OUR HIstory

Connected to our past

In 1872, just four years after the first Lutheran families moved into the district, the Emmaus Congregation built a Lutheran Church and school at Emmaus, near Eudunda.  This congregation later moved into Eudunda where the present school was established in 1904.  Land was purchased and a classroom was built.  The foundation stone may be viewed in the display cupboard in the front office.

A series of additions and extensions have taken place over the years.  When the new hall was built in 1995 the previous hall was changed into a library and classroom, renovations changed the front entrance and office area and a new administration area was built.  In the new hall, beautiful stained glass windows were installed.  These were designed from drawings by the children and have been donated to the school by a number of families.

In 2004/2005 the Centenary Lunch Shelter was completed to enable students a sheltered lunchtime seating area. Funding through various sources including the Federal Government’s ‘Investing In Our Schools’ project saw Interactive Whiteboards and sound field speaker systems installed in every classroom, along with shade sails over the sand pit and playground area. In 2007/ 2008, with part funds through the Commonwealth Government Block Grant Authority, the completion of the War Memorial building upgrade and the redevelopment of the Library Resource Centre became a reality. In 2009, work commenced on the construction of two new classrooms, extensions of the hall, developing a new uniform shop and turning a classroom into a purpose built Art Room.  The Federal Government’s ‘Building the Education Revolution’ enabled these developments to take place.

St John’s Lutheran School became an IB World School in 2011.  It was successfully evaluated in 2015 and again re-evaluated successfully in 2021.

In 2017 St John’s School was also officially recognized as a Dyslexic Accredited School.