My First Year at Trinity

Contributing Author: Mr. Anthony Parla, Upper School Principal

The 2023-2024 school year is behind us. Reflecting on my first year at Trinity Christian School, I recognize that there is much to celebrate, much to be done, and much the future holds.

Celebrations

I celebrate the visiting accreditation team this fall. In their findings, the team commended Trinity for having developed “an exceptional and well-integrated instructional program that results in meaningful Christian worldview permeation.”

Trinity is blessed with passionate educators dedicated to Christ and classical education. They see their work as ministry. I have greatly enjoyed getting to know these hard-working teachers who are deeply invested in transferring their faith and passion for their subjects to their students. The culture at the upper school has been founded upon the established school core value of service. Teachers work tirelessly to serve their students well by equipping them to think for themselves and embrace a biblical worldview. Much credit is due to those leaders who came before me.

"The visionary leadership of the Headmaster and Assistant Headmaster has had a clear impact on the success, growth, stability, effectiveness, culture, and mission of TCS." ACSI Accreditation Report

In a recent survey, a long-time Trinity parent reflected, “Our children have learned how to think and become confident in their identity and have developed a strong understanding of biblical truths.” A solid foundation has been laid at Trinity and our students benefit from a well-integrated classical Christian instructional program. The senior-thesis presentations affirm for all to see our graduates are excellent communicators thinking biblically, understanding all sides of an argument, and reasoning eloquently. These presentations are truly the culmination of an intentional K-12 education. Well done!

Current Efforts Underway

As the accreditation team noted, at Trinity we are “fully committed to developing and implementing a classical Christian education that captures the unique strengths of classical frameworks in every aspect of the school’s programming.” Looking ahead to the near future, we are working to develop a long-term professional development plan for our teachers. We desire to further equip our faculty in the art and science of teaching classically.

Professional development takes time, and so we are looking at ways to build in teachers' time to improve their craft. We are considering changes to next year’s schedule that will allow teachers regular time to collaborate on lesson planning and data analysis to improve instruction. Additionally, we are considering membership with additional Classical Christian associations that could help provide professional development for our teachers that is distinctly classical and Christian.

Vision for the Future

I am excited to be part of the classical Christian education movement and its ongoing restoration. But much work still needs to be done. The world desperately needs godly world changers who can lead with wisdom and virtue. As a follower of Christ, I want to make the greatest impact possible, during the time God has me at Trinity. This means constantly looking for ways to improve, remaining humble, and embracing a lifelong pursuit of learning. By God’s grace, Trinity will serve even more families in the future by providing our students with the best possible education grounded in reason, truth, beauty, and wonder!