The following lays out the five areas of strategic direction that the Lumen Christi High School School Board will be pursuing over the next three years.
These five areas constitute a synthesis of Board perspective and responses to a Lumen Christ parent conducted in early 2019. All responses were considered in formulating these five areas.
1. Faith
We would like our participation in Lumen Christi High School to help our families find additional opportunities to engage in faith formation and build our collective Catholic identity.
- A robust theological education in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church;
- More social occasions in a faith-filled environment;
- More student mission opportunities (e.g. mission trip travel, World Youth Day);
- More student service opportunities (e.g. Brother Francis Shelter, Clare House).
2. Family
We would like our participation in Lumen Christi High School to lead to a greater sense of community with the other families who are part of the school.
- Create opportunities for Lumen Christi parents to directly engage with one another, both in faith formation and socially;
- Create opportunities for Lumen Christi students to socialize organically, promoting the spontaneous nature of young friendships;
- Create easy-access opportunities to engage other members of the LCHS community, e.g. immediately after school when parents are coming to the school anyway;
- More fully incorporate the communities of Lumen Christi and Saint Benedict Parish into one another.
3. Excellence
We would like the education of our students at Lumen Christi High School to offer more and greater opportunities to develop all parts of themselves, so that every student receives a well-rounded education suited to their individual strengths and weaknesses, as befits a school both small in size and Catholic in mission.
- More manifestations of academic excellence across the curriculum;
- More opportunities for artistic and creative expression;
- More opportunities for education in physical health and wellness;
- Fostering effective use of service as a component of Catholic education;
- Greater commitment to the diligent use of our time together (e.g. Friday afternoons);
- More deliberate commitment to the development of the six attributes of a Lumen graduate.
4. Recruitment and Retention
We would like to increase the number of families and students who believe Lumen Christi is the right educational option for them, while reducing the number of families and students who encounter circumstances that make them feel obliged to leave Lumen Christi.
- Make the school’s marketing materials more student-oriented;
- Get people in the building, e.g: Summer camps – both academic and athletic, youth group events, 6th grade welcome night events;
- Reach out to Anchorage communities that are underrepresented at Lumen, e.g., Military/JBER families; ESL and first-generation families;
- Hold more cultural events relating to underrepresented communities;
- Get Lumen information into welcome packets for Anchorage entities that import families, e.g., the Department of Defense, oil and gas companies, healthcare providers;
- Enhance participation for Lumen sports and promote attendance of current games;
- Work with Anchorage School District and AŞAA to allow private school students to participate in team sports not offered at the private school (as long as students participate in the public school they are zoned in).
5. Development
We would like the supporters of Lumen Christi to make it possible for any student to attend, regardless of finances.
- Secure more prospective donors;
- Increase and improve the ways we appreciate supporters;
- Offer more experiences, big and small, to cultivate new LCHS constituents;
- Effectively and appropriately involve Lumen students in development efforts;
- Reduce the number of asks without reducing funds raised;
- More effectively communicate the scholarship every Lumen student receives;
- Recruit more advocates in Anchorage’s faith communities;
- Increase Archdiocesan support for/prioritization of Catholic schools.
Our Philosophy
We are called to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
to build community, and to serve our brothers and sisters.
We are united in our Core Values of
Living Faith, Celebrating Family, and Achieving Excellence.
Our Core Values
Living Faith:
We deepen our Catholic Faith while learning from and respecting the beliefs of others.- We seek to teach as Jesus did – challenging, loving, and guiding our students.
- We serve our community as Jesus would serve – with compassion, reverence, and justice.
Celebrating Family:
- We support parents in their role as the first educators of their children in the Catholic Faith.
- We respect the dignity and worth of every person as a unique creation of an all-loving God.
- We strive to be financially accessible to families willing to adhere to our core values.
Achieving Excellence:
- We focus on our students’ spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social, and physical needs.
- We are committed to producing graduates who act with integrity and self-discipline.
- We develop students who are passionately faithful, intellectually astute, and socially responsible.