Santa Claus Oath

Established in 1937, the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School was the first school of its kind in the world.  The school celebrated 70 years of teaching the art of being Santa Claus in 2007.  The original campus for the school was in Albion, New York.  It was moved to Bay City, Michigan in 1974 and later to its current home in Midland, Michigan.   The school has been taught in a few other locations such as Santa Claus, Indiana, on the continent of Australia and on the island of  Greenland.

Through out its history, the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School has set the standards that all Santas strive to be. The Deanship of the school passed from Charles W. Howard to his chosen successor Nathan Doan in 1966.  Nathan, along with his wife Mary Ida, continued the school’s fine tradition and established their own legacy in the Santa Claus world. 

 www.santaclausschool.com

The current Dean of Santa Clauses for the school is Tom Valent.  Classes are held each October in Midland, Michigan in a specially designed and built Santa House. The Santa House, which is open to all visitors at Christmas time, also serves as a classroom for the Santa School. Tom’s wife Holly is very active in the school’s planning, presentation and curriculum.