Cultural Arts & Athletics across the grade levels:

Art, Music, and Spanish: A Collaboration for the development of the whole child
The Cultural Arts are a unique piece to our Trinity curriculum. The classes allow the opportunity for collaboration among the main classroom teacher and the extension teacher to fully develop a study for a group of children. When we look at the whole child, we must look at the curriculum to educate the whole child. It is the collaboration of Art, Music, and Spanish with the classroom teacher that inspires the intellectual curiosity of the individual child to reach their full potential. With each of these teachers working together, the integration presents a complete curriculum that inspires a child to look at their world with a zest for learning.

An example of how this integration is achieved is with the study of water. A water study provides an opportunity for the art teacher and classroom teacher to discuss the design of a water mural that incorporates all the elements that the student has learned. The art teacher discusses shape, line, and color at those young ages as the beginning to art exposure. An art teacher takes the young child's natural artistic ability and provides further encouragement within the realm of learning about water. In addition, the Music teacher incorporates songs and music about water and the creatures that live in water that further inspires that child to make connections at a deeper level. The music teacher encourages children at this age and stage of development to recognize that music involves skills of listening, dancing, playing and singing together and as individuals within the group setting while building upon what is being learned about water. The Spanish teacher presents another layer for the development of the whole child. Presenting a language rich environment is important to our curriculum. The addition of a foreign language during these young years is a necessary part of that language development. The Spanish teacher incorporates beginning Spanish conversation and songs throughout the study of water. Foreign language learning does not stop with the culmination of the water study. The words and songs that the children learn within one study is then incorporated and further developed in other studies. The water mural and all aspects of the water study takes weeks to complete and goes through many phases of development because of the collaboration of all teachers involved but is a true representation of the ever-exploring, ever learning lower school child.


Upper School Electives

The elective classes are designed to give the upper school student exposure to unique subject areas that are beyond the core curriculum. The upper school electives have a course structure of discovery learning activities.  The upper school student delves into a multitude of subject areas that "round out"¬ù the Trinity student. The courses the students take are meant to entice them to further explore as they continue their education in high school and college.

Media Center

From the infant years to eighth grade, the media center serves as the heartbeat of school life at Trinity. The Trinity media center is much more than books. The media center is a learning hub. It has both print and electronic resources that support student achievement. Our media center is a gathering place for children and adults of all ages and interests to explore and debate ideas. The media specialist at Trinity collaborates with classroom teachers and extension teachers to integrate literature and information skills into their curriculum. The specialist also partners with the classroom teachers on projects that help students use a variety of resources, conduct research, and present findings. Our media center is responsible for helping all students develop a love of reading, become skilled users of ideas and information, and explore the world of print and electronic media resources.

Physical Education across the grade levels

The physical education program is designed to improve body awareness and self-esteem, to develop and refine skills and competencies to the best of each child's ability, and to develop social learning by encouraging mutual support through physical activities. The program stresses involvement and participation for all children. The hope is that their experiences at Trinity will contribute toward a lifelong love of health and physical activity.

Physical education in the lower school is Creative Movement. Students meet with the creative movement teacher to experience the world physically by exploring with their senses and getting to know what their bodies can do. Children learn to use their bodies to express themselves imaginatively through pantomime, dancing out a story, or imitating movements in nature. Activities that emphasize repetition and variations give children the practice needed to refine and sharpen gross motor skills. Physical education in middle school further develops the skills already emphasized in the lower school. In addition, organized games are planned. The students in middle school are adept at learning the rules of physical education games, and it is the responsibility of the physical education teachers to incorporate a sense of grace when playing these games competitively. As the child moves into the upper school, the idea of sportsmanship becomes extremely important as the students will be representing Trinity during team competitions with other schools. In addition, students in the upper school are exposed to various sports to learn the rules of those games. While they are learning about those games in their class, they are also finding their own individual connection to the sport.

Health and nutrition is an important aspect of our Physical Education program. In light of the heightened awareness of the obesity issue in our nation, it is necessary that we take an active interest in educating children about a healthy and nutritious lifestyle that they can follow into their adult years. The physical education teachers will incorporate this part of the program within their classes.