Trinity-Pawling School
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Founded: 1907
Location: Pawling, New York
Headmaster: Archibald A. Smith III
School Type: All-boys, boarding, secondary school
Religious Affiliation: Episcopal
Enrollment: 325 students, 80% boarders, 20% day students
Grades Offered: 9-12, and post graduate. Middle School is available for day students.
Matriculation Rate: 100% of Trinity-Pawling seniors are accepted to four year universities
Website: www.trinitypawling.org
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[edit] History of School
Dr. Frederick Luther Gamage, the widely respected Headmaster of St. Paul's School in Garden City, Long Island, founded the Pawling School in 1907. He left St. Paul's determined to create a new institution that embodied his own educational philosophy-one grounded on the idea that effort across the board is the foundation on which all achievement ultimately rests. "Whether a boy succeeds in the first instance at all he attempts is irrelevant," Dr. Gamage used to say. "Over time, effort inevitably yields achievement.
Almost from the start, the Pawling School earned a place among New England's top schools. After closing during World War II, the Pawling School emerged as a rural outpost for Manhattan's esteemed Trinity School, hence the name Trinity-Pawling School. In 1978, the school ended its affiliation with the Trinity School and became independent.
Today, one century after Dr. Gamage made his dream a reality, the school continues to teach young men the importance of hard work, faith and integrity. Boys are encouraged to reach beyond their comfort zones, developing inquisitive minds and new skills. Thanks to the last two headmasters, Phil Smith and Arch Smith, Trinity-Pawling faces the future with top facilities, a growing endowment, and an excellent reputation as one of the country's most prestigious all-boys boarding schools. Over the course of a century, Trinity-Pawling has not only survived but succeeded.
[edit] The Mission of Trinity-Pawling
•To continue the tradition started in 1907 whereby Trinity-Pawling School is an all-male college preparatory school serving primarily boarding students. The young men of Trinity-Pawling are encouraged to reach their full potential, and the faculty is committed to upholding the highest standards of learning.
•To instill a value system, steeped in the Judeo-Christian tradition and reflected in the chapel experience, which prepares Trinity-Pawling boys to face the challenges of a multicultural world, to be leaders who strive for justice for all people, and to be contributing members of society.
•To provide a foundation which enables a student to think and act as an independent and responsible person.
•To foster a sense of community based upon a boarding school tradition – boys living with peers and faculty families. Respect for others, a dress code, family-style meals, and appropriate behavior are hallmarks of this community.
•To promote a school culture that embraces diversity and recognizes the uniqueness of each individual.
•To develop close student-teacher relationships with a special concern for the personal development of the whole student: intellectual, creative, spiritual, moral, social, and athletic.
•To encourage within each boy a love of learning, the ability to think analytically and to develop the skills necessary to continue learning as a life-long experience.
•To support faculty excellence in teaching, coaching, and mentoring of students.
•To value equally effort and achievement – a boy is judged not only by academic and extracurricular accomplishments, but also by his efforts to excel to the best of his abilities.
[edit] Athletics
The Trinity-Pawling School competes in the Founders’ League, a highly competitive arena which college recruiters consider a prime source for spotting some of the nation’s best prep-school talent. T-P’s league competitors, all of which are in New England, include Avon, Kent, Hotchkiss, Loomis, Choate, Taft, Kingswood-Oxford and Westminster. Although smaller in number than most of its rivals, T-P continues to hold its own in the win-loss column year after year. The school boasts a number of Founders’ and Tri-State League championships in varsity basketball, wrestling frequently places first in the Western New England Championships, and the cross country team has recorded more than a dozen consecutive winning seasons. In 2005, the varsity football team had a perfect season, defeating Andover for the New England Championship. An athletics banquet at the conclusion of each season is held to honor the many accomplishments of individual athletes and successful teams.
At Trinity-Pawling, every boy is a three-season athlete. Whether he is learning the basics of a sport like squash or golf or has been excelling on the gridiron or ice for years, he is part of the School’s nearly century-old athletic tradition. Proud to represent “The Pride”, he strives to live up to the School’s high standards on a daily basis, whether engaged in practice or in the heat of battle in a match. T-P offers 13 interscholastic sports with 30 teams, plus recreational activities. Depending on skill and experience, each boy competes on the varsity, junior varsity, thirds or fourths level. Forty-percent of graduates move on to play for, and captain, Division I, II and III intercollegiate or club teams in their respective sports. Baseball greats Mo Vaughn '86 and Kirk McCaskill '79 are two of the many Trinity-Pawling graduates who have gone on to have succesful athletic careers.
[edit] Academics
The Effort System is at the heart of everything the school does. If you’re willing to give your best effort, regardless of the challenge — be it academic, athletic, artistic and personal — you’ll wind up one of our most recognized and most rewarded kids. That’s because Trinity-Pawling believes that persistence and hard work do lead to achievement. Every six weeks, a student receives effort marks ranging from “1” through “5” in seven different areas of campus life: academic achievement, academic participation, attendance and discipline, work program, extracurricular activities, athletics and the dormitory. Each area is weighted differently. Academic participation, for instance, counts for 30% of your overall effort ranking. Dorm citizenship is 15%. Athletics counts for 10%. Once all the effort marks have been generated, they are weighted appropriately and averaged together. One number between “1” and “5” is generated.
If you’re on the First Effort Group, you have every privilege the school can offer - Evening Study Hall is optional, you can take more weekends off campus than anyone else, etc. When you demonstrate responsibility you earn respect.Likewise, if a student is in group five, things like study hall and breakfast are mandatory, and weekend leaves are limited.
The school also offers over 100 courses with 17 AP courses.
[edit] The Arts
For the first time in the school’s history, all the arts are under one roof! In May of 2004 hundreds of trustees, alumni, faculty, students and friends gathered to open the new $10 million Arts Center with a gala jazz concert. The brick building had formerly been the school’s gym from 1911 to 1960 and then had served as an auditorium until 2002. The old space was totally gutted and renovated, and a new addition doubling the square footage of the old gym was added perpendicular to the original building. The Arts Center graces the quad’s southern edge and shines as a beacon to artistic activity on the campus.
Performances
Trinity-Pawling produces three major theatrical shows in the 400-seat Gardiner Theater each year - one per term. Of these, at least one is a musical. The goals of the program are two-fold: to acquaint students with classic theater and to provide opportunities for students to get on stage in front of audiences. Recent shows produced have included: You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Matchmaker, Grease, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Antigone. All students are encouraged to audition for shows.
Visual Arts
The ground floor of the Arts Center is devoted to spaces for the visual arts. The Photo Lab has 12 enlargers and two other rooms for rolling film, drying and mounting prints, and storage. The Pottery Room has nine wheels, a slab roller, and three kilns for oxidation firings. A large painting and drawing studio can hold up to two classes at one time and the smaller Veith Studio is used by advanced students. All the studios have abundant natural light and special spotlights, and the student art work enlivens the hallways.
