Our Mission

Trinity School for Children has its roots in developmentally appropriate practice. We have replicated the laboratory school at Bank Street College of  Education, New York, from infants through 8th grade, here in the Tampa Bay area. The philosophy comes directly from the teachings of Dewey, Erickson, Piaget and other developmentalists of their time. These men were contemporaries of Lucy Sprague Mitchell, founder of the Bank Street College of Education and their laboratory school.

We concentrate on teaching the "whole child"¬ù intellectually, physically, emotionally, spiritually and socially. By offering children creative, challenging and enlightening academics, the faculty creates a school experience for each child, emphasizing his/her individual learning style, talents and family culture.  

The maximum development of each student is of great importance at Trinity School for Children.  Our mission is to create a zest for life-long learning through the developmental interaction approach based on the Bank Street College's philosophy.  This approach is achieved through the collaborative efforts of students, parents, faculty and the civic environment creating a mutual respect for each other.  Our work's goal is to create and sustain programs that will support our children's growth and development to ensure that they reach their full potential.

 

 

Our Credo

What potentialities in human beings - children, teachers and ourselves - do we want to see develop?

• A zest for living that comes from taking in the world with all five senses alert
• Lively intellectual curiosities that turn the world into an exciting laboratory and keep one ever a learner
• Flexibility when confronted with change and ability to relinquish patterns that no longer fit the present
• The courage to work, unafraid and efficiently, in a world of new needs, new problems and new ideas
• Gentleness combined with justice in passing judgments on other human beings
• Sensitivity, not only to the external formal rights of the "other fellow" but to him as another human being seeking a good life through his own standards
• A striving to live democratically, in and out of schools, as the best way to advance our concept of democracy

Our credo demands ethical standards as well as scientific attitudes. Our work is based on faith that human beings can improve the society they have created.

Lucy Sprague Mitchell

Founder of Bank Street College of Education, 1916