A COURAGEOUS VISION

A little more than 40 years ago, with fortitude and foresight, the Founders of La Lumiere brought to life their dream of an independent college preparatory school devoted to the development of character, scholarship and faith.

Last year, our trustees and school leadership embarked on a refounding of La Lumiere, with the aspiration of being the premier boarding/day school in the Midwest. In just one year's time, we have already made great progress toward that dream, achieving the goals of the first phase of the campaign by securing over $3 million in pledged support. These gifts allow us to address deferred maintenance issues through renovation and repair of facilities, and to strengthen the quality of learning through additional facilities in the Academic Building.

The backing that the campaign has already garnered is indicative of the dedicated supporters who already stand behind us. Energized by that support--and captivated by the vision of making La Lumiere all it can be--the faculty and administration stand fully ready to build upon this forward momentum.

Proposed Campus Improvements

PRIORITY ONE | Life Safety Issues
Status: $1.6 M funded and near completion
This priority addresses life-safety, deferred and preventive maintenance issues by renovating and repairing current facilities. All lake dorms were renovated during the summer of 2006, and renovations and upgrades to classrooms and faculty residences were completed in the summer of 2007.

PRIORITY TWO | Academics
Status: $1.2 M funded and project commenced July 2007
Strengthening the quality of learning at La Lumiere School, this priority provides for additional classrooms, science and music labs, faculty offices and tutorial space in the Academic Building. It also provides for curriculum development and the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty needed to teach this curriculum--both of which are integral to becoming the Midwest's premier independent boarding and day school.

PRIORITY THREE | Student Life
Status: Goal of $1 M
This priority will address and improve student life by: creating campus green spaces; creating and adding gathering space for all-school events; and handling increases in enrollment through the renovation and expansion of kitchen and dining areas and the student lounge.

PRIORITY FOUR | Residential Life
Status: Goal of $1.4 M
This priority will enhance and coordinate staffing to enable full usage of facilities and support a healthy boarding population. It will create a residential environment attractive to boarding students and faculty members by renovating existing housing or building new where appropriate.

PRIORITY FIVE | Athletics
Status: Goal of $1.3 M
Advancing an athletic program committed to excellence, this priority will provide for both coaching and player development by dedicating necessary resources to raise the competitiveness of the entire athletic program. Facilities will be enhanced by building new tennis courts, adding an all-weather track, providing new locker rooms, upgrading the weight room and renovating the gym.

Securing La Lumiere's Long-Term Viability

PRIORITY SIX | Endowment
Status: Goal of $5 M
To relieve the School's operating budget and secure long-term goals, this priority will build a solid institutional endowment. The endowment will enable La Lumiere School to: establish scholarship funds to attract quality students and maintain socioeconomic diversity; create endowed chairs to retain and attract quality faculty; support the maintenance of facilities and grounds; provide funding for athletics, including equipment and programming; support extracurricular and co-curricular student activities; and create a technology fund for academic and administrative support.