With back-to-school season in full swing, Advent Lutheran School, 11250 N. Michigan Rd., is preparing for its first day Aug. 24. This year, the school will serve students from preschool through second grade.
The school, which is a part of the Advent Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zionsville, formerly only offered preschool and kindergarten options. The expectation is that the school will eventually benefit learners ranging from preschool to eighth grade.
“It will be some time before we get up to eighth grade, but that’s the goal,” said the school’s headmaster, the Rev. Aaron Schultz said.
Advent Lutheran plans to eventually expand to eighth grade by adding a new grade each academic year.
Schultz said Advent Lutheran puts an emphasis on classical Christian education.
“This is the best approach to education,” Schultz said.
Prior to founding the school, Schultz was a teacher for 10 years. Five of those years were spent with Immanuel Lutheran School in Alexandria, Va., which has a similar education model to Advent Lutheran.
Schultz said today’s academic environment is primarily concerned with ensuring students obtain financial success later in life. While Schultz wants students to be successful, he also wants them to grow as learners and individuals.
“We’re developing learners to love learning for the rest of their lives,” Schultz said.
Schultz said students at Advent Lutheran are taught from a curriculum that includes classic literature, grammar and math. He said the school will explore incorporating more Latin as it adds additional grade levels. The school also emphasizes a low-tech approach. Schultz said an emphasis on technology can lead to passive learning.
Schultz’s goal is for Advent Lutheran is that the school will eventually have its own building apart from the church.
“It’s going to happen at some point,” Schultz said.
For more, visit adventlutheran.org/advent-school/.
