There has been a Catholic school system in Fort Dodge for almost as long as this town has been in existence. There are other towns in the area The Messenger serves that can make similar claims.

The same can be said for St. Paul Lutheran School in Fort Dodge.

Both schools will celebrate their heritage in the next week as both Catholic Schools Week and Lutheran Schools Week will be marked at the same time. Both commemorative weeks start Sunday and end Feb. 1.

Catholic education got underway in Fort Dodge more than 160 years ago. The first Catholic school came into being during the dark days of the U.S. Civil War. While many Iowans were serving their country in the Union Army, Corpus Christi Parish — in 1862 — put the finishing touches on its first school building.

It would be easy to recite the landmark events in Catholic education in Fort Dodge and Webster County and other areas of north central Iowa. In more than a century and a half there have been a great many.

The local Lutheran school debuted shortly after its Catholic counterpart.

St. Paul Lutheran School has been a fixture in the community since 1863. To put that in perspective, Fort Dodge became a city in 1853 after the Army left its outpost here.

The current school building at 1217 Fourth Ave. S. was constructed in 1950. It was expanded in 1959 and remodeled in 1999.

Catholic Schools Week and Lutheran Schools Week are a good time to reflect on the important place parochial schools have in our communities.

Fort Dodge and other area towns have excellent public school systems, but the parochial schools offer a special blend of educational excellence and religious instruction. They provide an alternative approach to education that many in our communities prize highly.

For many centuries in Europe, and later the Americas, churches played a central role in educating young people. Catholic and Lutheran schools preserve that important tradition in a much more secular era.

In so doing, they enrich the diversity of educational opportunities available.

Parochial schools deserve praise for the excellence they bring to the educational marketplace. Here and throughout our state, those schools are valued parts of their communities.