Rod Lenz to Join Leadership Team at Sioux Falls Lutheran School
Sioux Falls Lutheran School is pleased to announce that Mr. Rod Lenz has agreed to serve on our leadership team. He will assume supervisory duties for 6th-12th grade faculty and staff, and the related curriculum, instruction, and academic and behavioral supports.
After beginning a nationwide search for our first Head of School in January, 2020, the SFLS Call Committee contacted nine candidates for whom the timing simply wasn’t right for considering a call and relocation to SFLS for the 2020-21 school year. The committee was then encouraged to conduct a local search, and as God would have it, they didn’t have to look very far!
Mr. Lenz has diverse experience in the world of education and a longstanding history with SFLS. He holds a BA in elementary education from Concordia College, St. Paul, a MA in special education from Augustana College, and a MA in leadership from USF. His wife, Tina, received her very first call from SFLS after graduating from Concordia, St. Paul, in 1979. Collectively, they have served at SFLS for more than 40 years in a variety of roles.
With the addition of Mr. Lenz to our leadership team, Mrs. Brenda Bernard will transition to supervisory duties for all early childhood through 5th grade faculty and staff, and the related curriculum, instruction, and academic and behavioral supports. Mrs. Kristy Bridges will return to the classroom to teach 4th grade during the 2020-21 school year. Mrs. Tia Esser will continue to serve as the overall school administrator.
“The combination of Mrs. Bernard and Mr. Lenz is nothing short of a dream team,” Esser said. “Their individual experiences in researching and implementing best practices that support the whole child, problem solving the best ways to deliver education in the midst of transition, planning in-service events, and building relationships using a kind, gentle approach will allow us to serve families from 2-year-old preschool through 12th grade in unimaginable new ways.”
Check out the Q&A below to meet Mr. Lenz and learn more about what he looks forward to as he returns to SFLS:
Tell us about your history with Sioux Falls Lutheran School.
After serving two years in my first call at Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Downey, CA, I moved back to the midwest and married Tina in the summer of 1981. That same year, I started teaching 3rd and 4th grade at SFLS, which had a small staff of just four teachers and a principal. Tina and I were members at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, which is also where SFLS held classes.
I remember the move to 308 W 37th Street very well. When we moved into the building we thought it was an absolute castle, and we didn’t have anything but the first floor! We experienced slow, steady growth after the move, and eventually we needed even more space. After the addition of the second floor, we expanded class offerings up through 8th grade. Along with that expansion came more families, activities, and blessings.
When Tina and I moved to Cedar Rapids, IA, in 1991, SFLS was still in our hearts. We maintained many friendships in Sioux Falls, but it was never really our plan to return. However, it was clearly a part of God’s plan when I became principal at SFLS in 2003. I served as principal until 2010 when I accepted the role of education director at Children’s Home Society (CHS).
How do you expect your experiences at CHS to impact your new role at SFLS?
At CHS, we always had waiting lists and we were always at capacity, thus, there was a “revolving door” of students coming in and out of our program each week. As the principal, it was my job to strategize how to deliver education effectively to each child, so I was always thinking creatively about how to divide classrooms in order to best serve the needs of the children that came to us. While I have a lot to learn as we move forward with the high school transition at SFLS, I think my ability to adapt in that way will be applicable as we identify the best ways to help high school students earn the credits they want and need in order to graduate.
I was also involved in professional development and in-service planning at CHS, an experience that is easily translatable to a leadership role at SFLS. I also presented to colleagues in school districts on trauma-informed classrooms and talked about how to serve children who have had different stresses in their lives and educational challenges.
What excites you most about returning to SFLS?
People laugh about Tina retiring from teaching preschool this year, while I return to serve, but SFLS has always been and will always be a passion of ours. It’s nice to come back to familiar territory. I think about all the different places I've been professionally and in almost every case I hardly knew anyone when I started the job. So I’m excited to come into a setting I'm familiar with for the second time in 40 years. Plus there’s been many great changes! From the new building and a growing staff to the flexible way we’re delivering our services to families, it’s nice to come back to something new, yet familiar.
Overall, I look forward to building connections with people. Relationships are what help us grow as a community and family of believers. I will meet many new people as I return to SFLS, and there will be a lot of opportunities to share Christ and my faith in a setting where that’s invited, welcomed, and allowed. I’m really looking forward to serving again at SFLS.
About Sioux Falls Lutheran School
At Sioux Falls Lutheran School, our mission is to develop capable, Christian servant-leaders in a complex world who are World Ready and Faith Secure. We are passionate about giving our students the tools they need to be successful academically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. We strive to accomplish this goal by maintaining high academic standards, employing excellent teachers, and upholding a Christian worldview drawn from Scripture. Ultimately, we are committed to partnering with parents and the church to raise lifelong learners who use their gifts and the fruits of the Spirit, in faith, to touch a troubled world with God’s grace.