan to customize high school education around individual students’ abilities and future interests.

St. Paul already allows younger students to be challenged academically when they are ready. In math, the entire school schedules math at the same time so a student can attend a higher-level class without creating a scheduling conflict. Some middle school students already take high school algebra and geometry.

“We want kids to be able to be challenged, comfortably challenged, is what I like to say,” Wallace said. “We don’t want you to be in a pressure cooker, but we also don’t want you to sit in a class where you know what’s being taught already.”

Wallace said she wants that individualized approach to become even more pronounced in high school.

“If you already think you’re going to go into engineering, then let’s design your high school education to benefit you toward engineering,” she said. “If you think you’re going to go medical, then let’s design your high school education to prepare you for that medical degree in the future.”

A smaller student body, she said, makes that kind of customization more practical.

“We’re not looking at how do you fit a program to 1,200 students,” Wallace said. “It’s much easier to customize it when there are only 40 to 80 kids.”

The high school will also build on extracurricular programs St. Paul already offers. The school currently participates in volleyball, basketball, soccer, cross country, and clay target sports, with opportunities to add track and field, baseball, and other sports as enrollment grows.

Students can also participate in competitive robotics, 3D printing, drone programming, drama, choir, and band.

Wallace said the school may eventually develop career-oriented opportunities as well. Because St. Paul already operates an early childhood program, for example, students interested in education could potentially gain hands-on experience working with younger children.

The goal, she said, is to provide the broader experiences families associate with high school while maintaining the smaller community St. Paul families already know.

“We’re hoping it’ll be easier to find a spot at a lunch table,” she added. “A little less anonymity. We’re gonna know your name.”

For Wallace, that sense of belonging is one of the qualities families most often identify when they talk about St. Paul.

“Aside from the faith component, which is key, they really like the sense of community,” she said. “They say it feels like a family.”

Wallace said the expansion also changes the calculation for families considering St. Paul during the elementary or middle school years. Instead of enrolling for only a few years before needing another school, students will now have a path through graduation.

St. Paul accepts applications throughout the school year, and families interested in learning more about the planned high school can request a tour through the school’s website by selecting its inquiry or tour option. https://www.stpaulptc.org/inquire/

St. Paul Lutheran School has been open to students for over three decades. The high school is scheduled to welcome its first students in August, 2027.

Students in middle school and high school are welcome to attend the open house from 10:00 – 2:00 on Friday, September 4 (Fayette County’s Personalized Learning Day) at St. Paul Lutheran School, 700 Ardenlee Parkway, Peachtree City. Register for the open house at https://www.stpaulptc.org/inquire/. 

Additionally, there will be a parent information night on Thursday, September 10 at 6:30 p.m.