OUR MISSION
At Trinity Classical School we believe the lordship of Jesus Christ shapes every aspect of the education. Classical education is the method of education that Christians have historically viewed as naturally generated by the gospel. The gospel and classical education are not two foreign things glued together in our school, but an organic whole—the gospel is the roots, and classical education the fruit. Classical education is built around the seven liberal art: the first three are the Trivium (language arts of grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and the Quadrivium (mathematical arts of arithmetic, geometry, science, and music). So the focus of our schooling is fairly simple: first, Christ formed in our students, and second, excellence in language and math.
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THE GOSPEL
The Covenant Child. The foundation of a Christian school is God’s covenant with his people, “For the promise is for you and your children” (Acts 2:39; Gen. 17:7). We believe that the grace of God is intended to run down the lines of generations, and that hope motivates everything we do at Trinity.
A Gospel Culture. The gospel is not simply a doctrine that the school believes, but a power (Rom. 1:16) that shapes the whole culture of the school. Believing our students are sinners who have been loved by God through Jesus Christ creates a distinct atmosphere in the community: “We love, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). The gospel is neither legalism nor lawlessness. The culture of TCS is one of “gentle order”—where God’s law drives children to Christ, protects the weak, and trains young believers in Christian virtue and manners.
The Liturgy of the Day. The goal of our education is the same as the New Testament—” my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” (Gal. 4:19). The whole structure of the school day is built around spiritual practices (Scripture, prayer, praise, fellowship) all meant to form Christ in our students.
A Christian Worldview. Christianity is not simply a private spirituality, but a civilization building culture that shapes every aspect of human life. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). The lordship of Christ creates a comprehensive worldview that brings sanity and coherence to every aspect of human life, learning, and culture. We expect students to encounter this worldview in every classroom.
CLASSICAL EDUCATION
Training in Wisdom. Wisdom in the Bible is an integrated knowledge of God’s world combined with the skill of living in truth, goodness, and beauty. In Christ is “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). Every teacher is a living curriculum, an embodiment of the wisdom of Christ in the classroom who guides the students through the seven liberal arts of the Trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, science, and music).
Grammar. The foundation of a child’s education is the fundamentals of reading, memorization, and writing. The primacy of language in our school is because God has revealed himself to us in a book, and Christ himself is called the Word (John 1:1). Gospel education gives grammar school students a strong foundation in these fundamentals. We use phonics to teach reading, chants, and songs for memorizing, and proven methods for teaching writing skills.
Logic. Logic is about students experiencing how in Christ “all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). This starts with the centrality of history throughout the sequence at TCS—they memorize a history timeline and learn that Jesus is the centerpiece who ties together human history. Students join the great conversation of Western civilization, reading primary texts from ancient, medieval, and modern sources. In these books, they engage the deep paradoxes of God, turning the classroom into a small “parlement” where they learn to debate one another and see that all the riddles of human life find their ultimate answer only in Christ.
Rhetoric. The capstone of the TCS experience is learning to “declare the mystery of Christ,” letting their “speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt” (Col. 4:3, 5). Being able to speak well, not only enables students to share Christ with others but is probably the most important skill to have in life. They are taught to speak logically (logos), to speak to the heart (pathos), and to speak in a way that commands the trust of listeners (ethos). Rhetoric comes through in speech tournaments, debates, speaking at school programs, and also in persuasive writing.
Math and Science. By studying math and science, students are studying the very mind of God and the way that he orders his creation. Christ’s wisdom is geometric; he was with his Father when “he drew the circle on the face of the deep” (Prov. 8:27). We put a strong emphasis on proficiency in math. Similarly, science studies the orderly providence of God in the natural world. Our science program puts a special emphasis on physical experiments and empirical observations. Just as we come to know God through the physical presence of Christ, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life” (1 John 1:1), so also, we come to know about God’s kingship through observing the physical phenomenon of the world, in physics, chemistry, biology, and the earth sciences.
Singing. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16). Our whole education is immersed in singing. Singing is not an elective that some students take in the secondary school. Our children sing their education, and they are trained using the Kodaly method, starting in Kindergarten. Each student’s body is an instrument given to them by God, and we believe it is an essential part of their discipleship to learn to use it.