Trinity’s stellar Middle School program prepares students to take their place in the broader academic world through a rigorous curriculum that includes a wide spectrum of core classes and electives. Equally crucial is our commitment to helping students successfully navigate the profound physical, cognitive, emotional and social changes of young adolescence. Towards the aim of advocacy for each and every student, we have developed a very special Middle School Advisory Program called Koinonia (Greek word for fellowship).

Each Koinonia group has its own unique personality determined somewhat by the needs and interests of its members. Meetings include discussions, leadership planning for school-wide events and community service. Trinity’s Middle School program is grounded in the very best research and proven experience. It is the solid ground on which our students stand as they spread their wings and begin to soar.

Middle School Curriculum Guide

Service Learning

Regular and meaningful service activity in our local and global community is intended to develop a life-long habit of the heart in our students. Each grade level is partnered with a community organization whose mission and services are related to curriculum goals so our students are able to address a real community need that is connected to their classroom learning. Year-long partnerships create the possibility of relationship formation that transforms charity into mutual service among neighbors. Each grade level has a parent functioning as a service-learning supporter in order to attend to the service partnership and to connect parents to service activity. Some school-wide outreach projects are also conducted.

Gardening Program

Trinity’s garden education curriculum has grown from a dynamic teaching tool that links academic disciplines to a vehicle for service learning. Students blossom when they spend time in the natural world, whether it’s beautifying our own campus or working on garden projects that will enhance life in the broader community.

Pictures of students digging pond, from science extravaganza and harvesting potatoes

Order of the Trinity

 A Trinity education is meant to lead students to more than a report card full of good grades. In our mission statement we commit to a fuller, richer demonstration of what education provides as we affirm students who are “ambassadors of grace, citizens who live and teach an ethic of service and respect for others.” To this end, we have established the Order of the Trinity (Ordo Trinitatis), an honor society that recognizes the students in our midst who continually act in service to others and fulfill the mission and vision of the school. Once each semester, the administration and faculty will present those students to the community.

In addition, we recognize academic excellence in the Middle School by awarding Honors and High Honors to students at the close of each reporting period, as well as recognizing superior efforts toward academic achievement with our Scholarly Effort awards.

TES Clubs

The Clubs program is designed to give middle school students the opportunity to discover and develop their talents and interests while also learning group cooperation, leadership skills and the organizational process.  Clubs meet every other week during school under the guidance of an adult sponsor who might be a teacher, parent or volunteer. Clubs are formed and sustained around student interests, and recent offerings have included Ultimate Frisbee, Knitting, Teen Cuisine, Art, and Game Theory, to name but a few.

Athletic Program

The athletic program at Trinity Episcopal School challenges students to pursue athletic excellence while honoring each one as an individual with unique potential. Students who participate in athletics at Trinity are given support and guidance as they develop and refine their athletic skill, improve their physical fitness, and build confidence in their individual abilities while identifying themselves as part of a team. As faculty, families, and coaches collaboratively influence the lives of Trinity Episcopal School student-athletes, they encourage and model good sportsmanship, civility, and grace while fostering an atmosphere of support, wholesome competition, and delight in the sport. Participation in athletics at Trinity Episcopal School is a privilege. Students who wish to participate must adhere to the Honor Code, exhibit appropriate behavior in class and at practice, and must work to achieve a balance that allows for success in the classroom as well as in the game.

The Middle School athletic program at Trinity Episcopal School strives to support the School’s mission of developing the whole person. Thoughtfully designed and directed athletic experiences will contribute to the development of self-discipline, character, respect, and confidence and thus equip students with tools needed for success in adult life. 

The following sports are offered to all Trinity middle schoolers:

Fall: Girls' Volleyball, Co-Ed Cross-Country, Soccer, Girls' Tennis

Winter: Boys' and Girls' Basketball

Spring: Boys' Baseball, Boys' Tennis, Co-Ed Track and Field, Girls' Soccer, Co-Ed Golf

Directions to TES Games  

2007-2008 MMYBL Schedule

2008 Spring Sports Schedule

An Honor Code, developed in cooperation by students, faculty and parents, articulates the covenant of honesty, openness, accountability, responsibility and stewardship which binds all members of the Trinity community. The Honor Code is a window through which students see what it means to be authentically human and faithful children of God. The Trinity Episcopal School Honor Code is:

As a member of the Trinity Episcopal School community, I pledge to:

• Be responsible for my actions
• Always do my best as an individual and as a part of a team
• Respect the uniqueness and gifts of others
• Practice kindness and consideration
• Celebrate the joyful, beautiful and enduring
• Not lie, cheat or steal

I will follow this honor code, and I will help others do the same as ambassadors of God’s grace and everlasting love.

Behavior Guidelines/Consequences

“At Trinity, we mean to be a place where intellectual and artistic risks can be taken and questions asked without fear of ridicule. We mean to be a place where honor, integrity, truthfulness, compassion and accountability are valued. We mean to be a place where hospitality is practiced and where everyone enjoys a sense of belonging. We mean to be a place where beauty is appreciated and truth is revered. We mean to be a place where personal responsibility drives our decisions.

“Just as we are committed to academic excellence, we are committed to the highest standard of behavior. Right character and values are the greatest lessons our students, indeed all of us, will take away from our years at Trinity. They give us a way to steer through life and a way to measure our life’s work. No one can remember all the facts and figures they are taught in a lifetime, but no one forgets the lessons that teach the way of a good and noble, productive and Godly life.” --Fr. Smokey

The Honor Code provides behavior guidelines that help us achieve our goals for students and to live successfully in community.  When appropriate, each classroom develops supplemental rules to guide interaction among its members.

We are committed to a discipline program that emphasizes prevention of misbehavior through positive reinforcement of appropriate behavior, positive activities that foster student success and create relationships of trust and cooperation among community members, attentive supervision and clear communication of expectations. Families are urged to share information about student physical and emotional health that is pertinent to our understanding of the student’s behavior so that we can work together to develop appropriate responses to student needs.

When behavior guidelines are not followed students must experience consequences that provoke learning and internal change.  Therefore, consequences will be immediate, restorative, individualized and rehabilitative. Examples of such consequences include: time-out from class; community service to make reparations; revocation of privileges such as field trips until trust is restored; behavior contracts; detention; and administratively-driven suspensions from school life.

Sometimes an appropriate consequence is a referral to the Honor Council, which is responsible for holding community members accountable to one another to live into our Honor Code.  The Council convenes to hear from parties involved in violations and then make recommendations to the Head of School as to an appropriate plan of discipline. The Council consists of teachers and several middle school students who have applied and been selected to serve for a one-year period. The Dean of Student Life facilitates Honor Council referrals and proceedings. Students in the fourth - eighth grade are eligible for Honor Council visits; younger students are held accountable by the community in more informal ways.

On occasion peer mediation may be the best vehicle for resolving problems. All students are taught conflict resolution skills and, in addition, older students are eligible for training as peer mediators.  Those mediators can step into conflicts to mediate solutions that serve the individuals involved as well as the community. The Dean of Student Life facilitates the mediation process.