News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Marketing head for the high school planning committee, Dylan Tanner, Immanuel Lutheran Pastor Joshua Schultz, and Project Consultant Tom Tuuri stand in the gym at the old ACES academy building on Thursday.

ALPENA — Immanuel Lutheran will be opening a new high school for ninth and 10th grade students in the fall of 2026.

The congregation approved starting the school and the purchase of the former ACES academy building as its location. Renovations are underway.

“Over the last oh, I don’t know, five-ish years, we’ve started toying with this idea of expanding and offering the high school level,” Pastor Joshua Schultz said. “And then we really ramped up in the last few years. We did a feasibility study in the community and found that there was a lot of support for the idea. So we got pushing ahead, and here we are.”

Schultz said that the church wants to give Alpena another secondary education option by starting a high school.

“We’d like to offer Christian education specifically, …education from a Christian worldview,” he said. “I know some people have different values, and that’s what we’d like to highlight.”

Tom Tuuri, project consultant, added that another goal is to create a safe environment, and Schultz agreed.

“We don’t anticipate that this will be a massive school, but certainly open to whatever growth the Lord gives us,” Schultz said. “But, yeah, the safe environment is important.”

As for the reason they are starting with ninth and 10th grade, Schultz said that they don’t anticipate a lot of 11th and 12th graders, and they want to ease into it. Plans could change if the community shows a lot of interest, but he said that is the most reasonable path right now.

Tuuri talked about the renovations that need to be done, including abiding by the State of Michigan’s life safety standards.

“We have an architect that’s already given us a proposal on plans, and we’ll finalize that design, we’ve already done some budgeting, so we know where we’re going with that,” Tuuri said. “…We will go in here and make it safe first, that will be the number one priority. And then we’ll do some upgrades, ADA bathrooms, refurbishing some of the areas, and that’s going to be a process over the next few years.”

There will be a community open house in Immanuel’s church fellowship hall on April 15 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.