Happy New Year! We pray that all of our families enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and a restful break. It was delightful to see everyone return this week and hear fun stories about travel, traditions, time with family, and celebrations of the season.

Kicking of the new year, we will continue our work to support and inspire intentional discussions on culture-building and culture-shaping within our school and homes. Our monthly "What we're reading..." feature includes articles and other resources that we hope you find of interest.

2020 also marks that 150th anniversary of the founding of Immanuel Lutheran Church and School. Throughout the year, we look forward to sharing more about the school’s history in Alexandria, and together looking forward to the future. We are inviting ILS alumni and their families, as well as former teachers, to share their stories and photos from your time at Immanuel. Please contact us if you have pictures or stories you would be willing to share!

We give thanks for each of our families, and the wonderful opportunity to partner with you in the important work of educating and nurturing children. Thank you for engaging with us in these ongoing conversations and for sharing items you have read that may be inspiring to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

As we enter the final month of the calendar year, the church has begun a new year with the beginning of Advent. This penitential season of waiting finds us waiting both for the celebration of the Christ child as we also wait for the final coming of Christ our King.

As a community, we want to support and inspire intentional discussions on culture-building and culture-shaping, and we hope that our monthly "What we're reading..." feature is one way we can support this work at home and at school. This month, we include resources on Advent, celebrating St. Nicholas, and other topics of interest to our teachers and families.

We give thanks for each of our families, and the wonderful opportunity to partner with you in the important work of educating and nurturing children. Thank you for engaging with us in these ongoing conversations and for sharing items you have read that may be inspiring to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

November is here, and in this season of thankfulness, we are reminded that we have so much to be thankful for within this church and school community at Immanuel. We give thanks for each of our families, and the wonderful opportunity to work with you in the important work of educating and nurturing your children.

This community and the close relationship between home and school, is fundamental to all we do at ILS, and we want to encourage and support you in this important work. As a community, we want to foster intentional discussions on culture-building and culture-shaping, and we hope that our monthly "What we're reading..." feature can inspire, encourage and support us in this work at home and at school.

This month, we’re grateful to the PTL for inviting Brooke Shannon, founder and CEO of Wait Until 8th to join us for a conversation on smart phones and other technology. We hope you will join us on Friday, November 15th at 8:30am for what is certain to be a thoughtful and encouraging discussion.

We also love for families to pass along things they have read that may be interesting to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

As we enter the second month of the school year, it is delightful to watch the rhythms and routines of the school year return as the school is filled with the joyful sounds of singing, poetry, learning and laughter. We pray that our families are also finding comfort in the routines and traditions of the year, and we have so enjoyed seeing families in the mornings on the playground, at our First Friday Coffees, joining us in worship for Wednesday Chapel, and other events.

As we have noted previously, this community, and the close relationship between home and school, is fundamental to all we do at ILS. It is a privilege to serve each of our families, and we want to encourage and support you in the important work you are doing with your children. That desire to encourage inspired this blog series, our monthly "What we're reading..." feature. Here, we try to share and encourage discussions on culture-building and culture-shaping, and how we can together support this important work both at school and at home.

We hope that our ILS families and friends enjoy spending some time reading and reflecting on the articles, sermons, and news articles we share each monthl, and then join us at a First Friday Coffee or other parent program to discuss these and other topics.

We also love for families to pass along things they have read that may be interesting to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

Happy first week of school! It was such a joy to see all of our students and families gathered together to begin our first day of the new year. This community, this relationship between home and school, is fundamental to all we do at ILS. Throughout this year, we’ll be sharing and encouraging discussions on culture-building and culture-shaping, and how we can together support this important work both at school and at home.

One place we’ll share ideas on this topic is here on our monthly "What we're reading..." feature. Each month, we collect and share a selection of articles, sermons, blog posts, or other materials that we have found to be particularly insightful or inspiring. We hope that our ILS families and friends will enjoy spending some time reading and reflecting as well, and then join us at a First Friday Coffee or other parent program to discuss these and other topics.

We also love for families to pass along things they have read that may be interesting to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

As we enter this final month of our summer break, we pray that our students, families, and teachers have enjoyed some rest and leisure. With the approaching new school year, stay tuned for some fun posts as we look forward to the school year to come!

Our "What we're reading..." feature for August is full of news articles, sermons, and other news that we’ve found interesting or insightful over the summer, and we hope that you will enjoy spending some time reading and reflecting as well.

In preparation for the new year, we’d love to hear from you! Would you take a moment and share a book or article that you’ve read lately that you think others in our ILS community may enjoy?

We hope everyone is enjoying a restful and relaxing summer! As the summer continues, we are keeping up with our "What we're reading..." series to share news and articles that we’ve found interesting or insightful over the summer months!

What are you reading this summer? If you need some inspiration, check out our weekly “What We’re Reading Wednesday” videos as our faculty and staff share some of their recommendations for parents and students.

Interested in joining fellow parents and teachers for some summer reading?

This summer, ILS is hosting a Summer Book Club! Parents and friends of ILS are invited to join us each month as we read and gather to discuss a short selection. Please use the form below to let us know if you will be able to attend one or more of these discussions!

Join us on Thursdays at 7 pm. Reading selections and options to order, included via the links below.

July 11: Revelation by Flannery O'Conner 
August 8: Leaf by Niggle by J. R. R. Tolkien (copies available in the ILS office)

Please let us know if you can join us!

It’s the last week of school, and we’re just days away from the start of the summer break! The year has flown by, and we are grateful for all our ILS families and students helping to make this a most wonderful year.

As we head into summer, we’re sharing the last edition of "What we're reading..." for the 2018-2019 school year! Don’t worry, we’ll continue to post over the summer, and as always, we hope that you’ll continue to share any articles or news that you’ve found interesting that we should include in an upcoming edition.

Want to join us for some summer reading?

This summer, ILS is pleased to host a Summer Book Club! Parents and friends of ILS are invited to join us each month as we read and gather to discuss a short selection. Please use the form below to let us know if you will be able to attend one or more of these discussions!

Join us on Thursdays at 7 pm. Reading selections and options to order, included via the links below.

June 13: The Golden Key by George MacDonald 
July 11: Revelation by Flannery O'Conner 
August 8: Leaf by Niggle by J. R. R. Tolkien (copies available in the ILS office)

Let us know if you can join us!

It is hard to believe that we have already begun the last full month of the school year and are sharing our next to last edition of "What we're reading..." for the 2018-2019 school year!

As we do throughout the year, our feature includes a wide variety of articles and sermons that we have found to be interesting. This month, we explore education, a look at summer screen time for kids, vocation, black holes, history and duty. We conclude with sharing Pastor Esget’s sermon from Easter 2019.

Have you read (or written!) anything recently that you think we and other ILS families may enjoy? We always welcome you to share any articles or blogs with use to consider including in future blog features.

Spring has arrived, and our journey through the penitential season of Lent continues. Once again we bring you our latest edition of "What we're reading..." with variety articles, sermons, and news that we have found intriguing or interesting these past few weeks.

For April, Pastor Esget kicks us off asking the question of “Do You Believe in Monsters?” Also included is an article from Mrs. Marie Greenway, ILS Music Teacher.

Have you read (or written!) anything recently that you think we and other ILS families may enjoy? We always welcome you to share any articles or blogs with use to consider including in future blog features.