Third grader Kathleen’s entry, “Rocks Rock,” won 2nd place in the the Michigan Statistics Poster Competition (MSPC). Her entry will go to the national level of the American Statistical Association competition. She will be presented with an award from Grand Valley State University at an upcoming community lunch. Congratulations, Kathleen!
Trinitas Classical School expands from K–8 to a K–10 school for the 2025-26 academic year, on track to be a K–12 school by 2028.
Trinitas Classical School is thrilled to announce that it will be opening its doors to grades 9 and 10 for the upcoming 2025-2026 academic year. This will be the first phase of expansion as it moves from a K–8 institution to a K–12 school over the next few years.
Since its conception in 2006, Trinitas Classical School has offered a uniquely excellent academic experience for children in grades K–8. Trinitas is known for its God-centered, family-focused, and screen-light learning environment and its vigorous virtue education. “These key values will persist in Trinitas Classical High School as it is launched this fall,” says Mrs. Michele Hinthorne, Head of School.
While the K–8 school has well-prepared students for a variety of high school experiences over the past twenty years, Trinitas families have long desired an expansion that would ensure the continuation of the exceptional classical Christian education they have grown to cherish. With Trinitas Classical High School’s first graduating class anticipated for 2028, this vision is finally becoming reality.
Mrs. Hinthorne, with the support of the Trinitas Board of Directors, envisions a high school experience where students are rooted in strong, healthy relationships with their peers, teachers, and God. “We intend to accomplish this,” shares Mrs. Hinthorne, “through intentionally limited class sizes, multi-age interactions, family partnerships, dedicated faculty, and Scriptural grounding.”
Limited seats are available for the Trinitas Classical High School grade 9–10 launch. For more information regarding the admission process and the expansion of Trinitas Classical School, please contact the school at 616-855-6518.
There is a special kind of joy that comes from being part of an educational community rich in beautiful material and interdisciplinary discoveries. I recently had a delightful conversation with a Trinitas teacher about connections between our Thoughtful Reader Book Club author, Mrs. Tellinghuisen’s recent Lenten reflection, and our Virtue of the Quarter. If you are curious how these fit together, read on!
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rades 3 and 4 celebrated the end of a unit studying Africa this week with a feast. Students and guests enjoyed food from many countries and heard from former Trinitas teacher Maureen Richards and her husband Jay. The Richards shared about their service in a Rafiki village in Malawi. It was a delicious and delightful event!
Students had a blast at Camp Roger last Friday! They built fires, sleds, and shelters, made pancakes and popcorn, enjoyed snow shoeing, skiing, and hot chocolate…The list goes on!
Here are few reflections from the day: “I got to ski for the first time!” “Although many people fell down, we all laughed it off and kept being optimistic.” “Camp Roger has very supportive instructors. They help you when you struggle and keep up the positivity.” “Shout out to Camp Roger for letting me have this awesome time.”
We had an encouraging turnout for our event! Our head of school, director of classical Christian education, several teachers, and a Trinitas parent gave inspirational presentations about our vision for a proposed high school including opportunities for cohort dual enrollment, trades classes, internships, and Oxford tutorials. Feedback cards from those in attendance, both current Trinitas families and prospective families, indicated very strong interest. We will be following up with attendees. Please continue to spread the word that we are exploring the possibility of opening a high school with grades 9 and 10 in the fall. Spots in the inaugural classes would be limited! Interested families should contact the Trinitas office, info@trinitasclassical.org, for more information.
There is no shortage of books out there that are focused on, well, focusing. Indeed, it seems we live in a culture of inattention and distraction. There are reasons to be concerned. A day—or days—of endless screen scrolling can negatively impact one’s health: physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual. But if we are honest, smartphones and other devices have only amplified what has long been a reality of the human condition: our hearts do not always seek the good. But that said, is a lack of focus or attention necessarily bad?
We invite you to read this recent blog post, “Attention to our Limitation,” from Don Tellinghuisen, professor of psychology at Calvin University, and yes, Mrs. Tellinghuisen’s husband. A cognitive and experimental psychologist, his area of study is attention and distraction. He is currently working on a book that examines these topics from a faith perspective. And he offers us a little encouragement as we struggle to attend to the things we know we should (and turn from those things we know we shouldn’t). It’s actually good—and necessary! —that we have limited attention. Professor Tellinghuisen invites us to consider how we have been created and to think about focus and attention through the lens of Christian discipleship and stewardship. (Spoiler: We aren’t God. We can’t do it all. And that’s a very good thing!)
A quintessentially classical way of doing things is to begin with the end. And so, as we consider the possibility of a Trinitas Classical High School, we begin with a Portrait of a Graduate. The cultivation of those virtues we illustrate in this portrait already begins in kindergarten, and it is a joy to see them grow throughout students’ elementary and middle school years with us. It is our hope, God willing, to be able to play a role in the continued cultivation of these qualities throughout students’ high school years.
Portrait of a Graduate: Trinitas Classical High School seeks to educate and spiritually form young adults with ordered hearts, courageous voices, and ready hands for obedient discipleship as they faithfully take the next steps in their education, work, and service.
Young Adults
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” (I Timothy 4:12)
The idea of a young adult perhaps brings to mind a person who is full of potential, someone who is a “future leader,” rather than a leader right now. Or it may make one think, a little negatively, of someone with a fair amount of freedom but with less responsibility. At Trinitas, we recognize that young people can be leaders now, and that freedom and responsibility should increase together. In a world that is reluctant to ask much of our teenagers, TCHS seeks to graduate young men and women capable and desirous of being examples for others both younger and older than they.
Ordered Hearts
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)
Education in the classical Christian tradition seeks to guide our hearts to love what is true, good, and beautiful. Our hearts are formed, in large part, by what we spend time thinking about. At Trinitas, we seek to engage excellent and praiseworthy material. We also do this because we know, as St. Augustine observed, that only a heart that is ordered toward its maker is truly at rest. In a world of restless striving, TCHS seeks to create a place of rest, a place of scholé where students, teachers, and families delight in their maker and in what is good and true and beautiful.
Courageous Voices
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (I Peter 3:15)
Our desire is for TCHS graduates to seek first the Kingdom of God, to revere and proclaim Christ as their Lord. The Rhetoric stage of their education is particularly well suited to help them share their testimony in written and spoken words and by living lives of love and service in whatever places and roles they are called. In a world that tempts us to cowardice or encourages aggression, TCHS seeks to equip students with courage that speaks truth and treats others with both gentleness and respect.
Ready Hands
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Colossians 3:23)
Since the time of the ancient Greek philosophers, classical education has elevated the life of the mind. The cultivation of our intellect is indeed an important part of what it means to live a flourishing life, but it is only a part. As Scripture tells us, human beings were made from both the breath of God and the dust of the earth—we are beautifully and mysteriously both immaterial spirit and physical body. And so, the work of our hands is also an important part of what it means to live a flourishing life. The Lord of the Sermon on the Mount was also a carpenter. But neither the life of the mind nor the work of our hands is our ultimate end. In a world that identifies and classifies us by what we do, TCHS seeks to form graduates who know their identity lies not in their work, but in the One they work for—graduates who work for their Lord and serve others with all their hearts, graduates who know they are loved by the One who first loved us and who find their joy and rest in this ultimate truth.
© ALP
Recently in history class, Grades 5/6 re-read African fables about the tricksy (but well-loved) Anansi the Spider. The story came to life as students tried each of the foods from the story, including plantains, cassava, rice, and even fish bone soup!
Students in Grades 3/4 visited Raybrook this week. Before the field trip, students made cards and gifts to give the residents. At Raybrook, the students performed a play they had prepared; they also did a craft with the residents and sang Christmas carols together. Students and residents were blessed by a wonderful time of fellowship and celebration in preparation for Christmas.
Thank you, Raybrook, for your hospitality! And thank you, Trinitas students for your kindness and joy!
