Cognitive or Ability Considerations

Trinity School is founded on the belief that a comprehensive school program marked by high expectations can be designed so that intelligent children of varying learning styles such as giftedness, dyslexia, ADHD, LD as well as differences in sensory processing can attain their full potential in academic, social, and affective development. 

Trinity School seeks to enroll students of average to superior ability.

Trinity School recognizes the uniqueness of each learner and therefore, the school strives to meet the individual needs of each student. Our preschool through eighth grade program recognizes individual learning styles, appreciates diversity, and develops critical, ethical and creative thinking.

• Using proven, research-based teaching methods and progressive technologies, Trinity provides a challenging and comprehensive curriculum that prepares our students for continued academic success.
• Each year builds upon the skills and information learned in the previous year and covers a wide range of material in each of the core curriculum areas of mathematics, language arts, social studies, and science.
• Enabled by small class size and a commitment to honoring various learning styles, Trinity's caring teachers employ multi-sensory instructional and assessment techniques and plan for remediation and acceleration as needed.
• A variety of programs are available to support our students in achieving academic and personal success. Classes in Alphabetic Phonics, Language Basics, Multi-sensory math, Organizational Skills, and guidance as well as enrichments in art, computers, drama, journalism, music, Spanish, and physical education serve to create well-rounded students capable of capitalizing on their successes and developing strategies for improvement.
• The cornerstone of Trinity's program is its talented and nurturing teachers. All of the teachers are fully trained in the subjects they teach and are committed to the school's philosophy of recognizing each individual child as a unique learner.

Trinity School’s philosophy of recognizing the individual learning needs of each child has allowed the school to successfully meet the needs of students with attentional difficulties, and students with mild to moderate learning differences.

Yet even in the face of such success, Trinity School recognizes that some students have learning needs that the school is not equipped to meet. The school will decline to accept or retain students who, in the school’s judgment, have learning needs which will not be met by its methodology, or who demonstrate cognitive limitations that make steady academic progress within Trinity School’s program unlikely.

Behavioral Considerations

Students who experience learning differences often experience difficulty in the traditional school setting. A growing emphasis on early identification and intervention for these students means that many students now enroll at Trinity School without having experienced the loss of self-esteem or the resulting behavior issues which often accompany these school difficulties. Unfortunately, many other children are still not identified early enough to avoid these difficulties. By the time they reach Trinity School some can be somewhat fragile emotionally and easily frustrated. Consequently Trinity does accept students whose school experience has included mild behavioral issues that are the direct result of the frustration caused by failure to progress academically or by the social failure that often accompanies academic distress. We do not enroll students with persistent or severe behavior problems stemming from primary neurological, psychological, or emotional problems.

Peer Relationships

For academic success to occur, it is vital for students to build and maintain self-esteem through rewarding relationships within age appropriate peer groups. Occasionally, new applicants or current students interested in re-enrolling will have academic needs that can be met by the staff and programs offered by Trinity, but not within a group that provides a developmentally appropriate peer group. Trinity School believes that the importance of meeting this need is so great that it will accept or re-enroll only those students for whom it can provide a developmentally and age appropriate peer group.

Student Motivation

Participation in the programs of Trinity School requires of the student a high level of engagement and a commitment to hard work. Such an investment is virtually impossible to evoke through compulsion. Thus, the school will enroll only students who willingly make the transition to Trinity School. Candidates will not be enrolled or re-enrolled against their will, even if the school and the parents agree on the appropriateness of the school’s program for the student. In such cases, conditional acceptance may be granted, but enrollment will be withheld until the student can freely indicate that he or she is making the move willingly.

Conditional Enrollment

Occasionally, a student may be admitted under special circumstances in which a conditional contract will be offered. Such a contract will outline behavioral or performance expectations that the student must meet within a specified time frame (e.g., four to six weeks) to continue with the program. If the conditions are met, the contract may be extended. A decision to extend or not extend the contract is the sole discretion of the Head of School.