A letter from Dr. Joannah Clark, Head of School
Warm greetings from Trinity Academy!
As we celebrate Thanksgiving and look towards Christmas, we reflect on the past year, thanking God for all of the ways he has blessed Trinity Academy. Each year, on a Sunday afternoon in early November, Trinity hosts a big Open House. Our main objective is to invite prospective students and their families to experience our community, and we hope to give them a taste of Trinity Academy in just two short hours!
At this year’s Open House a few weeks ago, you could see faculty, school parents, and no fewer than fifty-nine student ambassadors filling our building, ready to highlight different areas of the curriculum and share stories of their Trinity experiences with the visitors. One classroom, full of artwork and recordings of past plays and concerts, showcases the beauty that students produce in our fine arts courses. In another room, students write MATLAB programs in real time and conduct a physics experiment complete with exciting collisions. Nearby, avid biologists carefully dissect and examine specimens. A table piled high with books holds all of the novels, history, philosophy, and theology that students read in both their literature and composition and humane letters courses. In the room next door, a group of tenth graders and their teacher engage in a lively sample seminar discussion. Elsewhere in the building scripture is studied and languages, ancient and modern, are translated and admired. Current students guide visitors to practice inscribing ancient alphabets on clay tablets. Trinity’s various sports and extracurricular activities receive enthusiastic testimonials as well.
Visitors at our Open Houses are invariably impressed with the student ambassadors; these warm, friendly young men and women greet them with a smile, look them in the eye, and speak easily and naturally about their classes and their interests. Guests meet students who are curious and engaged in their learning, obviously excited about their school and bursting to share that excitement with others. But another magical aspect of the Open House weekend never ceases to amaze and delight me, year after year. Over half of the student body voluntarily stays after school on Friday afternoon to help prepare for the event! These helpers clean the school from stem to stern and move furniture all over the building to make way for our visitors. And you should see how they work: a swarm of productive energy, the students are cheerful and joyful, delighted to pitch in and help. You can tell that everyone is having fun together, getting to join in with their teachers and take ownership of the school. This year, as the preparatory blitz drew to a close, a hardworking Junior girl confided in me that “Open House cleaning day” was her “favorite Trinity holiday!” But it doesn’t end there. When the Open House is over, the student helpers do it all again! Quickly and effectively, we clean up and put everything back in place for the daily routine of learning which begins afresh the next morning.
In our vision statement, we state that we “desire to equip students to live flourishing lives in service of God and others.” The students of Trinity Academy truly exemplify this vision. In their learning and in their desire to serve, they are flourishing.
At the Commencement exercises last June, valedictorian Ronan Cook invoked Father Zosima, a character in Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, who implored his followers to maintain an active love for one another. This love, as defined by Father Zosima, consists of “labor and perseverance.” Ronan pointed out the active love that is constantly present at Trinity Academy:
“We love and serve each other daily, in small acts and big. Faculty regularly work overtime at Trinity, guiding students through complex math problems, challenging essays, or tough watercolors. Students, too, regularly love and serve, whether it be cleaning the school, helping each other with homework, or, my personal favorite, baking cookies for everyone to share.”
Service of God and others is a daily way of life at our school. From the biggest sacrifices of time and support, to the littlest delights of sharing treats with classmates, Trinity’s community knows what it is to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
I see this same practice of active love, the service of God and others, in you, our friends and partners. Throughout our school’s history, generous partners have made the work of Trinity Academy possible with prayer and financial support. As I write this, we have raised $45,000 towards a $200,000 matching gift challenge, presented by faithful donors, in support of Trinity’s annual needs. This means that any gift you give now will be doubled, helping to provide need-based scholarships for half of the student body, support our faculty, and enrich our academic and extracurricular programs. I ask you to prayerfully consider joining in the mission of Trinity Academy by helping us to meet this match. We are so very grateful for your support. We pray for you this Christmas season, and we ask that you continue to pray for the work of Trinity Academy and for all those in our extended school community.
With gratitude,
Joannah Clark
Head of School
