Embedded Files
"Trinity School Mission Statement
"Trinity School Mission Statement
Our Vocation. The conversation between student and teacher is the heart of our school; all that we do must be born of and nourish that relationship. We are called to challenge the minds, fire the imaginations, and train the bodies of the young people who have been entrusted to us; to enlarge their spiritual lives; and to increase their capacity for mutual and self-respect. We intend to prepare them to learn confidently for the rest of their lives and to give generously and joyfully to others. We can accomplish these things only if we keep our students safe and well while they are in our charge.
Our Obligation. We must ask our young people what they believe in so they can know themselves in the world. We must give them the tools of rigorous and passionate intellectual inquiry and self-expression so they can grow. In our commitment to diversity, we must show our students how to be colleagues and friends so they can act out of respect and love. We must lead them to distinguish right from wrong and then do what is right so they can be persuasive and courageous citizens.
Our Promise. As a school community with these purposes and responsibilities, we will engage the larger communities of city, nation, and world of which we are a part. We will serve our neighbors. We will live fully in our city—exploring its byways and playing over its terrain. We will learn its history and traditions, and what it can teach us of the arts and sciences. We will embody and celebrate its diversity.
Our Means. Labore et virtute. The terms of our motto, hard work and moral excellence, are meant to strengthen us as we pursue the promise and joy of Trinity School. We ask Trinity families, alumni, and friends to join us in taking on this high calling" (Trinity School Website -- Mission Statement).
Forbes Magazine School Ranking from 2010
Forbes Magazine School Ranking from 2010
In 2010, Forbes Magazine ranked the Trinity School as the number one prep school in the country. Trinity's successes are something that it still wrestles with, but how?
The head of the school, assistant head of school and a number of other faculty have directly addressed some of these expectations through chapel speeches. While they laud the students' tenacity, drive, and brains, administrators and teachers alike also want to remind students that learning in and of itself is a tremendous feat.
Most of these speeches incorporate the theme of the year; last year it was "grace" and this year it is about "connection." These themes are meant to strengthen the school community as well as unite the separate divisions from k through 12.
The most recent theme is eerily important, especially with our ongoing current events of the Covid-19 pandemic. Being able to replicate a semblance of normalcy through online chapels, new schedules with familiar faces in our classrooms, and even making Minecraft forums for the students has been helpful for some students at home. These are the characteristics that show the community how our institution can care for us as even at a distance.
First Year as a Fellow
First Year as a Fellow
The first year of the fellowship at Trinity consists of an observational approach. For the first semester, I would sit in on my mentor's classes and take note of her teaching style, class structure, and content of the lessons. After a few weeks, we started collaborating on handouts and lesson plans. Eventually, I would begin to speak up in class until the latter half of the second semester when I started to exclusively teach the class. I was eager to have my own classes, especially after having my own classes at my previous fellowship. I also understood that there was a curve to being a new teacher at Trinity. I needed to acclimate not only to the teaching styles, and course content, but also to the actual culture of the school.
Second Year as a Fellow
Second Year as a Fellow
In my second year at Trinity, I got two of my own classes to teach independently. Because I had not taught some of the books from the fall semester, the beginning of the year was especially exploratory for me as I created new lesson plans and considered the ways in which I was going to incorporate my inquiry project as well.
Much of this second year has been about balance: knowing how much of the school's traditional approach to English I should replicate and where I can include semblances of my inquiry project into the English classroom.
Letter to Future Fellows
Letter to Future Fellows
Adaptation : Authentication
Adaptation : Authentication
Dear Future Fellow,
Congratulations! You are about to embark on one of the most educational – in every sense of the word – experiences of your life. Here are my reflections as my time in the program comes to an end. I would like to focus on balancing the act of adaptation with the practice of loyalty.
When entering a new environment, I know that I spend a large amount of time observing the nuances of the atmosphere — the people within it and the rhythm of it. Then at a certain point, I begin the adaptation process. I align some of my habits and actions with some of the ones I may have noticed others embracing. How, for example, do I fit in here as a young educator? What parts of myself do I shine a light on when I talk to coworkers/students?
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Defining my role within the space as a fellow is also a bit of challenge since it falls into a category of its own; although people see me teaching, they also see me learning behind the scenes. So some may feel cognitive dissonance in an effort to negotiate the concurrent acts. I took a long time trying to figure out what kind of teacher I was going to be, thinking over and over again about what my “style” would look like in the classroom. But all that did, especially when comparing myself to other more experienced teachers, was to make me self-critical during my experimentation phase. I wasn’t going to be myself as long as I tried to emulate others. And even when I was not trying to mimic others, I was too focused on the colleagues around me to give myself any credit for my blossoming. Obtaining harmony and consistency would take practicing to actually be in the space, not just observing it.
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In short, though you will adapt to the structure and context of a space, do not change your full self to feel like you really belong within a space. Your relationships with students and colleagues will inform you as to how you belong in this space. The more you begin to visualize and actualize parts of yourself into this new space, the more you will feel like a contributor as well. Also, don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back simply for juggling all that you do. You are a teacher. You are a student. You are a human. And you are a grower. All of those things happen at once and take time. Be patient, but do not forget to be active. Be open to feedback while understanding who you are already. Advice is there to show you how to expand your branches, not to recreate your core. Stay firmly confident within your authentic roots and flourish.
To read the full letter to a future fellow press here...
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