Teach Your Children Well: How LCEF and ALSS Strengthen Lutheran High Schools 

Synopsis
Continuing to highlight our collaborations for the sake of growing ministries of excellence, this time we focus on our work with the Association of Lutheran Secondary Schools (ALSS). Lutheran high schools across the country and around the world are raising up future generations of leaders. Joining with ALSS to sharpen the tools available to our schools brings in some of the top school executives as consultants. New schools are opening and existing schools are growing. Together, Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) and ALSS are committed to helping our schools be the best they can be. 

Article
“ALSS is a professional organization through which the synchronized efforts of exemplary school leaders crystallize in missional, relevant, and healthy Lutheran high schools worldwide.” – The Vision of ALSS (www.ALSS.org) 

The group gathered to explore starting a new Lutheran high school. Each member accomplished in their own field of endeavor, from a business leader to an attorney to church and grade school leaders, they realized the help of experts was needed. Starting a new school is no easy task and requires a variety of experts across several disciplines. Thankfully, LCEF and ALSS had recently joined forces. The group reached out, and as of this writing, the possibilities are being explored! 

The Association of Lutheran Secondary Schools aspires to promote excellence in all aspects of Lutheran high schools around the world. The resources to accomplish such an ambitious vision are not always available. For many years, LCEF has supported ALSS through conference sponsorships. We also continue to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in loans allowing high schools to grow facilities and increase capacity. Never has this been more important than now as so many people in the United States are looking for educational alternatives to public education and ever more states are adopting school choice legislation. 

Lutheran schools are universally recognized for excellence in education. As the educational landscape is changing, LCEF sought a deeper relationship with ALSS to provide a richer toolkit of resources to their schools. The resulting collaborative agreement that was launched in late 2024 is now gaining momentum. Five distinguished Lutheran secondary school leaders received training as LCEF consultants. While we are still in the early days of this collaboration, several projects are already benefiting from the expertise of ALSS leaders powered by the processes of LCEF, including the new high school startup. 

Across the country, interested groups are exploring new school starts, school boards are considering expansion, leaders are looking to relocate to grow bigger. For such a time as this, LCEF and ALSS are here to meet the moment. If your school is considering expansion, a capital campaign or developing a more robust strategic plan, we can help. If you’re part of a group considering a new school startup, we can help. Reach out to me at tim.kurth@lcef.org and let’s talk.