The SPRING 2013 LeaderNEWS FOR THE TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL FAMILY www.trinityrocks.com 2013 Trinity Annual Fund Support a Trinity Education Provide the Trinity Experience Invest in a Young Man’s Future Thank You For Opening the Doors of Opportunity! A Letter to the Trinity Family I would do anything for this school. I think it’s an exemplary place for my kids to be. It’s the support from the faculty, the teachers, the counselors and the office staff. You never have to worry about your kid being there because someone is looking out for them. My husband and I toured Trinity first, and we didn’t need to go anywhere else – our decision was made. When my husband passed away from cancer, I was going to stick to our decision, no matter what, even if I had to work three jobs. Thanks to financial aid, both of my sons have the opportunity to be here. Accessibility to a Trinity education is a real concern for many families. Without the support of donors to the Trinity Annual Fund, my boys would not have the opportunity to become Trinity alumni. My family is just one of many who benefit from tuition assistance. I humbly ask you to please consider making a gift to the Trinity Annual Fund. Every gift, no matter the amount, really does make a difference. Thank you, Melinda Hillebrand Mother of Austin ’13 and Kyle ’15 To make a gift, please complete and return the enclosed envelope or visit www.thsfoundation.com and click on the “Make a Gift” button. To hear and see more from Melinda Hillebrand, scan the code below with your smartphone QR reader app or go to youtube.com/thsfoundation. THANK YOU! The LeaderNEWS FOR THE TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL FAMILY ISSUE Spring 2013 ON THE COVER: The use of Smart Board technology has become commonplace at Trinity. OFFICE FOR SCHOOL ADVANCEMENT VICE PRESIDENT FOR Joey Porter ’78 SCHOOL ADVANCEMENT ADMISSIONS Chris Toth ’06 ADMISSIONS James Torra H’12 ALUMNI RELATIONS Travis Wagoner ’90 / COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Melanie Hughes / ALUMNI RELATIONS ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Marie Diehl / ADMISSIONS MAGAZINE DESIGN Larry Jackson Vintage Printing PRINTER Preferred Printing DIRECTOR / MAJOR GIFTS Tim Culver ’82 The Leader is published four times a year for Trinity High School alumni, students, parents and friends by Trinity High School, Office for School Advancement, 4011 Shelbyville Road, Louisville, KY 40207. Postage paid at Louisville, KY. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to: Trinity High School, Office for School Advancement, 4011 Shelbyville Road, Louisville, KY 40207. Phone: (502) 893-7625. Fax: (502) 899-2052 NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY MISSION STATEMENT Trinity High School admits students of any race, color, national and Our Mission at Trinity is to provide students ethnic origin to all the rights, priviliges, programs and activities generally available to students. Trinity does not discriminate on the basis of with a superior high school education in a race, color, national or ethnic origin, or disability (if with reasonable supportive atmosphere based upon Christian accommodation the student can meet the requirements of Trinity’s course of study) in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship or values in the Catholic tradition. loan programs, athletic or other school-administered programs. leadermagazine FOR ALUMNI AND FAMILY OF TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL I COULD NOT BE MORE PROUD of the work that led to the adoption of our new daily class schedule. The four-year study that led to this new schedule was thorough and objective. The case for making this move was compelling. Now, as we near the end of the school year, I could not be happier with the results we are seeing. What we thought could be possible has come true. The transition to block scheduling has been as seamless a change as any I have ever seen at Trinity. On pages 26 and 27 of this issue you will find comments from teachers and students about the new schedule. Their words say a lot. To see more quotes, visit www. I know that we will continually examine the schedule to optimize its benefits. For now, know that this change is strengthening our ability to provide the right environment for our young men to grow and meet their promise. This has been the right move at the right time to meet the demands of a changing world and all that we know about teaching and learning. BY DR. ROBERT (ROB) J. MULLEN ‘77, PRESIDENT Much praise goes to Principal Dan Zoeller H’07 and his deans, academic department chairs, teachers and students for this smooth transition to a new way of doing classes. notebook president’s Origins of the change The genesis for this change lies in the important self- For now, know that this change is evaluation we do every five years as part of our accreditation strengthening our ability to provide the process. For a long time, we have had a third-party “seal of right environment for our young men to approval” beyond the minimum standards set for schools by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Our accrediting agency grow and meet their promise. demands a thorough, data-driven assessment. A previous accreditation process identified areas for improvement in our daily schedule, which launched the four- year study that led to adoption of the current daily schedule. • Increased student and teacher stress by Last year was spent preparing for the change. forcing them to “live by the bell” and The study was guided by these principles: cope with eight class periods and several • Student achievement must be the top priority preparations each day • Our liberal arts curriculum is a school legacy and • Discouraged project-oriented work given the must be maintained limited amount of class time • The impact on teaching must be carefully considered • Limited student use of technology in the • Cost must not become a burden to families classroom • The new schedule must make sense to our • Was developed for teens decades ago and stakeholders. ignored current research on learning styles • Would never allow us to fulfill our academic Rationale for the change vision. Our self-study determined that the old schedule of eight class periods each day was limiting, in that it: Products of the change Why are we so excited? The early indicators • Restricted student access to too many courses have all been positive. Teachers and students • Had too many interruptions and too little time to meet are positive about it as their comments found with students for make-up work or extra help later in this issue indicate. • Reduced elective offerings Just as important, implementing the schedule • Meant many affective skills programs have been has allowed us to meet the principles we set out squeezed out of the curriculum as guidelines in considering such a move. Note 4 FOR ALUMNI AND FAMILY OF TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL leadermagazine that with this schedule students take four classes one • We were able to offer more than 15 new electives day and another four classes the next day. this year. Here are reasons for our excitement: • New enrichment courses were added to ease the • We have been able to increase our school’s transition into high school (Freshman Success) academic rigor by increasing graduation and college (Senior Capstone), and we added two requirements in the core subject area (four credits concentrated ACT preparation courses. each are required in English, Social Studies, Mathematics, Theology and Science); we increased • Teachers have 30 additional minutes of planning graduation requirements from 24 to 30 credits. time each day, which allows for strengthening of their curriculum and the encouragement • Overall instructional time increased 150 of creative, hands-on work in the classroom, minutes per week. Additionally, teachers see with time each week for make-up work and fewer students each day, which increases the tutoring. Teachers have more common planning opportunity to assign more homework. The most time, which allows for greater collaboration. frequent comment from teachers is that they have Extra planning time has allowed for better more time to teach. More time to teach translates implementation of technology into lessons. This into more time for students to learn. squares nicely with our “bring-your-own-device” technology approach. • Students are able to concentrate on a smaller number of courses each day – four vs. seven. Their • The more collegiate schedule encourages long- most common positive comment is that there is term organization and classroom collaboration more time to deal with a course’s content. More while fewer class changes has turned a hectic daily time to focus on a course’s content translates into pace into a less hurried learning environment. deeper learning. Interestingly, we have seen a reduction in student absences. Students are less stressed even though • The schedule has allowed room for increased they are taking more classes and have more Theology credit requirements expected of all graduation requirements. Catholic high schools without reducing the number of fine arts and other elective offerings. • This change did not increase tuition costs when compared to the previous daily schedule. • We have more room in student schedules for new AP (college credit) courses, starting as early as Trinity has never been content to rest on our laurels. freshman year, and the room to offer AP courses Our students benefit from such a mindset. This is as every year instead of some only offered every other exciting a curriculum change as I have seen in my 31 year. years at Trinity. • We added a dozen new sections of existing classes, which provides better access for students to the classes they desire; this resulted in 50 percent fewer conferences last summer requesting schedule changes.