The Ripple Effect of Generosity

Building alumni confidence to create spaces that matter

Nestled in the Lutheran hub of St. Louis, Missouri, Lutheran High School South (sometimes called “LuSo”) is living out the ideal of school community. That includes students who enjoy going to school, plenty of clubs, fine arts and athletic opportunities—this entire community is built on the foundations of Lutheran teachings, helping more kids engage with the Word of God every year.

They’ve even been named one of the Top Workplaces in St. Louis by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for seven years in a row.

“LuSo is a place where our kids find their people,” said Dr. Jonathan Butterfield, head of school for Lutheran High School South. “Much of our enrollment comes from word of mouth because our students and staff love it here, and it shows.”

Students who form a deep bond with LuSo eventually become dedicated alumni. And, in the story of this school’s expansion, alumni play an integral role as the driving force behind building growth.

Overflowing with God-Given Gifts

The school’s growing popularity in St. Louis has meant that tough decisions need to be made. In order to provide the best possible experience for each student, the administration had to cap enrollment at 165 students per class—so LuSo has a waiting list.

“We want to know our kids,” explained Butterfield. “So we strive to be a full school of kids for whom this is the right fit, the ones who take school seriously and want to get involved in school outside of the classroom. Those are the kids who thrive here—kids who want to use their God-given gifts to the best of their ability.”

And LuSo has long been jam-packed with students who have incredible God-given abilities.

“These students are strong in the arts, as well as athletics and academics,” Butterfield added, “but our facility didn’t match the quality of students we were producing.”

The facility? Built in 1957 (with an addition developed in 1985), there was no dedicated space for fine arts programs like music, theater and art. Although the school had a strong band program, they were stifled by the need to share spaces, which meant years of setting up chairs in the gym every day, putting those chairs away and stowing instruments in hallway lockers.

It was clear that a new space was needed, and discussions had been in the works, he said, for “decades and decades.” Finally, enough was enough.

Donors Stepping Up

“We did a formal feasibility study in 2019,” said Butterfield, “and went through iterations of what things could look like. The feasibility study confirmed that donor interest was in the arts rather than athletic or academic, but the findings showed that there were only a few million dollars that we could potentially raise toward the project, and we knew that was low compared to what we’d need.”

Then everything changed.

Not originally included in the 2019 feasibility study was a significant gift left to LuSo by a faithful man and 1979 graduate named Darren Jubel. Before he passed away in 2015, Jubel had made it known that he wanted his financial resources to directly benefit his alma mater, a place where he’d felt known and loved. The Darren Jubel Foundation therefore decided to contribute $6.5 million to LuSo to help fund a new performing arts center. And that generosity was only the beginning.

“The LCEF board approved a $4 million loan from the beginning and a bridge loan if needed,” said Butterfield. “The rest was raised by donors.”

LuSo met with Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) throughout the planning stages of the project, even before it was officially underway.

“We were just sketching out the possibilities and options,” recalled Butterfield. “They were so thoughtful, professional and kind. It’s clear LCEF cares about what goes on here, that they want to do everything they can to see success in LuSo.”

A “Long Time Coming”

LuSo broke ground on the 44,000-square-foot performing arts complex in 2023 at an approximate cost of $20 million. This new Darren Jubel Charitable Foundation Center for the Arts, explained Butterfield, now hosts classroom and programming space as well as a 626-seat performing arts theater with professional sound, lighting and a full fly space above the stage.

Right outside the theater, beneath the auditorium’s title, are individual plaques for all the donors who helped make the expansion possible. Designed in the style of an amplified soundwave, this donor recognition display documents the names and families of those who gave to their passions, along with the living effect of their generosity.

In addition to the theater, the new space also includes a music hall, visual art studio, scene shop, coffee shop, office space and more.

“The Jubel Center for the Arts, named in honor of Darren Jubel, opened last February [2025] and already in April, LuSo won a St. Louis High School Musical Award for Best Show in St. Louis for our production of ‘Little Women,’” shared Butterfield. “We were nominated for 8 out of 13 possible high school musical awards and won 5 of them. The kids are very talented, and the facility also made a big difference.”

After “decades and decades” of waiting, alumni and donors are thrilled to see LuSo thrive like never before—even as they recall those big dreams of long ago.

This dream has been in the works long enough that today’s alumni had something to say about the topic when they were still students at LuSo. “There is a 1966 LuSo graduate who says that their senior prank was to put an outhouse on the front lawn of the school and a sign with ‘Lutheran South Theater, Class of 1966’ hanging on it,” laughed Butterfield. “They’ve been talking about this theater for a very long time.”

Amazingly, a 1977 graduate of the school, who had also been “long-dreaming of what this place could be,” ended up serving as the architect on record for the new performing arts center, said Butterfield.

“It’s been an absolute Godsend of story after story of people who have generous hearts and means and who want to see Lutheran South flourish into the future,” he added. “Having the new space has really transformed what we can do.”

“It’s been an absolute Godsend of story after story of people who have generous hearts and means and who want to see Lutheran South flourish into the future.”

—Dr. Jonathan Butterfield, Head of School

Earning Donor Trust

While Jubel’s donation was incredibly generous to begin with, the gift would not cover the cost of the expansion on its own. Lutheran South needed more support to make the dream for students happen—and it wasn’t going to happen overnight.

Dr. Butterfield noted, as with anything, “it takes time to build trust and relationships.” He added, “You have to show them the vision first” before project supporters realize they can trust you with their gifts. Understandably, people want confirmation that their gifts will be applied to their preferred cause in a meaningful way.

So, how is it possible to communicate a clear vision for a project before it’s even finished (or, sometimes, before it even begins)?

Find your people and meet them where they are at. After the first donation that brought Lutheran High School South’s expansion closer to reality, information about the donation and the school’s vision for the gift were published on social media, in annual fund reports and in their alumni newsletter.

The alumni newsletter focuses on information for former students who enjoyed their high school experience at Lutheran High School South. Forever a part of the history of LuSo, the alumni still want to know what’s going on at their alma mater. They are therefore one of the primary groups of people who might be interested in sharing their gifts back to their high school.

In many cases, that is exactly what happened. Alumni and their families saw the vision that Lutheran High School South was projecting through their publications. With a clear gift utilization plan in place, donor interest began to snowball. More and more people came forward with the desire to give back to the institution that set them (or their children) up for excellence.

Dreaming Bigger

With momentum like this, LuSo realized that God has even more planned for the school than they originally had imagined.

Although the high school boasts of many successful graduates in the medical and related fields, they haven’t had the lab space or resources to offer students what Butterfield called the “best experience.”

The solution? A new STEM center. In His grace, God brought forward a very generous donor to help kick off funding.

That new donor was Dr. Matthew Gornet, a distinguished local spine doctor and LuSo alum. After meeting with him to discuss the donation, Butterfield said, “we told him what we had in mind and asked if he might contribute funds. He told us to dream even bigger and come back with an even bigger plan. So we did, and now he is the lead giver on the project. What’s more—he wants us to transform STEM education at LuSo, and he doesn’t want his name on the building. He wants the names of his LuSo teachers on each of the rooms.”

If needed, LCEF may once again have the opportunity to provide a bridge loan to LuSo to get STEM lab construction underway sooner.

LuSo hopes to break ground on the new STEM center in summer 2026, and the project will include a new biology lab space, a physics lab, a robotics lab, a computer engineering room, a medical simulator classroom, renovated math classes and potentially a greenhouse.

The inside of the center will also feature what LuSo is calling the “innovation commons” where they plan to host robotics events, and during other times serve as a community gathering space for students and families.

Everything With Excellence

“You can sense that families and kids love the improvements we’ve made,” said Butterfield. “They love the space; they tell their friends to check us out, and I know families appreciate that donors have driven these projects, not tuition dollars.”

Even the community has taken note, added Butterfield, as LuSo has been featured in local news and business journals over the last few years. As a result, enrollment has continued to increase; and this school—full of capable, devoted students—is able to do even more with those special gifts that God has given to each of them.

“Our school’s growth has been a culmination of a number of things, but facilities matter in education,” said Butterfield. “In a city where admissions are competitive, we do everything with excellence here. Coming to Lutheran South, families have every possibility they could want for their education. And now there is a lot of space in this building for kids to stretch out and get to work.”