Baltimore Lutheran School

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Baltimore Lutheran School
Motto All to the Glory of God
Established 1965
Type Private Secondary
Headmaster Randal Gast
Students 500
Grades 6–12
Location Towson, Maryland, USA
Campus Suburban
Colors Red and White
Mascot Saints
Website www.baltimorelutheran.org

Baltimore Lutheran School is a private secondary school located in Towson, Maryland, United States. BLS is operated by the Baltimore Lutheran High School Association, an association of Lutheran churches in the Baltimore area.[1] The Baltimore Lutheran High School Association also operates a second campus in Bel Air, Maryland, known as Harford Lutheran School. The Towson campus has grades 6 through 12, while the new Harford campus has grades 6 through 10, with additional grades being added in the next two years to bring Harford Lutheran to a full high school.

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[edit] Religious Background

Baltimore Lutheran School is affiliated with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. A majority of the faculty and staff are members of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. The staff includes four ordained ministers.

Chapel and religion classes are taught from a Lutheran Christian point of view. However, Baltimore Lutheran School accepts students from a wide variety of Christian backgrounds; over half of the student body is not Lutheran.

[edit] History

Baltimore Lutheran School celebrated its fortieth anniversary in the 2005-2006 school year.

[edit] Curriculum

Baltimore Lutheran School offers a Christian college preparatory curriculum.

[edit] Campus

The campus sits on twenty-five acres situated in a residential area next to the Baltimore Beltway (I-695). There are two classroom buildings and an activity center which contains the gymnasium, cafeteria, and band room. In addition to the permanent structures, there are currently seven prefabricated buildings in temporary use as classrooms and offices in anticipation of the construction of a new Worship and Fine Arts center. The Worship and Fine Arts center will contain classrooms, art rooms, and an auditorium/theater that will also be used for school chapel services.[2]

There are two athletic fields. The lower field was replaced with Sportexe synthetic turf in the summer of 2005, and is used for soccer, football, lacrosse, and baseball. The upper field is natural grass and is used for field hockey and softball. A sports canopy was completed in the summer of 2006 that covers the tennis court area and which will be used as a practice facility.

[edit] Sports

Baltimore Lutheran's sports teams compete in the MIAA and IAAM, private school leagues in northern Maryland. Both girls' and boys' teams are referred to as the Saints. Girls' teams are unofficially referred to as the Lady Saints.

Baltimore Lutheran enjoys a rivalry with Mount Carmel High School in many sports, especially in girls' basketball and boys' soccer.

Fall sports: Boys' Football (Varsity), Boys' Soccer (Varsity, Junior Varsity, Middle School), Girls' Soccer (Middle School), Girls' Volleyball (Varsity, Junior Varsity), Girls' Field Hockey (Varsity, Junior Varsity), Boys' Cross Country (Varsity, Middle School), Girls' Cross Country (Varsity, Middle School), Girls' Tennis (Varsity), Cheerleading (Middle School, Junior Varsity, and Varsity).

Winter sports: Boys' Basketball (Varsity, Junior Varsity, Middle School), Girls' Basketball (Varsity, Junior Varsity, Middle School), Boys' Wrestling (Varsity, Middle School), Girls' Indoor Soccer (Varsity), Cheerleading (Middle School, Junior Varsity, and Varsity).


Spring sports: Boys' Baseball (Varsity, Middle School), Girls' Softball (Varsity, Middle School), Boys' Track (Varsity, Middle School), Girls' Track (Varsity, Middle School), Boys' Lacrosse (Varsity), Girls' Lacrosse (Varsity), Boys' Tennis (Varsity).

In the 2006-2007 academic year, BLS teams won conference championships in Girls' Track and Girls' Lacrosse. This was the fourth consecutive championship for the girls' track team and the second consecutive championship for the girls' lacrosse team. In The 2007-2008 academic year, BLS Boys' Soccer team, Girls' Basketball, Girls' Indoor Soccer won conference championships, while the Boys' Football team was co-champions and Girls' Volleyball was runners-up.[3]

In 2007, the boys' middle school soccer team had an undefeated season.

[edit] Recent Controversy

As the school's enrollment has grown, the school's historically cordial relationship with the neighborhood association has been strained. The primary concerns affecting the neighbors are traffic and parking issues, especially related to non-BLS use of the BLS facilities.

The issues between the school and the neighborhood provoked some opponents of the school's growth to start a now defunct website, www.baltimorelutheraninfo.org. The site attacked Baltimore Lutheran for what it calls "uncontrolled growth,"[4] and was especially provoked by the completion of a canopy over the tennis court area to be used as an indoor sports facility. Some neighbors protested at the Baltimore Lutheran campus. The two sides are in mediation and have reached several compromises.

[edit] External links