News for the Trinity High School Family
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The FALL 2011 LeaderNEWS FOR THE TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL FAMILY WWW.TRINITYROCKS.COM 2011-12 Trinity Annual Fund kicks off with $20,000 challenge pledge Bill Howard believes in putting his charitable contributions to work. He doesn’t want to give just to give; he gives to leverage his contribution so that others will be encouraged to support the cause. That’s why Howard, a governing member of the Trinity High School Foundation Board, has agreed to match all new gifts of $100 or more, up to a total of $20,000, for the Trinity Annual Fund. “I believe Trinity High School helps prepare our children for the future and is deserving of investments from those of us who can afford to give,” Howard said. “At Trinity, my sons got an education in scholastics, but equally important, they received a Christian education, which plants the seed of helping others.” Howard made a similar challenge pledge of $25,000 during the 2010 Trinity Annual Fund, and it spurred others to step up and make contributions. “Once again, Bill is leading by example to help encourage others to support our efforts,” said Mark Plummer ’69, chair of the 2012 Trinity Annual Fund. “Bill wants to make sure young men have access to the experience of a Trinity education and is putting his checkbook behind that desire to help families who have a demonstrated need for financial aid.” If you want to take advantage of this latest challenge, simply complete and return the enclosed Trinity Annual Fund envelope. Thanks for your support! For more information, please contact Brian Monell ’86, director of the Trinity Annual Fund, at (502) 736-2160. The $20,000 Challenge: All new gifts to the Trinity Annual Fund that are $100 or more will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $20,000. To make or increase your gift, please go to www.trinityrocks.com and click on the “Donate Now” button. You can also mail your gift (checks made payable to Trinity High School Foundation) to the Trinity High School Foundation, 4011 Shelbyville Road, Louisville, KY 40207, or contact Trinity Annual Fund Director Brian Monell ‘86 at (502) 736-2160 or [email protected]. PRESIDENT’S NOTEBOOK President’s Notebook BY DR. ROBERT (ROB) J. MULLEN ’77, PRESIDENT RENEWAL high school smooth and seamless. We call it the First The word conjures up a sense of freshness and Year of Studies. All our efforts are intended to reduce newness. That is what happens every August at Trinity. anxiety and, in some cases, outright fear. And I am While it is true this will be the 59th time we have just talking about the parents of freshmen! Allow me opened a school year, it is still very much a time of to highlight how we work to make the transition as renewal. The campus, even though we saw more than smooth as possible. 800 students here this summer for various camps and programs, comes alive in a remarkably energy-filled ONE-ON-ONE PLACEMENT CONFERENCES way each time a new school year begins. In late winter of the eighth-grade year, a Trinity teacher or administrator meets one-on-one with While the returning students know much of what 1 to expect, they return with a different perspective parents and their eighth-grader to explain the from the year before. Sophomores think they are wiser Placement Test scores, provide information about than they really are. Juniors know something special Trinity, answer questions and make a joint decision is happening but aren’t sure what. Seniors have a foot about a schedule of classes for freshman year. in two worlds – the here and now and the tomorrow. Watching them move through the year is a pleasure TAILOR-MADE ACADEMIC PLACEMENT and privilege. It culminates every graduation weekend We ensure your son is placed in an educational as we wistfully recall each graduate’s path through the environment that is right for him. school and now wish him well as he leaves our doors. Our system is designed to be There is a group of students every year for which flexible in order to best help your the start of school is so out of the ordinary that its son succeed and prosper. There events and moments are never forgotten. Freshmen. are four college preparatory Sometimes in the past at THS they were called academic programs. There is no “greenies.” Not so much anymore, but the imagery is “tracking,” otherwise known as a still there. They are green. They also embody the very locked-in set of classes one takes picture of freshness and newness. based upon the Placement Test Let me tell you some quick facts about the Class of score. Instead, we and the parents 2015. use the Placement Test score At the time I wrote this column, they numbered and input from his eighth-grade somewhere around 365. They arrived from 67 different teachers to map out a course of schools. They live in 47 different zip codes. Just about studies for the first year. 25 percent of them scored in one of four areas on the Placement Test (first through the 19th percentile, 20th- SUMMER ENRICHMENT 49th, 50th-79th and 90th-99th). About 35 percent of We offer multiple summer their families receive some tuition assistance. They have enrichment programs that all been randomly placed into one of our 10 Houses. help incoming freshmen get a They all are supposed to have had their shots and a leg up on the academic year. physical. Close to 80 have a father or grandfather who We can help prepare students graduated from Trinity. A few more than eight out of 10 with personalized attention are Catholic. About 120 have already been on campus to their needs with offerings this summer for various academic camps. in: high school study skills, And in four short years we will be touting their foreign languages, TV and video collective and individual achievements as the 59th production, computer learning, graduating class. mathematics, grammar, science and Quick Recall. There is a lot that happens between now and then. It all goes to making each student feel that he belongs. EIGHTH-GRADE PARTICIPATION INVITATIONS That he can fit in. Not that we try to make him fit a After taking the test at Trinity, eighth-graders are particular mold, but that he can find us to be a school invited to experience Trinity life through a variety of where his interests and talents are honored and exciting activities. Many test-takers and their parents nurtured. join us during the spring by attending art shows, Starting with the Placement Test, which is most concerts and the annual musical. Some spend a day often taken in December of a student’s eighth-grade at Trinity in a program called “shadowing.” We offer year, all the way to the end of freshman year, we have personal campus tours as often as needed. a well-orchestrated effort to make the transition into CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE PRESIDENT’S NOTEBOOK President’s Notebook CONTINUED SUMMER SPORTS CAMPS AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM For the student-athlete, we offer summer camps to School counselors have developed a program begin training and conditioning for a fun and successful designed specifically to help freshmen get off on the season in such sports as football, baseball, basketball, right foot. Freshmen can attend an after-school study soccer, golf, volleyball, cross country, bowling and program in the R. Haskell Marshall Success Center to lacrosse. hone their skills. There are 50 computer workstations, specialized learning software and remedial help, if ORIENTATION DAY needed, with tutors. For an easy transition into Trinity life, we hold a freshman-only orientation day in August. First- PERSONAL ATTENTION year students have an opportunity to get accustomed Every freshman student at Trinity receives 2 to the campus and meet new faces before the school individual care and assistance from a school professional. year begins. They figure out how to work their locker We also offer freshman-specific activities to encourage combinations, meet their teachers, learn cafeteria participation in a less competitive environment. There routines and learn their way around campus are four freshman-level counselors, freshman-level sports teams, freshman-level intramural teams and HOUSE SYSTEM freshman-level retreats. Trinity has developed a unique House System that allows students to experience campus life in a smaller, FREQUENT COMMUNICATIONS more intimate environment. The House System is now Direct communication with parents is vital to more than 10 years old and has been adopted by dozens our mission at Trinity. We believe that parents should of other Catholic high schools in America after visiting be intimately involved in all aspects of their son’s Trinity. The system features adult and upperclassmen education. Parents with a son who took the Placement mentors, and provides dozens of opportunities to get Test receive monthly updates through the spring and involved right away. The genius of the House System is summer leading up to enrollment. All families receive that it takes a large school and makes it smaller. a bi-monthly Parent Newsletter, and a special page on our website provides important information to know fReshman ROckin’ on a daily basis. We have special nighttime meetings Rockin’ has emerged as a Trinity favorite! This for parents of freshmen and an evening when parents event is designed to help new students get to know their can meet their son’s teachers. We schedule two parent- fellow classmates and begin to form the brotherhood teacher conferences each year. that makes Trinity an experience that lasts a lifetime.