Lumen Christi Catholic School and High School

What Lumen Christi Catholic School and High School does

Lumen Christi Catholic School and High School is an independent, nonprofit PreK-12 classical Catholic school located at 580 Stevens Street in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2002 by Edie Fitzgerald and four home-schooling families, the school operates with express consent from the Archbishop of Indianapolis but is independently governed by a Board of Directors and funded entirely without public or parochial support, a deliberate choice intended to preserve its mission integrity. It serves families seeking a faith-integrated, classical liberal arts education for children from Pre-K through 12th grade, with daily Mass at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, an oath-of-fidelity requirement for all faculty, and curriculum structured around great books, primary sources, and Latin instruction.

The academic product is organized into three core programs: a Pre-K program for four-year-olds meeting two days per week (using the Catholic Icing home-school Pre-K program alongside Catechesis of the Good Shepherd), an Elementary School (K-8) built around highly structured classical materials with capped class sizes of 15, and a High School (9-12) with a 1:6 teacher-to-student ratio, courses in theology, literature, history, political science, Latin, math and science, and supplementary offerings such as The Bleat! student newspaper, extracurricular contests, fine arts, CYO athletics, and an annual pilgrimage program. Outcomes include a 100% college acceptance rate and average PSAT and SAT scores materially above national averages (1050 and 1256 respectively). The school is accredited by NAPCIS and listed in The Cardinal Newman Society's Newman Guide.

The business model is tuition-driven at $9,850 per year for high school (2025-26), supplemented by application fees, registration deposits, the Light in the City Annual Gala, the Lumens monthly giving program, legacy giving, and a newly structured scholarship fund paired with an Indiana SGO tax-credit partnership (IQE). Distribution is direct-to-consumer: families apply online or in person, schedule tours or shadow days, and are admitted on a rolling basis with priority for current families, siblings, Holy Rosary parishioners, and practicing Catholics. Marketing is almost entirely community-driven, relying on word-of-mouth within the Indianapolis Catholic community, a comprehensive website, and limited earned media in archdiocesan publications. The school does not accept state vouchers.

Name

Lumen Christi Catholic School and High School

Legal name

Lumen Christi Catholic School

Website

https://lumenchristischool.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lumen Christi Catholic School and High School is an independent, nonprofit PreK-12 classical Catholic school in downtown Indianapolis serving families seeking faith-integrated classical education with daily Mass, capped small class sizes, and college-prep outcomes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private K-12 Catholic Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based (Religious) K–12 Schools (EDAJABAC)

Keywords

• Classical Catholic education
• K-12 private school
• College preparatory curriculum
• Faith-based schooling
• Independent Catholic education

Headquarters

HQ city

Indianapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition: Primary revenue stream from tuition payments. Tuition for 2025-26 is $9,850 for high school. Additional revenue from application fees ($50), registration deposits ($80 per student), and fundraising events including the Light in the City Annual Gala.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Lumen Christi Catholic School and High School is an independent nonprofit PreK-12 classical Catholic school in downtown Indianapolis that delivers a unified, faith-integrated classical curriculum across Pre-K, Elementary (Grades K-8), and High School (Grades 9-12) programs. The school sells annual tuition-based enrollment to families seeking a faithful Catholic education, with average high school class sizes of 1 teacher to 6 students, daily Mass, and college-preparatory academics that yield a 100% college acceptance rate. Supplementary offerings include extracurricular contests, fine arts, CYO sports, The Bleat! student newspaper, and annual pilgrimage programs.

Product overview

Lumen Christi Catholic School is a PreK-12 independent classical Catholic school in Indianapolis, Indiana, offering a unified educational program that integrates faith and virtue with classical academic instruction. The institution operates three core programs: the Pre-K Program for children turning 4 by August 1, the Elementary School (K-8) with classically-inspired curriculum emphasizing fundamentals and small class sizes, and the High School Program (9-12) providing college-preparatory education with an average class size of 1 teacher to 6 students. Supplementary offerings include The Bleat! student newspaper, diverse extracurricular activities (contests, fine arts, and CYO sports), and annual pilgrimage programs for faith formation. The school is accredited by NAPCIS and recognized in The Newman Guide as an exemplar of faithful Catholic education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-K Program Early childhood program for students who turn 4 years old by August 1, meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:10 AM to 2:20 PM. Uses the Catholic Icing home school Pre-K program, Creating Early Readers, and incorporates the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
• Elementary School (Grades K-8) Classical education curriculum emphasizing fundamentals with highly structured materials, small class sizes (max 15 students per class), and individualized attention. Curriculum integrates faith and virtue with academic instruction across core subjects.
• High School Program (Grades 9-12) College-preparatory classical curriculum with small class sizes (1:6 teacher-to-student ratio), daily Mass, courses in Theology, Math, Science, Literature, History, Political Science, and Latin. Average PSAT 1050 and SAT 1256 with 100% college acceptance rate among graduates.
• Extracurricular Activities Program Supplementary student programming including contests (Right to Life Essay Contest, NEA Shakespeare Competition, Science Fairs, Chess Club), Fine Arts (School Choruses, Spring Drama Production), and Sports (CYO basketball, volleyball, track and field).
• Annual Pilgrimage Program Annual pilgrimage opportunities for juniors and seniors to Catholic shrines including the Shrine of the Canadian Martyrs, Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, and various U.S. shrines, designed for faith formation and spiritual development.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% college acceptance rate among graduates
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Archbishop of IndianapoliscoreOthersLumen Christi operates with express consent from the Archbishop to identify itself as Catholic. The school recognizes the authority of the bishop over Catholic education in his diocese, while maintaining independent governance and funding.
• Holy Rosary Catholic ChurchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudents attend daily Mass at Holy Rosary Church. Parish families receive $525 tuition reduction. Many families are members of Holy Rosary. The school and parish share community ties.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Highlands Latin School: Classical Christian K-12 school in Louisville, Kentucky with a Socratic, classical pedagogy. Strongest direct peer on classical-pedagogy model; only differs in geography and faith tradition (Protestant classical vs Catholic classical).
• Bishop Chatard High School: Archdiocesan Catholic high school in Indianapolis offering college-prep education to grades 9-12. Closely comparable mission, location, and target demographic to Lumen Christi.
• Cathedral High School: Catholic co-educational high school in Indianapolis serving grades 9-12. Directly competes for the same Indianapolis Catholic family market with comparable tuition positioning and college-prep curriculum.
• Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School: Jesuit Catholic college-prep school in Indianapolis serving grades 9-12. Comparable Catholic identity, college-prep outcomes, and Indianapolis family demographic, though Jesuit rather than diocesan/independent.
• Heritage Christian School: Independent Protestant Christian PreK-12 school in Indianapolis. Competes for faith-integrated college-prep families with similar tuition profile, though Protestant rather than Catholic.
• Providence Cristo Rey High School: Catholic college-prep high school in Indianapolis with a corporate work-study model. Targets Indianapolis Catholic families with a similar college-prep mission, though with a different economic-access model.
• St. Theodore Guerin High School: Small Catholic college-prep high school in the Indianapolis area. Competes for Catholic families seeking a smaller school environment with strong college placement, similar to Lumen Christi's positioning.
• Guerin Catholic High School: Catholic college-preparatory high school in Noblesville (greater Indianapolis area) serving grades 9-12. Directly competes for Catholic families willing to commute from Indianapolis suburbs.
• Roncalli High School: Catholic co-educational high school in Indianapolis serving grades 9-12 within the Archdiocese. Competes for the same Catholic family segment with similar college-prep focus.

Broad incumbents

• Park Tudor School: Independent non-sectarian PreK-12 school in Indianapolis. Competes for college-prep families willing to pay private school tuition but offers a broader, secular liberal-arts focus versus Lumen Christi's faith-integrated classical model.

Market position

Strengths6 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC9RvKRP9ZAB4NeusHJCr3Pg
• Facebookfacebook.com/LumenChristiSchool
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/lumen-christi-catholic-school-and-high-school

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lumen Christi Catholic School and High School