Traditions and Celebrations at Trinity

After the Bell
All School Chapel
Annual Fund
Arrival/Pick-up Times
Back-to-School Nights
Birthdays
Book Fair
Brown Bag Lunches
Camp Trinity
Carpool
Chapel
Christmas Pageant/Lessons and Carols
Class Trips
Email Blasts: Trinity News & Notes
Endowment
Facilities & Maintenance Committee
Grandparents & Grandfriends Day
Graduation
Lunch Service
Mission/Core Values
Middle School Awards Ceremony
Newsletters
A Night to Shine
Opening Service
Parent Council
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Snow Cone Party
Speaker Series
Spirit Store
Spring Musicals
Student Council
T Magazine
TALL Tuesdays
Trinity Golf Classic
Trinity Olympics
Trinity Shepherds
Uniform Exchange
Volunteer Opportunities

After the Bell
Trinity’s after school care program operates for all students grades K-8 until 6:00 p.m. each day. Lower School families may choose either After the Bell care which includes a snack, homework and play time, or specific after school classes offered by semester. These classes may include Mad Science, drama, arts, Chess Club, robotics, and music lessons. Middle School families may choose MS Study Hall or similar classes, also offered by semester. Special programs are often offered on TALL Tuesdays. All charges for After the Bell and MS Study Hall will be billed monthly. Specific classes must be paid for in advance, by the semester. Financial assistance is available. Advanced reservations are preferred though drop-ins can be accommodated.

All School Chapel
Approximately once a month there is an All-School Chapel service, generally at 8:15 a.m. It is a shared experience between Lower and Middle School students that paves the road to a respectful and caring school family. Parents are warmly welcomed. Please check the school calendar, News & Notes, or website for dates and times.

Annual Fund
As in most independent schools, tuition at Trinity covers only 80% of the cost of educating each student. This gap is covered each year by unrestricted gifts to the Annual Fund, held in the fall of every year. Annual giving provides the exceptional faculty and programs plus equipment and materials that keep pace with our growing student body and expanded facilities. The theme of the campaign is “Each Child, Each Day” because every Trinity student directly benefits from the donations to the Annual Fund. Teachers, staff, parents, grandparents, and friends of the school participate in this effort to provide the margin of excellence that makes Trinity unique.

Back-to-School Nights
Lower School and Middle School Back-to-School nights are held in late August to mid-September and allow parents to attend an open-house discussion with their student’s teachers and hear about plans in the classroom for the upcoming year. These nights also provide parents with an opportunity to get involved by signing up to volunteer both in the classroom and on school projects. These are adult-only evenings sponsored by the Parent Council.

Birthdays
Our students' birthdays are happy occasions for the entire community. In the Lower School, students celebrate during chapel by donating a book to the school library and bringing one quarter for each year of their lives, which are then counted out – usually in English or Spanish, but sometimes, if the student chooses, in Chinese, French, Korean – even Pig Latin! These birthday offerings are sent to our Episcopal outreach partner, Trinity Streets, a program that assists the homeless. In the Middle School, birthdays are celebrated during Friday chapel with a simple blessing.

Book Fair
The Annual Book Fair is usually held late in the fall and is a fundraising event benefiting our school library. The Book Fair allows us to increase the number of books in our library, provide parents an opportunity to enrich the classroom with books selected by our teachers, enhance learning for our students through visits from guest authors, and illustrate the value of reading and literacy. This is a Parent Council sponsored event.

Brown Bag Lunches
LS and MS Division Heads and the Head of School typically offer parents an opportunity to bring a sack lunch and visit during the lunch hour about grade-level curriculum and age-appropriate behavioral issues. These lunches are casual and may be held in the fall and/or in the spring. Dates and times will be distributed via newsletter and email.

Camp Trinity
Fun summer camp programs are offered to Trinity students grades 1-8 in June each year. Classes offered may include arts, athletics, academics, technology, cooking and more. Brochures are published in the spring and sign-up is available at that time.

Carpool
The safety of our community is the primary goal when managing traffic on Trinity’s campus. Traffic for all students in morning carpool should enter from Camp Craft Road and drop-off is at the front of the Middle School. All students may be dropped off beginning at 7:30 a.m. Lower School pick-up begins at 3:15 and students are picked up in front of the Lower School. If you have students in both the Lower and Middle School, we ask that you pick them both up from the Middle School carpool line beginning at 3:30. We ask you to please follow the City of Westlake’s traffic signs on Camp Craft and Bee Cave Drive when entering and leaving Trinity’s campus.

Chapel
Chapel is held twice a day: first thing in the morning for Lower School students, mid-morning for Middle School students. Chapel is a time we sing and pray together, listen to the day’s scripture reading and homily, celebrate birthdays and special occasions, focus on one another and the world around us, our identity as children of God, and our inner lives. Parents and friends are welcome and are asked to dress appropriately.

Christmas Pageant/Lessons and Carols
Every holiday season our Lower School presents “The Story of Christmas” held in the evening in the Trinity Center for Arts & Athletics. On a separate evening, the Middle School celebrates the Christmas season with a traditional “Lessons and Carols” service including scripture readings by students, and Christmas carols sung by the Middle School Choir and the entire Middle School student body.

Class Trips
All students at Trinity are provided opportunities for enrichment through school-sponsored field trips throughout the year. In addition, beginning in the fourth grade, students begin to take overnight trips focused on a particular area of study.

Email Blasts: Trinity News & Notes
Every Friday afternoon, Trinity sends a blast email to all parents, faculty, and staff. Items included are timely, short, and deadline-oriented.

Endowment
Endowment is the ultimate source of long-term security for an institution because it provides a secure source of money that will always be available for the purpose for which the funds were given. In addition to stability, endowments also allow for flexibility in meeting the ever-changing needs of an educational institution. Several endowments have been established at Trinity and more information is available from Trinity’s Development Department.

Facilities & Maintenance Committee
Families have an opportunity several times a year on a Saturday or Sunday to join forces with our facilities crew and make improvements to the campus grounds. Dad’s Work Days include fun, hard, and rewarding work and usually great barbeque and homemade pies!

Grandparents & Grandfriends Day
Grandparents and Grandfriends Day is held on the Friday before Valentine's week. This is a special day to honor our grandparents who are an integral part of the school community. We invite grandparents and special friends to come to campus, attend the service, and visit classrooms. This is a Parent Council sponsored event and requires students to be in dress uniform.

Graduation
The Commencement Service for graduating 8th graders is held in the Trinity Center for Arts & Athletics on the morning of the last day of school. This beautiful service includes the presentation of Graduation Medals, a commencement address, and the signing of Trinity’s Book of Graduates. The Commencement Service is followed with a reception hosted by 7th grade students and families. All community members are warmly invited to attend; students in grades 4-7 are required to attend.

Lunch Service
Trinity’s Parent Council coordinates the scheduling of parent volunteers to serve hot lunch to both Lower School and Middle School students from 11 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. everyday of the year. Parent volunteers help defray the cost of the healthy lunch service provided by Sweetish Hill Catering. Parents are welcome to join their child for lunch. Please check with the teacher or school receptionist to confirm lunch time as sometimes the schedule will change depending on the day. Please remember that the school does not permit students to bring “fast food” for lunch.

Mission/Core Values
Trinity was founded on a Mission Statement and four Core Values that continue to serve as both compass and road map for decisions, big and small, made at the school.

Middle School Awards Ceremony
During the last week of school, Trinity holds the Middle School Academics Awards Ceremony in the Trinity Center for Arts and Athletics before an audience of students, faculty, and parents. These awards recognize those students who have excelled academically and those who have made exceptional contributions to school life. Athletics awards are presented earlier in May at an athletic banquet for all student athletes and their families.

Newsletters
Trinity publishes both a monthly internal e-newsletter for Trinity students, parents, faculty, and staff, The Trumpet, as well as a bi-annual alumni magazine, T, sent to Trinity’s entire community.

A Night to Shine
This spring fundraising gala event features great food, music, dancing, and silent and live auctions. All funds raised from this event are distributed to the financial assistance and faculty professional development programs. This is a great opportunity to work together as a community to plan an event and then come together to celebrate the successes of Trinity.

Opening Service
Opening Service is a special All-School Chapel event held the Sunday evening before school begins in the Trinity Center for Arts & Athletics for all students, their families, and the entire faculty and staff. This event sets the tone for the year as we begin to build school community through hope, faith, and celebration. Dress uniform is required for Trinity students.

Parent Council
The purpose of the Parent Council is to support and enrich the mission and values of Trinity Episcopal School. The Parent Council is an essential partner in bringing the co-curricular programs, events and traditions that enrich our children’s academic experience and create the fabric of incredible community spirit that is a hallmark of our school. Every family at Trinity is a member of the Parent Council. The volunteers working for Trinity’s Parent Council staff many on-going committees that host events, care for faculty and families, serve lunch to our students every day, and work in the school office and library. Additionally, Parent Council sponsors such annual traditions as the Book Fair, Grandparents and Grandfriends Day, the Uniform Exchange, and the Trinity Olympics.

Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent/Teacher conferences are scheduled twice a year with your student’s homeroom teacher in Lower School or your student’s Advisor if in Middle School. You will be notified by your student’s Lower School teacher when sign-up sheets for scheduling an appointment are posted by the classroom door. Middle School parents may call the front desk to schedule an appointment with their student’s advisor. Spring conferences for Middle School students are student-led.

Snow Cone Party
The Snow Cone Party kicks off the start of the school year with snow cones served outside to both LS and MS students. It is an opportunity for parents and students to meet teachers and receive pre-ordered school supplies. No uniforms are required and this event occurs in the morning the day before school begins. The Snow Cone Party is sponsored by Trinity’s Parent Council.

Speaker Series
Through its partnership with other Austin area independent schools, Trinity offers its parents a lecture and workshop program in the fall and spring of each year. These events typically include an evening presentation by a nationally known speaker followed by a smaller workshop format the next day. The Speaker Series is sponsored by Trinity’s Parent Council.

Spirit Store
The Spirit Store sells Trinity-themed items to students and parents in order to promote school spirit and a sense of community. In addition, the store provides revenue to the Parent Council to fund other Parent Council sponsored activities. Trinity’s Spirit Store is open every Friday morning during carpool as well as during various school events throughout the year.

Spring Musicals
Every spring Lower School students showcase their musical and fine arts talents by participating in class-wide spring musicals held in the Trinity Center for Arts & Athletics. Middle School students have an opportunity to participate in the Middle School spring musical production.

Student Council
Trinity Middle School students, grades 5-8, develop leadership skills through student council opportunities. Each year the student council elects 4 officers from the 7th and 8th grade class. The President of the Trinity Student Council comes from the 8th grade class. The 5th and 6th grade class members participate by serving as an Advisory Representative from one of the 16 advisories in the middle school. The Trinity Student Council supports the school by planning student events such as dances, creating and facilitating community service opportunities, and running the weekly middle school assemblies.

T Magazine
T Magazine is the alumni magazine of Trinity. It is published twice a year, in Spring and Fall. Click on the image below to view the most current issue.

T Magazine, Fall 2009

TALL Tuesdays
Trinity has a great tradition of tangible support, in terms of programs and resources, for faculty professional development. On TALL Tuesdays, students arrive at school at 10:00 am to give our faculty time to participate in ongoing professional development programs. Faculty members focus on a pre-determined topic and a year-long course of study. Teachers research issues for relevance and determine ways to implement their studies into Trinity’s curriculum.

Trinity Golf Classic
Link Up for Endowment, Trinity’s annual golf tournament, is typically held at Lost Creek Country Club in the early fall. This fun-filled day brings together new and returning Trinity parents, golfers and volunteers, and helps to increase awareness of our endowment fund and its purpose, as well as raise money to support the endowment for financial assistance.

Trinity Olympics
Trinity Olympics is an end-of-the-year field day event for all students. The Lower School students enjoy morning events, and the Middle School students participate after lunch. This is a fun-filled and highly anticipated day, led by a large group of parent volunteers who report to have as much fun as the students. This is a Parent Council sponsored event.

Trinity Shepherds
This group helps support the Trinity community by providing a meal to families of Trinity students as well as faculty and staff, upon notification of a birth, death or hospitalization in the family. This group also sends cards and notes on behalf of the Trinity Parent Council in times of crisis and celebration throughout the year.

Uniform Exchange
Collection barrels are set up throughout the year in both the Lower and Middle School buildings to collect gently worn Trinity uniforms for resale. Sales are held in the fall and spring. This is a Parent Council sponsored activity.

Volunteer Opportunities
There are many opportunities to volunteer and get involved at Trinity. At the snow cone party there are tables set up by the Parent Council with sign-up sheets for all Parent Council sponsored events that require parent involvement. There are also sign-up sheets set out by the Development Office and Event Chairs looking for volunteers to sign-up to help with the golf tournament and Night to Shine. On Back-to-School Night there will be sign-up sheets in the classrooms for assistance needed throughout the year.