In December, we conducted an on-line survey with the goal of assessing interest in the possibility of establishing a Lutheran high school. We deliberately worded the questions to make it clear to people that starting a high school would involve significant start up and tuition costs. Given the state of the economy, we were expecting to use the survey results to prove that starting a Lutheran high school would not be feasible at this time.

However, the survey results painted a very different story. 94 people answered at least some of the questions on the survey, a very strong response all by itself. 64% of respondents (59) said they were either very interested or extremely interested in seeing Immanuel start a Lutheran high school. 32 people (more than 50% of those answering the question) said they would be willing to lead or help the effort to start a high school.

Perhaps most surprisingly, there seemed to be broad interest in contributing financially to get a high school started. 30 respondents said they would be willing to commit $1000-$5000 over 3 years, and 6 people said they would contribute $5000-$25000 over three years. Response to paying the necessary tuition was even stronger: 39 respondents (45%) said they would be willing to pay $5000/year in tuition for a high school student, 22 more (26%) said they would be willing to pay $7000/year, and 7 more said they would pay “whatever it costs” (up to $10,000/year)!

It can be argued that answering a survey question and actually commiting to funding a project like this are two very different things. Furthermore, the survey did not provide us enough information to discern who the potential students would be, how many there would be, and in what time frame they would be entering high school. Nevertheless, the responses were certainly more favorable than we had expected.

One question that might have been misunderstood asked whether respondents would be interested in a web-based distance learning program for high school students as opposed to a physical building and facility. Only 8 respondents were “very interested” or “extremely interested” in this option. 21 more were “somewhat interested.” The reason we asked this question was that we are aware of a Lutheran high school in California (Orange Lutheran) where less than half of the student body of 3000+ students is physically on campus. The majority of the students enrolled in this high school are located across the country and they receive instruction via the internet. We are interested in finding out if this high school has any sort of an affiliate program that Immanuel might be able to participate in. One possible scenario is to start with a single high school principal or teacher, utilize a currently unused room in our school building, and depend on Orange Lutheran to deliver the majority of the high school curriculum via the internet. This would hold some promise for keeping startup costs relatively low, allow for a high school to start with a relatively low enrollment, and still allow the “student body” to interact physically with their local high school classmates. Would people be interested in this approach? We’d like to find out, and we do need to find out more about Orange Lutheran. And at this point this is just a possible idea to be pursued, not an actual plan of any type.

The school board discussed the survey results and agreed that the interest in starting a high school is real and surprisingly strong. However, Immanuel Lutheran Church and School are facing some financial challenges with the state of the economy and the reality of the cost of the mortgage for our beautiful new building. An effort to start a Lutheran high school six years ago never gained enough traction to be successful. But we know that sometimes God asks us to do things when He is ready, not when we are ready. The school board and Immanuel’s Executive Committe agreed that we should invite more discussion on the topic of a high school and continue to educate ourselves on the issues and opportunities.

Our next steps are to investigate the program offered by Orange Lutheran in California and to make contact with interested parents who want to see this idea move forward. To start with, we would like interested parents to identify themselves to the school board, either by contacting us through our web site (go to the contact us page and select "School Board" as the category) or by contacting Randi Rost or Scott Sundheim directly. If enough parents express interest, we would expect to conduct a meeting of interested people to get a more complete picture of people’s concerns, requirements, and commitment levels.

God is good, and we will also be praying that He speaks clearly to us on His plans for adding a Christian high school to our ministry efforts at Immanuel.

1. How interested are you in seeing Immanuel start a Lutheran High School?

• Not at all interested: 7 (8%)
• Somewhat interested: 18 (20%)
• No opinion either way: 8 (9%)
• Very interested: 22 (24%)
• Extremely interested: 37 (40%)

2. How much would you give during the next three years to help get the high school started?

• $0: 23 (27%)
• Less than $1,000: 27 (31%)
• $1,000 - $5,000: 30 (35%)
• $5,000 - $25,000: 6 (7%)
• More than $25,000: 0 (0%)

3. How much would you be willing to pay for annual tuition for your high school student? (Estimated actual cost per student is $7,000-$10,000/year)

• $0: 18 (21%)
• $5,000/yr: 39 (45%)
• $7,000/yr: 22 (26%)
• Whatever it costs (up to $10,000/year): 7 (8%)

4. If you are willing to pay the necessary tuition cost for your high school student to begin 9th grade in the Lutheran high school, how many students do you think would be necessary in order to start the school?

• 5-10: 8 (14%)
• 10-20: 28 (47%)
• 20-30: 14 (24%)
• More than 30: 9 (15%)

5. If we are not able to launch a “bricks and mortar” school facility, how interested would you be in a web-based distance learning program that Immanuel would operate in partnership with an established Lutheran high school?

• Not at all interested: 28 (47%)
• Somewhat interested: 21 (36%)
• No opinion either way: 2 (3%)
• Very interested: 5 (9%)
• Extremely interested: 3 (5%)

6. In the first five years of the Lutheran high school’s existence, how important is it to you that the school has an athletic program?

• Not at all important: 10 (17%)
• Somewhat important: 14 (24%)
• No opinion either way: 7 (12%)
• Very important: 21 (36%)
• Extremely important: 7 (12%)

7. In the first five years of the Lutheran high school’s existence, how important is it to you that Advanced Placement classes are offered?

• Not at all important: 1 (2%)
• Somewhat important: 15 (25%)
• No opinion either way: 3 (5%)
• Very important: 25 (42%)
• Extremely important: 15 (25%)

8. If it is determined that there is sufficient support to move a Lutheran high school forward, would you be willing to lead or help the effort?

• Yes: 32 (54%)
• No: 27 (46%)