ABOVE: Joan Abel stands outside her second grade classroom at St. Paul Lutheran School in Fairmont. She will retire today after 44 years and the school will face some other changes ahead of the coming school year.

FAIRMONT– St. Paul Lutheran (SPL) School in Fairmont will have its last day of school for the school year today and by the time students come back in the fall, a few changes will have taken place. Amid a retirement, some new teachers will be in place and following a recent congregational assembly vote, the school will switch from offering grades preK-8 to grades preK-6 for the 2025-26 school year.

The church was incorporated in 1883 and in 1895, the school began. While it is a Lutheran school, it’s open to everyone and does not discriminate.

“The pastor’s daughters were the first teachers. At that time it was a one room school,” said Elaine Lieder, the school’s interim principal.

Over the last 130 years, the school has certainly seen its fair share of changes. Some years there were two classes per grade, and some years two grades have been combined.

“It’s fluid. It all depends on enrollment,” Lieder said.

That was the catalyst for a congregational assembly vote on Wednesday about discontinuing grades 7 and 8 at the school and instead partnering with Martin Luther High School (MLHS) in Northrop for a three year contract. Ultimately the closed ballot vote passed with all but one in favor.

However, that doesn’t mean it was an easy decision to make. A lot of data collection and analysis was done by the school board and Lieder acknowledged that it was emotional for many.

“We had declining enrollment. Last year there were six (students) in the 7th and 8th grade classroom. This year there were only five,” Lieder said.

Difficulty in recruiting staff was also a contributing factor. Lieder said they highly vet any teachers who come and that they’re all state certified and also complete religious requirements for Lutheran schools.

The starting grades of area high schools was also considered. Fairmont High School begins at 7th grade and just a few years ago MLHS added 7th and 8th grade and St. James Lutheran School in Northrop ended those grades at its school and formed a partnership with MLHS.

“They are very happy with it,” Lieder said.

She pointed out that St. John Vianney and Fairmont Christian School also both end with 6th grade.

“We held off on doing this for several years but it seems to be the most feasible,” Lieder said. “It will benefit us and will also help Martin Luther retain more students.”

She said finically it was a smart move but stressed that the congregation has been very generous in supporting the school with its various needs.

“So many schools have closed. You need to make adjustments,” Lieder said.

While some details need to be worked out, the partnership with MLHS will be effective for the coming school year. Some new faces will also be coming to SPL next school year.

Lieder has spent 10 years with SPL, first as a 3rd grade teacher and then as part-time principal/ 7th and 8th grade teacher before retiring. This time last year, when former principal Brian Kube announced he was leaving for a different job, Lieder agreed to come back on as interim principal. However, she will be done come June 30 of this year and the school will continue to look for a new principal.

A new preschool teacher emerged this year as Kara Closs unexpectedly passed away. Her aide, Michelle Schultz, stepped up to fill the role, joining long-time preschool teacher Kathy Gratz.

For the 2025-26 school year, Racheal Ackermann will teach kindergarten and the current kindergarten teacher, Erin Simpson, will move to 3rd grade and Leslie Wokasch will teach 4th grade. While the two were combined this school year, increased enrollment will cause the two grades to split next year. Long-time teacher Paul Engelby will stay with 5th and 6th grade.

Finally, Marissa Bernau will come serve as the new 2nd grade teacher following Joan Abel’s retirement at the end of this school year. Abel has been with SPL her entire teaching career, which spans 44 years.

Originally from Athens, Wisconsin, Abel went to what was at the time Concordia College in St. Paul. Since she was in 5th grade, she said she knew she wanted to teach.

“Back then girls either were nurses or teachers. Nursing did not appeal to me,” she said.

Luckily, teaching did and when she entered her college courses, she found that she enjoyed them and it felt right to her.

Those who graduate from Concordia are a called teacher. Around the time of her graduation, SPL reached out to Concordia and said it needed a teacher. Concordia’s placement team told Abel she was going to teach in Fairmont.

She had actually been to Fairmont just once before as she had a friend in college who was from the city. However, that was before she knew she could potentially work there one day. Nonetheless, she accepted the call and began teaching right out of college in 1981.

To start she was a 5th grade teacher. Over the years she’s also taught 6th grade and most recently has been in the 2nd grade classroom.

Along with changing grade levels, she’s also seen changes in education, specifically when it comes to technology.

“When I started we had the old mimeograph machine. It was used to make copies,” Abel explained. “Now I can push a button on my MacBook and it will print upstairs on the printer.”

Recently she’s been using the Smart Board and assists students on their Chromebooks.

“I’ve learned a lot of technology I never knew before,” Abel said.

However, one thing that hasn’t changed are the students.

“Kids are kids,” she said. “Some things have changed but even switching from upstairs (6th grade) to down here (2nd grade), kids are kids.”

Had she ever wanted to teach somewhere else other than SPL, Abel would have had to contact the Minnesota South District and let them know she was open to another job. However, that was nothing she ended up doing.

“When I got here I said I would stay for two years because I thought that one year wasn’t fair. Obviously God had other plans,” Abel said.

She got married to Doug and had two sons, Matt and Tadd, both of whom went through SPL as students themselves.

“It amazes me sometimes that it ended up that I’ve been here this long. I’ve taught here so long that I have students who I’ve taught their grandparents,” Abel said. “I think it’s complimentary to our school that they are willing to not only send their own children but that their grandchildren come back to the school.”

As for why she’s retiring now, Abel said that while she enjoys teaching, she gets tired more often, especially with the younger kids.

“They have too much energy,” she said with laugh.

Looking back, when asked what her favorite part of the job was, she said, “All of the wonderful students I had.”

It’s estimated that she had somewhere between 600 and 800 students. She acknowledged that there’s just something special about the bond between students at SPL.

“It’s like they’re part of a family. They’re not just classmates. Parents do more things together, too,” Abel said.

Along with the students, she will certainly miss her colleagues at the school,

“All of the people I’ve worked with have helped mold who I am as a teacher and I’ve gleaned things from different people,” Able said. “The current faculty has kept me young. When I started, I was the youngster and now….,” she said, laughing.

Right now, Abel feels the normal last day of school excitement for the summer that she feels at the end of every school year, but she thinks come August, it will really hit her that she’s not returning to school After all, it will be her first time in over 60 years that she’s not preparing for a school year.

There will be a retirement party for Abel after church on Sunday, June 1 where people can celebrate her with cake and punch.