The Seattle Lutheran High School in West Seattle founded in the late 70s is closing it’s doors. The school has issues meeting it’s enrollment, academic, recruitment and financial goals. This news was announced School on April 22. The end of the 2022 academic year will be the ending for the school. The announcement was made by School President Hamilton Gardener at a school assembly. The sad information was also placed on the school’s website.
Many students matriculated through the school for the last four decades. The school serve the West Seattle community. This tough decision was reached by the Board of Directors. There seems to have been major efforts to keep the school open. There was a two-year effort with Hope Lutheran Church and the School to focused on creating a viable pathway forward.
There were talks about a pathway leading to sustainable enrollment levels, appropriate compensation for faculty and staff, and a top quality educational experience. However, the board did still did not find the way forward. Seattle Lutheran High School was chartered in 1976 by an association of over 30 Lutheran churches in greater Seattle and opened its doors on September 17, 1978.
There are other issues such as what to do with the building. Where will the students go next year? What is there to expect from degrees from a school that is no longer there? The Board will be taking the next year to figure it all out. They still want the facilities to be used to further Christian education, to include continued collaboration with Hope Lutheran Church and School to explore a new vision for the future.
The school put on a strong face saying that the good news is that even when times are difficult, God is faithful to His people. “The prophet Jeremiah prayed these words that may be of encouragement to you as well in this time: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” – Lamentations 3:22-23
The school said that a small staff will remain over the next year to facilitate an orderly closure process. The school leader stated, “We are grateful to the Lutheran Church Extension Fund for providing the financial assistance needed to support our mission over the years. We also would like to thank the staff and Board of Hope Lutheran Church and School for their relentless efforts, support, and belief that we could see the high school succeed into the future. While our goals were not reached, we could not have made it this far without their support.”
