ABOVE: Harmon Butler is the new principal at St. Paul Lutheran School in Fairmont, having started the role earlier this month.

FAIRMONT–St. Paul Lutheran School in Fairmont is under the guidance of a new principal, Harmon Butler, who assumed the role at the beginning of 2026.

Butler and his wife, Julie, came to Fairmont from Kansas, where he was most recently the principal at St. John Lutheran School in Alma, Kansas. However, he has spent time at schools all over the country.

“We’ve been in a number of places over the years, Texas, Michigan, California, Louisiana. A variety of places. You don’t realize until you look back and think, ‘yeah, it has been all over to an extent,'” Butler said.

He grew up in the region though, in Michigan, and went to college even closer, at Martin Luther College in New Ulm. There, Butler received his bachelor’s degree in education. Later in life, Butler got his master’s through Martin Luther College, too.

Speaking to what got him into teaching, Butler explained that the high school he attended was a church-run college prep high school that had a goal of encouraging students to become teachers or pastors.

Ultimately, Butler said he followed the crowd and went down that route himself, though it’s proven to be a good fit for him as he joked that he’s tried to quit teaching a few times to pursue other endeavors but said, “it’s not me.”

He started his teaching career in California after he was called to go there.

“It was a complete surprise. I was looking forward to doing something different, but I did not expect that,” he said.

Answering a call at other schools across the country is something Butler has done several times and he said that of all the places he’s lived and taught at, they stayed in Texas the longest, for a total of 10 years.

As for what was appealing to him about the position at St. Paul Lutheran School in Fairmont, Butler said he had been looking for a change.

“Everything about St. Paul and Fairmont sounded right,” he said.

He started the new role at the beginning of this month, right at the start of 2026, and so far Butler said it’s off to a great start. He was just formally installed during St. Paul Lutheran Church’s Sunday morning service on Jan. 25.

“Wonderful staff. They’ve been self-sufficient for awhile and they’ve been great,” Butler said.

Looking into the future, Butler said, like any school wants, he would like to see increased enrollment for more stability.

This is the first school year that the St. Paul has been pre-k to 6th with the 7th and 8th graders attending Martin Luther High School in Northrop.

“We want to continue that smooth transition,” he said.

Butler said he would also like to start looking more closely at the school’s curriculum.

“I’m not looking to shake up anything by any means, but just get things going in some areas,” he said.

With this week being National Lutheran School Week, Butler emphasized the importance of taking a special time to celebrate Lutheran schools.

Along with planning some fun events for the students, Butler said it’s a time to draw attention to what you do and why you do it.

“We’re not a normal school. We’re not here just for reading, writing and math. We’re here for word of God and character development,” Butler said.

*Editor’s Note: This article ran in the Sentinel’s National Lutheran Schools Week section on Jan. 27.