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The History of Trinity School

In the early 1990s, a group of Christians from different churches began to dream of a new school for Durham and Chapel Hill. Some were parents with children in public schools, some had homeschooling experience, and some had backgrounds in independent schools. Others were visionaries without school-age children. All shared a vision for education that integrated thoroughgoing Christian faith with the best teaching and learning.

1995
In the winter of 1995, a group began meeting to craft a vision and explore the logistics of a new school. Trinity School was incorporated in the spring of 1995, and shortly after Labor Day of that same year the school opened its doors to 39 students in three classes covering five grades, K–4. In its early years, the school met at Hope Creek Church on Erwin Road. The school expanded upwards to sixth grade, and then later up to eighth grade. The latter expansion was made possible by the purchase of 22 acres of land on Pickett Road.

2000
In the summer of 2000, the school broke ground for its first permanent facilities, funded by Trinity’s first $5 million capital campaign. The new buildings included an academic building and a gymnasium, both of which were completed in 2001. In May of that year Trinity graduated its first class of eighth graders.

2001–2010
The years from 2001–2010 brought significant growth to Trinity School. Our Lower School grades doubled in size as the school expanded to two sections in each grade. The Middle School began to emerge as a distinctive division within the school. The school’s infrastructure was expanded significantly during these years, including the addition of full-time senior staff. A task force worked hard to plan for the launch of the Upper School, which would be funded by a second major capital campaign, the $8.4 million “Growing Up” campaign. After years of planning, the Upper School was launched in the fall of 2006. In the second year of the Upper School, a new academic building, the South Building, was completed. During this time the school also established a $1 million endowment for scholarships. The school saw the graduation of its first class of seniors in the spring of 2010 and has since graduated hundreds of students. Many of our alumni have now graduated from college and are working, attending graduate and professional schools, and richly contributing to their communities.

More Than Twenty Years in the Making

2011–2018
Growth in numbers, facilities, and programs characterized this time at Trinity School. School-wide enrollment increased to over 500 students, with accompanying increases in faculty and staff.

The launching of the DIgital Learning Initiative, a 1:1 device program, brought opportunities for both students and faculty to take advantage of the resources provided by technology for enriching the curriculum and enhancing productivity.

The building of the Blake Hubbard Commons, which we call The HUB, created much-needed new space for meetings, worship, and musical and drama performances. A robotics lab was created to provide space for our students to design, build, and test robots using 3-D laser cutters and other tools.

Increased Middle School and Upper School enrollment also led to explosive growth in our athletics programs. By 2018 Trinity had 30 athletic teams in 9 sports. During this time our school moved from being a 1A to a 2A division school, won numerous conference and state championships, and sent more than a dozen athletes to play at the collegiate level in baseball, cross-country, golf, volleyball, and swimming.

2019 and beyond...
In May 2019 Trinity graduated its 10th class of seniors. The school also launched its fourth capital campaign, Trinity Forward, to build a new Arts and Engineering Building with much-needed space for our fine arts and robotics programs, as well as raising additional support for our faculty.

In 2020, Trinity School celebrated its 25th anniversary. We hope that you will join us in giving thanks to God for more than 25 years of Trinity School.