Holy Trinity School (Richmond Hill)

Holy Trinity School ("HTS") is a private, co-educational, university preparatory institution located in Richmond Hill, Ontario affiliated with the Anglican Church of Canada. There are approximately 800 students currently enrolled from junior kindergarten to grade 12. HTS is an accredited member of the Canadian Association of Independent Schools.

History

HTS was founded in 1981 by members of Holy Trinity Church in Thornhill. The school’s first classrooms were in the church basement. However, enrolment grew quickly; within two years HTS had relocated to more spacious quarters on Bainbridge Avenue in North York. The school’s present campus was established on land purchased by the Board of Governors in Richmond Hill. This campus was officially opened in 1985 with the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable Lincoln Alexander, and the Archbishop of Toronto, the Most Reverend L.S. Garnsworthy, in attendance.

Facilities

HTS is located at a facility situated on a 37-acre (0.15 km²) campus located in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. The buildings underwent a major expansion in 2003. The building is 1 floor in some areas, and has 2 floors in other parts. The second floor hosts the senior school exclusively, with a few courses taught in first floor classes. It features 8 fully equipped science laboratories as well as many other course-specialized classrooms. in the opposite wing, the second floor is designated to the Arts courses offered. Middle school is in one wing on the first floor, and the Primary/Juniors are located in another wing on the first floor. Divisions are set so that it provides the least disruption to classes as possible, because of different break times, lunch times etcetera. The school also has its own theater for the performing arts as well as a full-size cafeteria. The cafeteria provides daily hot lunches and is run by the food service company Chartwells. There are three gymnasiums located in the building and the property includes three soccer/rugby fields, a playground renovated in 2006 as well as four tennis courts. There is a Hawk Shop where students are able to buy their school clothes throughout the year.

School Divisions

The school is divided into three subdivisions: Lower School (JK-6)(Lower School is divided into Primary,JK-grade 3, and Junior,grade4-6), Middle School (7-8) and senior school (9-12). There are heads of each division. There is one J/SK class, two classes each of 1-6 (1A, 1B) 3 each of 7-8 (7A, 7B, 7C) and 5 each of 9-10 (9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, 9E) and 5 each of 11-12 (11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, 11E).Classes stay in homerooms during J/SK through Grade 8. Grade 7-8 rotate between classrooms, but not class groups. Grade 9-12 are on a full rotation schedule. They do not stay in homerooms. Exams start in Grade 7, unlike public schools, where exams start in Grade 9. Exams for the 7-8's are written in a selected classroom with an assorted group of people, but Grade 9-12 exams are written in the gymnasium.

Houses

Upon enrolment in the school, each student is placed into one of six "houses": Champlain, Bishop Mountain, MacDonald, Thorne, Rose or Langton. Throughout the year, the houses compete in both academic and athletic competitions to earn "house points". At the end of the year, a winner is announced. Champlain has won in the 2008-2009 academic school year. House points are earned from specific organized events throughout the year. House points can also be earned by bringing in assorted items to the various food or gift drives that are organized throughout the year or items like old cell phones, batteries and ink cartridges. Although MacDonald has historically dominated the house competition, Thorne is currently the reigning champion, winning the most points during the 2009-2010 year. Langton has won the competition only once in HTS history.