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History Early in 1995, a group of Christians from several churches in the Durham-Chapel Hill area came together to form a school that combined academic excellence and a Christian commitment. That vision of excellence was informed by several educational traditions. The Christian commitment to excellence was embodied in the writings of Frank Gabelein and in The Stony Brook School. Dorothy Sayers’ essay, "The Lost Tools of Learning", held out a prophetic vision for the renewal of the Trivium, a venerable approach to education that is time tested and that mirrors a child’s natural development. The reformed worldview of Louis Berkhof and Cornelius Van Til, worked out in many Christian Reformed schools across the country, has long championed the lordship of Christ over all spheres of life. The writings of Charlotte Mason, recently popularized by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, on early education and developmentally appropriate pedagogy, have also shaped the school’s philosophy and curriculum. Desiring to transcend the tradition of any one church or denomination and to emphasize those truths which Christians in many ages and traditions have held in common, a steering committee incorporated the school in 1995. The committee gathered parents who shared its vision and who desired to entrust their children to the school for the sake of academic and moral education. By 2002, the student body at Trinity School represented over 40 different congregations in the Triangle. Utilizing the facilities of Hope Creek Church in Durham, the school opened its doors in the fall of 1995 with thirty-nine students in grades K-4. In August of 1996, Chip Denton accepted the position of founding Headmaster. In the second year, the school grew to over 70 students in grades 1-5, to 90 students in its third year, and to just under 100 students in grades 1-6 in its fourth year. In 1998 the school acquired thirty-seven acres of land on Pickett Rd., including a fifteen-acre nature preserve along Hope Creek. In the fifth year the school held classes for grades 5-7 at the new property in modular classrooms, while grades K-4 continued to meet at Hope Creek Church on Erwin Rd. In the summer of 2000, the school broke ground on its permanent facility, a 28,000 square foot classroom building and gymnasium, and opened its doors to nearly 160 students in grades K-8. In 2001, the K-8 student body had grown to 240 and in 2002, to 273. In the fall of 2003, Trinity added a Transitional Kindergarten class. Today, Trinity enrolls 437 students in grades TK-12. Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill |
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