St. John Nottingham: Christ Centered Education Since 1892

The stained glass windows in the SJN sanctuary tell the story of Christ's sacrifice and ressurection

St. John Nottingham Lutheran School began as a tiny, one-room schoolhouse back in 1892. Sitting in what was then the village of Nottingham, Ohio, the Pastor was also the Principal, the teacher, the custodian, and the entire maintenance crew! Since then we have come a long way indeed. St John Nottingham, or SJN to those in the know, has been in continuous operation ever since, serving the Collinwood area by making a strong, Christ-centered education available to those who seek it.

SJN is a small school, with an average student-teacher of 16  to 1 and extensive technology resources. The school offers a strong curriculum based in the traditional subjects of math, English language, history, and science and is fully accredited by the National Lutheran Schools Association, an organization fully recognized by the state of Ohio to oversee school quality and instructional content. (In fact, NLSA accreditation is a bit more involved that traditional accreditation, with higher standards of instructional integrity and ethical operations.) Religion is, well, religiously taught at SJN, with daily instruction in the Christian faith and weekly worship. The Pastoral staff at SJN is intimately involved with both religious instruction and worship, but don't think you have to be Lutheran to attend! All who seek to learn of Christ and His wondrous Word are welcome at SJN! (And that goes for the church as well. Worship services are every Sunday at 9:45 AM, and you don't have to be a member to join in.)

If athletics interest you, SJN courts highly competitive basketball teams in the middle grades. It is normal for the teams to go to both State and National championships almost every year. SJN also runs quality volleyball, cheerleading, and track programs as well, so everyone has something they can join in on.

The middle grades focus heavily on high school preparation (there's even an 8th grade class called "High School Prep"), with intensive instruction in writing and math to prepare for the entrance exams, and is departmentalized with math, science, English, and history specialists. SJN maintains close relationships with numerous local private high schools, and it is very common to see former SJN students at VASJ, Lutheran East, St Martin de Porres, and others. It is also not uncommon to see former SJN students with National Honor Society or even Valedictorian cords at their high school graduations.

Mr. Peck, the SJN Principal, has 20 years of teaching and administrative experience in the Collinwood area, and comes from a high school teaching background in St Louis, MO (although he is a Northeast Ohio native). He has extensive experience at guiding students towards maturity and academic excellence by using a true pedagogical approach to learning and socialization, with copious use of data-driven instructional planning. The average years of teaching experience among the staff at SJN is 18, with a healthy mix of long-experienced and skilled teachers partnering with young innovators. (In fact, one of the teachers is a former student of SJN who had Mr. Peck as a teacher!)

SJN looks to continue to be a community leader in Christian education on Cleveland's east side for many, many years to come.

David Peck

Principal of St. John Nottingham Lutheran School

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Volume 11, Issue 11, Posted 4:08 PM, 11.11.2019