By Chris Meehan
Trinity Academy opened its doors on September 6 with five students. Jo Clark (third from right) is the head of school.Trinity Academy, a school founded by the Vancouver-Portland branch, opened its doors for the first time on September 6. That morning, five ninth-graders and their parents walked into hurriedly painted classrooms in the basement of Northminster Presbyterian Church in Portland. Charlie Fraga, principal branch coordinator for Vancouver-Portland, was there to greet the students and parents, along with branch member Jo Clark, the head of school.
Two weeks before the school opened, the students and parents had a surprise when the location they had been planning to use for the school suddenly fell through. After a rapid review of potential sites, some school board members discovered that a church they had previously tried to contact, Northminster Presbyterian, had space available.
“We toured it the same day we heard about it and immediately saw the possibilities,” says Jo, “a 1,500-square-foot area with three classrooms.”
They signed a two-year lease, but that left only seven days before school opened to paint and prepare the classrooms.
“Over half the branch volunteered to help out with the painting,” Charlie says. Several students also pitched in to prepare the classrooms.
They moved the furniture in on the sixth day, and on the seventh day students arrived for their first day of class.
The students and teachers are following an adaptation of the Trinity School curriculum, though Trinity Academy is not a campus of Trinity School. Branch leaders hope the academy will grow toward that goal.
“The students have good attitudes, and they’re willing to learn and work hard,” Jo says. “We’ve really gotten off to a very good start.”
Responses
Eric Boughton says:
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:50 PM
Congratulations to all the pioneering Trinity Academy students, teachers and parents! Word on the street is that the new Trinity Academy is going to field a basketball team and challenge the 3 existing Trinity schools to a match. Watch out, Titans!
Wil Juare says:
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:13 PM
Congratulations on a new endeavor. Lots of work, physical and spiritual went into preparing for this happy occassion. Learning is always a joy for those seek to understand. Our prayers and best wishes go out to all the students and faculty and staff. We pray too for a successful academic years for all. For the students, what an opportunity to get dedicated attention, work your best and the rest will follow.
Peace
Anne Brewer says:
September 24th, 2011 at 7:26 AM
Praise God. What an inspiring response to such a big road block!
Walt Seale says:
September 24th, 2011 at 7:54 AM
Congratulations to you all for getting the school ready. Thank you Jo for taking it on!
John Vogel says:
September 24th, 2011 at 12:31 PM
Welcome to the Adventure!
I am overwhelmed with joy and gratitude that more will share the absolutely magnificent exhilaration of becoming life-long learners at Trinity.
Am I pumped, or what?
John Vogel
Trinity at River Ridge
Sam Mertz says:
September 24th, 2011 at 4:18 PM
Glory to God! This is exciting!
Jo Zimmel says:
September 24th, 2011 at 6:29 PM
Praise God you have begun the school year. Know my prayers are with you all year.
Linda Finke says:
September 24th, 2011 at 10:13 PM
Congratulations! You're beginning sounds a lot like the beginning of Trinity @ Greenlawn! Ann Ranaghan Linczer gave a shring on woman's night, about how she felt at being in the first class of Trinity. It was funny.
Nancy Caneff says:
September 25th, 2011 at 5:52 PM
We have been praying for great success for you in this very worthy adventure! We will keep praying for you! Congratulations and God Speed!
Megan Sgroi says:
September 25th, 2011 at 8:58 PM
This sounds like an exciting beginning. I am very proud of all of you; students, parents, teacher. Jo, I know first hand what a great teacher you are. You will be a great leader for the school.
Edna Malone says:
September 26th, 2011 at 11:11 AM
I am so excited about the beginning of Trinity Academy. What a wonderful experience for those lucky first students and teachers. You are all in our prayers. Keep us posted on the progress there.
Nancy Grams says:
September 26th, 2011 at 5:44 PM
Congratulations to everyone who has given blood, sweat and tears to bringing Trinity academy to birth! May you continue to grow as a community of learners as well as in numbers, to shine more brightly in Vancouver-Portland!
Julie Walters says:
October 5th, 2011 at 1:19 PM
Cheers for you all! What courage,endurance and muscle. I keep you all in my prayers.
Lori Zimmerman says:
October 10th, 2011 at 4:44 AM
I knew you could do it...how great is the Lord!!!!
Can we visit? Blessings to all.
Lori Z.
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