Enterprising German Lutheran families who settled near Corvallis in the early 1900s wanted to make sure their children had an education. In 1907, just five years after they’d first begun to hold organized worship services, the Lutheran families started a parochial school.
Back in those days, Zion’s school was one room in the basement of the church. At that time, the church was located on Monroe Street and had about 20 students.
It took 45 years to move into a building of their own, but in 1951, school officials dedicated a new school building on Tyler Avenue. It was quite an upgrade from the church’s basement; there were two classrooms and the enrollment was 58. By the early 1970s, enrollment numbers were well over 100. In 1996, Zion had its highest enrollment of 232 students, including preschool.
In 2007, Zion celebrated its 100th school year. That makes Zion Lutheran Christian School the oldest continuously run school in the city of Corvallis.
Today, we serve just over 60 students in grades K-8 and another 160 students in our Early Learning Center. We provide a quality Christian education that meets rigorous academic standards. Many of our alumni have gone on to be among the top students at Corvallis High School, Crescent Valley High School, Philomath High School and Santiam Christian High School.
Although our roots are in the Lutheran faith, many of our students come from other Christian churches in the Corvallis area. In fact, there are about 25 Christian churches represented in our school. We also serve a number of Korean students who come to the Corvallis community to gain a better understanding of American culture and the English language.