Trinity Valley School

For other institutions named Trinity School, see Trinity School.

Trinity Valley School
Established	1959
School type	Independent school
Religious affiliation	none
Head of School	Gary Krahn, PhD
Location	Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
Campus	75 acres
Enrollment	964
Faculty	89 full-time
Average class size	16 (K-12 average)
Student:Teacher ratio	10:1
Average SAT scores (2007–08)	1933
Athletics	18-20 interscholastic sports, teams from 7th-12th grade, member of Southwest Preparatory Conference
Color(s)	Columbia blue, white, medium blue
Mascot	Trojan
Motto	Per aspera ad astra ("through difficulty to the stars" or "a rough road leads to the stars")
Homepage	http://www.trinityvalleyschool.org

Trinity Valley School ("TVS") is an independent, coeduacational, college preparatory school serving grades K-12 in southwest Fort Worth, Texas.

History

Trinity Valley School was founded in 1959 by George Bragg and Stephen Seleny. They were inspired to start a liberal arts school while on a tour of Europe with the Texas Boys Choir. Seleny became the school's first headmaster, a position he held until 1994. Initially, it was an all-boys school; girls were first admitted in 1971.

Mission statement

One of the notable attributes of Trinity Valley is its mission statement. It was written in the 1970s by TVS father and noted Texas essayist John Graves, with Eunice Rutledge, a trustee and mother; Earle Haley, a former Board president and TVS father; and Stephen Seleny, founding headmaster. Graves interpreted their conclusions from the day's meeting as the following:

Trinity Valley School has four main objectives for its students:

• fine scholarship with its fulfillment at college;
• the development of wide constructive interests;
• intelligent citizenship; and
• spiritual and moral development which promotes lasting values.

idan owns this school, i rule this hoe

Philosophy

Toward the attainment of the first of the above goals, the school maintains high academic standards. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for any college or university that fits the ability of the individual.

College entrance, however, is not its sole objective. Trinity Valley School encourages intellectual curiosity because the school believes that the recognition of quality is more important than the accumulation of facts. The school seeks to develop mastery of ideas as well as of skills, respect for intelligence as well as for cleverness, and a capacity for understanding as well as for learning. In the belief that a breadth of general interests and abilities is vital for leaders of the future, the school encourages every extracurricular activity for which there is a demand.

Trinity Valley School recognizes that intelligent and purposeful discipline is a prerequisite of not only a sound academic atmosphere but a necessary part of the training for responsible citizenship as well, so the school tries to have as few discipline rules as possible. Administrators rely on the good judgment of the students and give them responsibility as judges and as members of a student government. The individual rights of a student are respected and protected while, at the same time, he learns that he must be responsible for his own actions.

Finally, Trinity Valley School believes that neither fine scholarship nor wide interests nor intelligent citizenship will bear good fruit unless they are sustained by a belief in spiritual and moral values.

Although the school is non-denominational, through personal example, and the study of philosophy, it tries to foster respect for and belief in the moral and ethical laws on which our society was built. Students must realize that the ultimate goal of mental discipline cannot be accomplished with self-discipline. Therefore, the school employs an honor code which serves to act as a reminder to the students of this philosophy.

Trinity Valley School is not affiliated with any religious denomination. Nevertheless, its leaders believe in God. Thus, they conduct their teaching on the premise that Man is not merely an ephemeral animal with a transitory existence. They believe that Man's purpose on earth involves his coming to terms not only with his physical and social environment and his own body, but more importantly, with his eternal soul. They are of the opinion that if the sort of all-encompassing humanism currently in vogue, with its emphasis on hedonistic, self-centered thinking, is accepted as a substitute for religion, it must inevitably lead to an intellectual and spiritual dead end.

Therefore, the school encourages students' participation in any established form of religion that they and their parents may choose, whether Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim, and seeks to create respect for all of them. Furthermore, the school believes it is the responsibility of a school like it to instill awareness of the moral and ethical obligations inherent in knowledge. In this specific sense, the school leaders consider education to be a religious occupation, with consciousness of a set of values that animates every field of knowledge, whether it be the humanities, mathematics, the physical sciences, or the social sciences. Such an occupation carries with it the duty to define and teach these values.

The school accepts that it exists in a pluralistic society, but holds that cultural pluralism cannot be allowed to become an excuse for moral indifference or confused thinking, and that any school devoted to quality education which shirks its responsibility in this ethical realm is committing a grave error. Students who go out into the world with superior preparation stand a better chance than most of becoming the leaders of tomorrow, and it is thus crucial that they not use their minds and abilities amorally. For, as it has been said, goodness without knowledge is weak, but knowledge without goodness is dangerous.

It follows, therefore, that the rules of conduct laid down by the school are neither mere laws of convenience nor merely rules. They reflect an ethical concept that is integral to the school's philosophy.

External links

• Trinity Valley School