West Bend, Wi – Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School, 777 S. Indiana Ave. West Bend, WI, celebrated its recently completed $6 million school expansion on Sunday, August 30, 2026.
The sound of children filling a brand-new gymnasium was more than the beginning of another school year at Good Shepherd Lutheran. It was a celebration of growth, answered prayers and a commitment to the next generation.
Good Shepherd Lutheran School recently dedicated its expanded facilities, including a large new gymnasium, a two-story classroom wing, additional parking and expanded space for a growing enrollment.
Pastor Hein said the new facilities are ultimately about much more than brick, mortar and basketball courts.
“We are so blessed today. We’re dedicating our expanded facilities,” Hein said. “We have all these people in our new gym. We have a new two-story classroom wing, new parking, and we’re going to use it to do ministry and help the kids learn about Jesus.”
The dedication centered on the purpose behind the expansion: providing a place where children can learn, grow and build their faith.
After Sunday service, parishioners and families made their way to the new gym.
“Lord, help us to put these expanded facilities to good use to do ministry in your name for the spiritual growth of your people and the expansion of your kingdom,” Pastor Peter Schlict prayed asking for blessings on the school’s Bible classes, athletic and academic programs and its efforts to share the Gospel.
“To you be all glory now and forever. Amen,” he said.
For the Good Shepherd community, the expansion represents a significant milestone in the school’s history.
“Yes. Oh, it’s just phenomenal,” volunteer Mark Frank said. “We’ve had so many blessings here at Good Shepherd, and the reason we built this is for the children and so we can expand our ministry and be able to grow in Christ.”
The new gymnasium is already changing the rhythm of school life including the scale of the project was something he never expected to see during his ministry at Good Shepherd.
“This expansion has blown my mind. I never thought that I’d see it in my whole ministry here, but it is beautiful,” said former athletic directory Chrissy Rau.
And the children are taking notice.
“Our kids really are excited,” she said.
For years, the school’s previous gymnasium was heavily used, particularly during basketball season. Rau said it was not unusual for the old gym to remain busy until about 9 p.m.
The new facility provides the school with room to spread out while also giving students and their families more time together.
“Usually our gym was busy till like 9:00 at night in basketball season and now we can actually get our kids home to enjoy some more family time,” Mark said.
The new gym is also attracting interest from outside the school.
“There’s already outside organizations asking us if they can use it, like the junior charters program,” Chrissy Rau said.
That means the expansion will serve not only Good Shepherd students but potentially other children and community organizations as well.
“It means a lot for our physical education program too,” said Rau.
While students may see the finished product as a new place to play, learn and gather, the adults involved in the project know how much work went into making it possible.
Mark Peters said the expansion was more than three years in the making from the beginning of the process through completion.
“This has been over a three-year process from start to completion now,” he said. “Actual building only 15 months, but yes, many hours, long days spending here doing the project.”
After all of that work, there was a simple feeling when the doors finally opened.
“Yeah, glad to be done,” Mark Peters said.
Lynn Peters, pointed to what the new facilities will mean for the students who will use its for years to come.
“Great opportunities for all the children that are going to partake of this new addition,” Lynn Peters said.
And that opportunity comes with a larger purpose.
The hope is that the classrooms, gymnasium and other expanded spaces will become places where students develop academically and physically while also growing in their faith.
“Bring the Lord’s good name into everything and bring them up Christian minded,” Mark Peters said.
That idea runs through the entire expansion. The new classroom wing gives the school additional room for students and learning. The gym provides space for athletics, physical education and community activities. The additional parking helps accommodate a growing school population.
But at the heart of the project is the same mission Good Shepherd has carried all along: educating children while pointing them toward Christ.
The dedication marked the completion of a construction project, but for Good Shepherd Lutheran School, it also marked the beginning of what comes next.
A bigger school. A bigger gym. More room for children.
And, most importantly, more opportunities to put those facilities to work in service of faith, learning and community.
“We are blessed with a growing enrollment in our school, Preschool – 8th grade, presently at 280 students,” said Pastor Robert Hein. “To help us carry out our mission to ‘Build Connections to Share Jesus’ we will renovate our present gymnasium into a two-story classroom wing, with nine additional classrooms and a multipurpose room. We will also construct a larger, high-school sized gymnasium and add 50 parking spaces.”
According to Hein, enrollment over the past eight years has grown to over 311 students. “We expect enrollment to continue to climb again next year,” he said.
Good Shepherd Lutheran offers two Preschool 4 classes, two Kindergartens, two second grades and two third grades. “We needed the additional classrooms to meet our growing enrollment, as well as space for music classes, Bible classes and larger group functions,” said Hein.
“Right now, we have partitions set up in our lower commons area for small groups, which can move into more suitable classrooms. We will also have space for before and after school care,” said Hein.
