Guidance Center

Centrally located to both middle and upper school students, the Guidance Center serves as a wonderful resource for academic guidance and support for students in grades 6 through 12. Trinity School is committed to providing an educational environment that allows children of all ages to flourish in mind, body, and spirit. The Guidance Center is a resource for all students, teachers, and parents to support the learning process.

Parent and Teacher Consultation
Every student is encouraged to seek extra help from his or her classroom teacher first and foremost. The Guidance Center is intended to support the work of Trinity’s teachers and to provide individualized guidance and support services for all our students. After initial contact with a student’s classroom teacher, the Guidance Center staff is available to meet with parents and teachers to help coordinate support services for a student. If a student needs services which are not provided at Trinity, our staff will assist with those referrals as well.

Students with Diagnosed Learning Disabilities
Trinity accommodates students who have an official diagnosis from a doctor, psychologist, or psychiatrist. However, modifications to the curriculum are NEVER made. For a student to work with the middle school or high school tutors, Trinity needs an official diagnosis on the letterhead stationary of a doctor, psychologist, or psychiatrist. If testing by that doctor clearly indicates the need for accommodation, the middle and upper school tutors are in charge of those arrangements. When it pertains to applying for extended time on the ACT, the testing should have been done much earlier than the eleventh grade and there must be a pattern of extended time that has been granted through the school in order to qualify. If that is the case, parents also need to keep in mind that ACT also requires that updated testing (within the last three years prior to applying for extended time) be sent in by our guidance office. Suzanne Satcher will handle the extended time applications through the guidance office. ACT will not accept students who are suddenly diagnosed in the eleventh grade and who have had no prior extended time granted through the school. Trinity must show ACT a pattern of accommodations granted here at school for a student to qualify for extended time on the ACT.

Middle School Tutoring Services
The middle school has two tutors. Mary Ann Durr is our math tutor. Laura Williams tutors the non-math subject areas for students with an identified learning disorder diagnosis or who are on Academic Watch. Students who have an identified diagnosis will take preference when scheduling tutor sessions, but normally there is time to schedule other students on an as-needed basis per the approval of the administration. 

Upper School Resource Specialist, Laura Williams
The Learning Resource Program is an on-campus tutoring program where the Resource Specialist Laura Williams works in conjunction with classroom teachers to help students overcome learning difficulties and succeed to the best of their abilities. Specific course content is used to teach study skills, test taking skills, and critical thinking with content remediation occurring throughout the process; course content remediation includes college-prep level and some honors level courses excluding foreign languages and AP. Students are scheduled for services on the following priority basis: diagnosed learning disability; difficulty maintaining required minimum GPA; teacher/parent recommendation. Special testing accommodations for students with diagnosed disabilities is arranged through the Resource Program in conjunction with the classroom teacher.

Standardized Test Preparation
Trinity School offers test prep sessions three times a year - September, October, and February. Those sessions are offered on four different nights during the above mentioned months to help students prepare to take tests such as the ACT or SAT. Subjects covered during these sessions include English, reading, math, and science reasoning. The cost is $100 for 4 sessions.

ERB CTP
Standard ERB administration (erblearn.org) is managed by the lower and middle school administration and classroom teachers. Students in grades 6-9 take the CTP online in October of each academic year. The Comprehensive Testing Program (CTP) is a rigorous assessment of student achievement of essential standards and learning domains in English language arts, mathematics, and science. Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning tests are included.

Practice ACT
Students in grade 10 take the Practice ACT test, which is managed by the upper school administration. The Practice ACT is actually a retired ACT test and is scored 1-36, like the ACT tests that the students take for college admission purposes. This testing provides the student with a baseline for where they are currently and areas for improvement for the actual college admissions test.

PSAT
Standard PSAT administration is managed by the upper school administration and classroom teachers. Students in grades 10-11 take the PSAT in October of each academic year. The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is a program cosponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). It's a standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT®. It also gives students a chance to enter NMSC scholarship programs and gain access to college and career planning tools. The PSAT/NMSQT measures, critical reading skills, math problem-solving skills, and writing skills.