Trinity Episcopal School is a K-8 independent co-ed day school in West Lake Hills, a suburb just west of central Austin, Texas. The school was founded in 1999 in a rented house near the University of Texas campus with an inaugural class of 13 first graders. Trinity now has nearly 550 students, more than 100 faculty and staff, and six buildings on a campus. Trinity Episcopal School is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest and the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools.
Academics
Core Curriculum
Trinity's Lower School literacy curriculum uses a workshop approach to teach reading and writing. Developed by Lucy Calkins at Columbia University, the workshop approach aims to develop writers who have confidence in their own voices and fluency with a number of different formats and styles. Trinity's mathematics curriculum aims to develop "math fluency," treating the subject as a language to understand, rather than a series of facts to memorize. The vertically integrated curriculum embeds basic algebraic and geometric concepts into the earliest math education and incorporates the workshop approach developed by Catherine Fosnot of the City College of New York. In the Middle School, students have an opportunity to complete both Algebra 1 and Geometry by the end of their 8th grade year. Students can also earn high school credit for a number of other classes, including Latin, Speech, and Integrated Physics and Chemistry.
Electives & Enrichment Programs
Lower School (Grades K-4)
In addition to the core curriculum for literacy and mathematics, lower schoolers have opportunities to study World Languages, visual arts, music, and theater. Science courses begin in first grade, and social studies courses begin in fourth grade. As the oldest members of the Lower School, fourth graders must also complete a capstone course that combines elements of the entire Lower School curriculum.
Middle School (Grades 5-8)
In grades 5-6, students rotate through four courses on creativity and design — D-Lab, music, theater, and visual arts — which build on experiences from Lower School. Fifth graders start with two days of electives each week, which increases to three days a week in sixth grade. All students take the same electives for the first two years of Middle School to establish a foundation. In grades 7-8, students can choose from 23 courses across four categories: Fine Arts, Publications, STEAM and Global Perspectives. Electives help students cultivate new interests and passions as they experience a well-rounded menu of classes. Some courses are year-long, meeting two days a week, and some run for one trimester, meeting three days a week.
As an Episcopal school and a member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, Trinity integrates religious and spiritual formation into the overall curriculum and student life. This includes daily chapel for all students, school-wide celebrations of Christian holidays, and religious elective courses for middle schoolers. Although Christianity and spirituality are woven into the curriculum, Trinity does not require families to identify as Christian, to be affiliated with any Christian organization, or to make a statement of faith. Trinity ascribes to NAES’s stance on what it means to be an Episcopal school:
“Episcopal schools have been established, however, not solely as communities for Christians, like a parish church, but as ecumenical and diverse ministries of educational and human formation for people of all faiths and backgrounds. Episcopal schools are populated by a rich variety of human beings, from increasingly diverse religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds. In fact, the intentional pluralism of most Episcopal schools is a hallmark of their missions.”
Trinity commemorates non-Christian holidays, such as Diwali and Hanukkah, with special Chapel services, and the school admits qualified students regardless of race, color, nationality, ethnicity, religion, physical disability, socioeconomic status, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation.
Athletics
The name for all Trinity Episcopal School athletic teams is Tornado, and the athletics motto is "Go, Tornado!" Trinity competes in the following sports. All sports are offered to both boys and girls in grades 5-8 unless otherwise noted.
Trinity competes in the Austin Inter-Parochial League, comprising seven schools in Austin, Texas:
Austin Jewish Academy
Austin Waldorf School
Paragon Prep Middle School
St. Andrew's Episcopal School
St. Francis School
St. Stephen's Episcopal School
Trinity Episcopal School of Austin
Campus & Facilities
Trinity Episcopal School is located on 21 wooded acres in West Lake Hills, Texas, about 5 miles from downtown Austin. It's Lower School academic buildings include a library, science labs, high-ceiling classrooms, and common areas. Middle School buildings include science labs, library, a technology and design lab, and common areas. The Trinity Center for Arts & Athletics features a hardwood-floor gymnasium, locker rooms, and classrooms. Trinity's campus also includes a dining facility and a multi-purpose chapel, a covered playground, an outdoor basketball court, athletic field, community garden, and nature trails. Trinity is also home to one of Austin's largest commercial solar panel installations, with 270 panels providing about 20% of the school's energy needs. All buildings feature programmable thermostats and motion-sensing lights to further reduce the school's energy consumption.
School Demographics
Trinity Episcopal School employs 92 faculty members — many with advanced degrees — and 46 staff members. Trinity has an average class size of 20 students but maintains a student-teacher ratio of 7:1. This is possible because each Lower School classroom has two teachers and is supported by a team of learning specialists. The average student-teacher ratio for Texas public schools is 15:1. The student population is 547, 52% of whom are female. The student body is 77% white, 9% multiracial, 8% hispanic, 3% Asian, and 2% African American. This makes Trinity's population more diverse than the surrounding suburb of West Lake Hills, but less diverse than the greater Austin area.
