To say the last year (plus!) has been challenging for us all is an obvious understatement. Through it all, our faculty and staff have risen to the challenge to help us achieve our mission: "Everyone prepared! Everyone saved!" I could not be more proud of their tireless efforts on behalf of the students and families we serve.
Faith is the largest Lutheran school in the United States and the largest non-public school in the state of Nevada. This year, we serve more than 2,000 students in grades 6-12. In spite of our size, we believe the core value of the "Faith Family" makes us feel small where each child is cared for and loved.
I have great respect for the parents who choose to send their children to Faith Lutheran. The financial sacrifices they make to ensure their children are in an exemplary school are admirable - especially during these uncertain times. Our parents realize that the investment they make in their child's spiritual, academic, and extra-curricular lives will have an impact that will last a lifetime - and into eternity. Faith Lutheran is a safe, outstanding school. We are not simply a private school; we are intentionally a CHRISTian school. Daily, students learn about and experience the love and grace that God has for us through our Savior Jesus Christ.
Together, the Class of 2021 was accepted into over 100 different colleges and universities including Concordia University, Duke, Grambling State, Marquette, Baylor, Gonzaga, Grand Canyon University, UNLV, Cal-Berkeley, Purdue, Florida State University, USC, Clemson, Northeastern, SMU, Colorado Boulder, SMU, University of Hawaii, Oregon, NYU, UCLA, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Arizona - just to name a few. The Class of 2021 secured MORE THAN 17.7 MILLION DOLLARS IN COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS. In the past five years, Faith graduates have been accepted into a staggering 438 different colleges and universities in all 50 states and multiple foreign countries. The average ACT score for the Class of 2021 was 25.5; three students earned perfect 36s. Our SAT averages for the Class of 2021 were 620 in Evidenced Based Reading and Writing and 601 in Mathematics. COVID-19 had an interesting impact on the Class of 2021 in that only 84% of the class is going to college this year; many are taking a gap year instead.
36 Honors and 21 Advanced Placement (AP) courses strengthen our college-prep curriculum. In grades 6, 7, and 8 our Middle School boasts Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) scores in the 90th percentile compared to other schools nationwide. Advanced classes bolster a rigorous curriculum. More than 80% of our middle school students make Faith Lutheran their high school of choice; that seamless transition allows us to serve students and families for up to seven years.
Our high school offers an incredible 191 different courses from which to choose; students only take 8 classes per year so their biggest problem is often fitting in everything they want to take!
We believe that student involvement on campus after school is a vital part of the Faith Lutheran experience. Our middle school offers several drama performances each year, choir, band, handbells, football, hockey, volleyball, cross country, cheerleading, dance, wrestling, basketball, track, soccer, baseball, softball, golf, tennis, and lacrosse. Our high school offers choir, band, handbells, drama, football, hockey, volleyball, cross country, golf, cheerleading, dance, tennis, soccer, basketball, wrestling, baseball, softball, golf, track, swimming, and lacrosse. Additionally, many clubs and activities, which are located under the "Student Life" tab on our homepage, exist for our Middle School and High School students. There is indeed something for everyone at Faith Lutheran.
While stats are impressive, it's the stories of the lives that have been changed, enriched, and blessed that inspire families from around the valley to attend Faith Lutheran every year. We love welcoming new families into the Faith Family!
We invite you to visit our dynamic campus at any time. We fulfilled another promise in our BUILD FAITH capital campaign as the Crusader Business Center/Office was completed last fall on our southern parcel. The next phase of BUILD FAITH is underway as a tennis complex with ten courts is currently under construction as is an aviation room for the Oder Family Flight Academy. Our strategic plan in the next twenty years calls for adding an aquatic center or ice arena, STEM building, and new classroom building replacing our portables. Yet, if in a hundred years from now the campus still looks as we picture it today in the master plan, we will have, in a sense, failed. But if future generations, based on needs we know nothing of now, physically alter this campus to better prepare and save people so that Faith Lutheran is a vital and dynamic force in the Las Vegas Valley, we will have succeeded well beyond our wildest dreams. In the meantime, we will continue to build spaces and places for adults and kids to do their best work.
God has richly blessed us since our beginning in 1979. If there is anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact me. These are indeed exciting times to be a part of Faith Lutheran. We have deep respect for our school's history and thank God for those who have gone before us as it is on their broad shoulders that we stand today, yet we firmly believe that our best years still lie ahead and look forward to God's continued grace on this place.
God bless you, and God bless Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School.
Dr. Steve Buuck, CEO - Chief Executive Officer