Dear High School Community,

I am looking forward to all of the Week Without Walls trips taking place next week and to hearing the stories when everyone returns. These experiences are more than travel opportunities, they are occasions for growth, service, and shared memory. I am praying for safety for each group and that God would use each trip to teach exactly what He intends.

We held our student council elections yesterday, and over the past few weeks I have received thoughtful emails from parents regarding concerns over the restart of the StuCo Instagram page. I want to provide clarity moving forward.

Beginning next year, I will oversee the Student Council directly and will personally manage any official StuCo social media presence. Its purpose will be outward-facing, showcasing aspects of High School life with parents and prospective families, not targeting or tailoring content to students. All student-related communication will remain within official school channels (ICS Gmail, Schoology, and in-person announcements). We are aware that a growing number of families are intentionally limiting or eliminating social media use for their children, and we are committed to honoring and supporting that effort.

Additionally, while there is a Student Council public relations committee, students themselves will not access or manage social media accounts. Our signal-blocking phone pouches have been ordered after following a careful procurement process, and will be implemented step-by-step as we prepare for and enter the coming academic year.

At ICS, our aim is spiritual formation. Paul warns in 2 Timothy 3:1–2 that “in the last days… people will be lovers of self, lovers of money… rather than lovers of God.” Charles Taylor, in A Secular Age, describes a defining feature of modern Western culture as “expressive individualism,”  the elevation of the autonomous self as the highest authority (Taylor, 2007, p. 299). Social media ecosystems often intensify this impulse, rewarding self-display and self-promotion.

In contrast, we seek to cultivate a community marked by cruciform discipleship, shaped by Jesus’ call, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Christian education has always been counter-cultural. Our technology policies are not reactionary, they are pastoral. They are intended to protect attention, foster humility, and nurture wisdom.