Costa Mesa’s Christ Lutheran School celebrates start of 60th school year

Christ Lutheran School in Costa Mesa celebrated the beginning of its 60th school year Friday morning with a group photo.

Students clad in matching outfits gathered on the Westside campus’ playing field to form the numbers “6” and “0.”

Christ Lutheran Church traces its roots to organizational meetings in 1952. Its first services were in January 1953 at what is now Vanguard University.

After outgrowing that space, the church purchased its current property at 760 Victoria St. It dedicated its church and school in 1957. Children began taking classes in September 1958.

Mike Gibson, Christ Lutheran’s lead pastor, noted that this year the K-8 campus received a six-year accreditation from the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges. The preschool campus was accredited by the National Lutheran School Accreditation program.

Last year, the 4.4-acre campus completed a $5.4-million renovation that started in 2009.

The renovation projects included remodeling the church’s first 1950s-era building into a preschool wing with an adjacent tot lot, constructing a two-story administration building and installing air conditioning in the church sanctuary.

Linda Dettmer Gardiner, the school’s librarian who provides all-around support for the campus, has worked at Christ Lutheran since 1961. She started with a $3,200 annual salary and a $200 bonus for playing the organ.

Gardiner has taught various grades through the decades and has seen many changes — technology and the advent of Google searches among them — but she said particularly enjoys seeing the generations pass through.

“Children that I taught early on, their children are now attending the school here,” Gardiner said.

bradley.zint@latimes.com

Twitter: @BradleyZint