Trinity School at River Ridge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other institutions named Trinity School, see Trinity School.

Trinity School at River Ridge
Verum, Pulchrum, Bonum
A Northwest Airlines DC-9 flying over the school
School type	Private Christian
Established	1987
Principal	William Wacker
Faculty	~ 40
Students	~ 400
Colors	Blue, White, Red
Mascot	Tri-Hawks
Location	2300 East 88th Street Bloomington, MN 55425 United States
Website	http://www.trinityschools.org

Trinity School at River Ridge is a Christian school for students in grades 7-12. It is one of three Trinity Schools. Its two sister schools are Greenlawn and Meadow View. The schools were started by an ecumenical Christian community, the People of Praise. Trinity Schools provide a classical education, including four years of Latin. This Blue Ribbon school is currently located in Bloomington, Minnesota near the Mall of America and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.

1 History
2 Faculty
3 Campus
4 Extracurricular Activities
5 Moving
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

Trinity School in the Twin Cities started in 1987, the second of the three Trinity Schools. It started off with 6 teachers and 31 students, with Dan Ferris serving as headmaster. In 1991 the school moved from the downtown Minneapolis campus to the River Ridge campus. The building was bought from Control Data Corporation. In 1991, when William Wacker became headmaster, the school had grown to 112 students and 18 teachers.^[1] Currently the student population hovers around 400 and there are about 45 teachers.

[edit] Faculty

William Wacker is Head of School, and has been so since 1991. David Beskar serves as Associate Head of School under him. John Lee serves as Dean of Boys, and Penelope Arndt serves as Dean of Girls.

[edit] Campus

Because the building was previously used by a top-secret government contractor^{[citation needed]}, it is somewhat soundproof. In the mid-1990s, two new additions were built onto the school. A new wing of classrooms at the far end of the hallway was built - the 400 wing. It houses lockers for 7th-9th graders, and some 10th graders, along with 14 classrooms, 7 on each side of the hall. This part of the building is structurally different from the rest of the school because this was built specifically for the school. Also in the mid-1990s, an auditorium was built at the opposite end of the hallway. Nicknamed "the circle", it is a small semi-circular stage. Lunch tables are put here for 8th, 10th, and 12th graders to eat on. In the middle of the stage, there is a small half-circular protrusion. This stage is used for drama productions, and is stood on by the speaker at boy's morning prayer. There are many chairs in the audience, also placed in a half-circle, in ascending rings revolving around the circular stage. There are enough chairs to seat the entire school population, however, this happens very rarely, and normally only seats boys during morning prayer.

The building is used by Piper Jaffray for an emergency building in case their main building becomes disabled. In return for this service, Piper Jaffray has provided some of the computers and other supplies for the school as well as a rent.

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

Academic Activities
Ancient Technologies Club Art Club Arts Magazine Bug Club Chamber Singers Concert Chorale Declamation Jazz Ensemble Latin Club Robotics Speech Club String Orchestra Wind Ensemble Yearbook

Athletics

Fall

Cross Country
Soccer
Swimming
Volleyball

Winter

Basketball
Wrestling

Spring

Baseball
Golf
Softball
Track and Field

Trinity recently announced a nickname for their sports teams. The name, chosen by a vote from the student body, is the Trihawks. This is short for the Trinity Hawks but is also a hairstyle.

[edit] Moving

In 2005, a new runway was built at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. The school is located in an area which experiences noise levels of greater than 65 decibels due to the new flyovers. The Metropolitan Airports Commission granted Trinity approximately $7 million to either install soundproofing or move to a new location. Most students at the school have not reported classroom disruption resulting from the new runway. Trinity accepted the money and is now planning to move to a new location in Eagan, a nearby suburb. The site for the new building is near the intersection of Argenta Trail and Interstate 494 in Eagan. The Board of Governors of the People of Praise has approved a 15 million dollar project including a two station gym and several soccer fields. This is two million over the amount of money currently set aside for the new school, but this is not expected to be a problem. Floor plans and blueprints for the new school have been finished. Trinity has sold the former site in Bloomington, and is currently renting the building until the new site is ready. On 19 October 2006, Trinity broke ground at the new location.^[2] The building is expected to be completed by Winter Break 2007-2008.