This year, Trinity has been undergoing a reaccreditation process. As a parent, I was asked to read the Self-Study Report the school submitted to the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). I also met the Accreditation Committee that visited to answer questions about the school from a parent perspective. During this process, I was just amazed at all the work that goes into being accredited and into creating the environment and culture that makes our school so special. I thought that I would share some of the things that I've learned with you in hope that it would be insightful for you too.
I learned that a good school starts with really knowing who you are and what you stand for. Our mission statement was changed to "engage minds and transform lives" because it better fits our school. In order to "engage minds" you need interaction and discussion, and that's why the class sizes for the classical Christian model are small. Previously there were 23-25 students per class, and now they are limited to 10 for preschool, 18 for elementary, and 15 for secondary.
Since our son has come to Trinity, I've learned so much from the school's philosophy to address the heart motivations as more important than the outward behaviors. There has been a lot of work done on clarification since our last accreditation, especially the Profile of a Graduate and our Core Convictions. Over and over I saw that the school is so purposeful in big and small decisions to make sure they are in alignment with our mission and core values.
It takes a lot of effort to build a culture and to have unity in mission. Each of our principals meets weekly with our teachers individually to touch base, and there are monthly and weekly division meetings as well. I am so thankful that one of our school's core values is partnering with us parents. I think that's why our school has a culture of family. I learned that this is very important to the school, and that they have made policy changes to communicate more with parents so that we can address issues at home too.
Before, I thought that accreditation was just to pass or meet a national standard, but I've learned that the accreditation process is to help our school to better monitor, meet, and make progress to meet our mission, core values, and goals. The things that we love about Trinity don't just happen by themselves. I think that God has honored us because we are purposeful and diligent in creating a school that glorifies Him.