Fort Dauphin was the headquarters of American Lutheran missionaries American Lutheran Church who worked in southern Madagascar (see Malagasy Lutheran Church) starting in 1888 for almost 100 years. They were engaged in community development, education, evangelism and medical work and also operated what was known as the "American School" and the "Missionary Children's Home" (MCH). The school is now a Maternelle and the MCH is the Mahavoky Hotel. In 1959 about 25 American Lutheran missionary families and quite a few single missionaries were living in over 20 towns in an area that ran roughly from Fort Dauphin northeast to Manantenina, west to Ranomafana, northwest to Tsivory, north to Betroka southwest to Betioky and southwest to St. Augustine. When the number of students seeking a US education in Madagascar on the island declined rapidly in the late 1970s, the school briefly moved to operate alongside an NMS school in Antsirabe in the mid-1980s until finally the very few remaining students began attending the American School in Antananarivo in the 1990s. American missionary families and other English-speaking families in Madagascar (including kids from other missionary organizations, NASA, and US Embassy employees living in Antananarivo) and for a time, even East Africa, sent their children to this boarding school. While most of the students were from the US, there were also Malagasy, Canadian and Norwegian students who went to this school, which from the 1960s to the end of the 1970s averaged 50 to 60 students per year in grades 1–12. Notable alumni include Dr. Carl Braaten, a noted Lutheran Theologian and co-founder of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology and the theological journal "Pro Ecclesia", Arndt Braaten, a pastor and professor at Luther College, David Brancaccio of the PBS NOW program, Dr. Peter Dyrud, Minneapolis Cardiologist, Dr. Pier Larson, Professor of African History, Johns Hopkins and Dr. Stan Quanbeck, medical missionary to Madagascar for 40 years.