Lutheran High School of Orange County (commonly known as Orange Lutheran High School or OLu) is a private

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...

, in the

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

, founded in 1973. The school offers on-campus, online, and blended schedules for its students. Orange Lutheran is accredited by the National Lutheran School Accreditation Organization and the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing School accreditation, accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary school, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, ...

. The school is also known for its Missions Program, which travels internationally and domestically on a year-round basis.

History

In the fall of 2003, the

Alexandra Nechita Alexandra Nechita (born August 27, 1985) is a Romanian Americans, Romanian-American Cubism, cubist painter and philanthropist. At age 12 she was dubbed the "Petite Pablo Picasso, Picasso" by the media and the art community. She has been praised ...

Center for the Arts opened in the space once occupied by an old gym. The 740-seat performance hall is home to drama, dance, instrumental and vocal music productions, guest speakers and chapel services. In 2014, the school completed a round of renovations as part of its "Beyond Expectations" program which added 40,000 sq. ft. of new buildings to the school’s footprint, including a new academic center, three new classrooms, and new collaborative meeting spaces for students, teachers and parents, in addition to the student union and a 12,900 sq. ft. covered lunch area. In late 2004, Orange Lutheran partnered with the

Apollo Group Apollo Education Group, Inc. is an American corporation based in the South Phoenix area of Phoenix, Arizona, with an additional corporate office in Chicago, Illinois. The company owns and operates several higher-learning institutions, including ...

to offer online classes. In 2013, the school launched a new enrollment system and integrated tablets into its curriculum.

Academics

The school operates under a two semester system and eight periods on a

block schedule Block scheduling or blocking is a type of academic scheduling used in schools in the American K-12 system, in which each pupil has fewer classes per day. It is more common in middle and high schools than in primary schools. Each class is schedu ...

. Four are periods offered each day that are 75 minutes in length. All students attend Daily Gathering, which includes Praise & Worship, Chapel and school activities. Orange Lutheran incorporates 19

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

classes into its curriculum. The Orange Lutheran Online (OLO) program allows for students to complete coursework online on a full-time basis. "Blended" schedules allow students to work online and attend on-campus classes. The school also offers a

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

program.

Service

All students are required to complete a minimum of 20 hours of "Service to Society"

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

for each year of attendance. Five of the 20 hours will involve participation in one Service Day event each year.

Athletics

Orange Lutheran has 23 varsity athletic teams, including Ice Hockey, which won back to back state titles in 2015 and 2016, Surf, and a 2014 Track and Field State Title in the Pole Vault by Carl Johansson. Athletics are divided into three seasons throughout the year: fall, winter, and spring. The fall sports feature cross country, football, girls golf, surf, girls tennis, girls volleyball, and boys water polo. The winter sports feature boys basketball, girls basketball, ice hockey, boys soccer, girls soccer, girls water polo, and wrestling. The spring sports feature baseball, boys golf, boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, softball, swim & dive, boys tennis, track & field, and boys volleyball. The school competes in the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

and the Trinity League.

Notable People

;Alumni *

Dean Thompson Dean Thompson is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by Patrick O'Connor. The character made his first screen appearance on 1 February 2018. The character was introduced as one of ''Home and ...

, professional racing driver for

Niece Motorsports Niece Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Owned by Al Niece, it currently fields No. 40 Chevrolet Silverado full-time for Dean Thompson, No. 42 Chevrolet ...

Cole Winn Cole Robert Winn (born November 25, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Texas Rangers organization. Amateur career Winn spent his freshman, sophomore, and junior years of high school at Silver Creek High School in Longmont ...

, professional baseball player *

Gerrit Cole Gerrit Alan Cole (born September 8, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros. Cole played for the baseball team ...

, professional baseball player *

Aaron Corp Aaron Corp (born March 6, 1989) is a former American football quarterback and current high school football coach. He was signed as undrafted free agent by the Buffalo Bills in 2012 and was briefly with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college foot ...

, professional football player *

Tyler Hilinski Tyler Scott Haun Hilinski (May 26, 1996 – January 16, 2018) was an American football quarterback who played college football at Washington State University. He died by suicide following his junior year. An autopsy revealed that he had stage o ...

, quarterback for the Washington State University Cougars *

Ryan Hilinski Ryan J. Hilinski (born October 24, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Northwestern Wildcats. He previously played for the South Carolina Gamecocks, where he started 11 games in 2019. Early years Hilinski attended the Lutheran Hig ...

, quarterback for the Northwestern University Wildcats * Jason Martin, professional baseball player *

Brandon Maurer Brandon Eugene Maurer (born July 3, 1990) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals. From Costa Mesa, California, Maurer ...

, professional baseball player *

Amber Neben Amber Leone Neben (born February 18, 1975) is an American racing cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI Women's Continental Team . Neben won the UCI world time trial championship in 2008 and 2016 as well as the U.S. national road race champions ...

, Olympic cyclist *

, painter *

Austin Pettis Austin Pettis (born February 8, 1989) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted in the third round, 78th overall, in the 2011 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Early years Pettis attended Orange Lutheran High School in Oran ...

, professional football player * Conner Sullivan, quarterback for the

University of Southern California Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

and Stuttgart Scorpions * Andrew Thurman, professional baseball player *

Gabe York Gabe York (born August 2, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats, earning second-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 as a ...

(born 1993), basketball player for the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are affiliated with the Indiana Pacers. The team plays their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The M ...

. *Hannes Daube, American water polo player named to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Olympic roster for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. ;Faculty *

Mark Langston Mark Edward Langston (born August 20, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Seattle Mariners (1984–1989), Montreal Expos (1989), California / Anaheim Angels (1990–1997), San Diego Padres (1 ...

, former baseball coach

References

External links

School Homepage

Orange Lutheran Online
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1973 High schools in Orange County, California Lutheran schools in California Private high schools in California 1973 establishments in California Secondary schools affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod