A $20.5 million loan will help Waukesha County's first Lutheran high school open some time in the 2008-09 school year, school leaders announced. The Lutheran High School Association of Greater Milwaukee has raised about $10 million of the financing needed for the $30 million project, said Lori Land, the association's director of advancement.

The $20.5 million in financing from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will help provide the rest of the money needed to build a main academic wing, gymnasium and commons area that will be a permanent home for Lake Country Lutheran High School.

The site for the new school in Hartland already has been graded, utilities have been put in place, and the footings and foundation have been started in preparation for the start of the main building, said Tom Buck, the association's superintendent of schools.

The association's strong organization was a large factor in Thrivent issuing its largest loan in the company's 105-year history, said Fred Johnson, portfolio manager for Thrivent's lending program for Lutheran schools, churches and institutions.

"There's such a strong commitment in the Milwaukee area to private education that I think they've proven they can make it work," said Johnson, who also noted the large numbers of Lutherans living in the Milwaukee area.

Buck said the association plans to pay back the loan through money raised from donations. The loan will help complete a project almost a decade in the making.

Today the high school includes 192 students enrolled in a renovated YMCA building in Oconomowoc.