Trinity considering 3-day teaching model

Trinity Christian School has begun looking into a three-day-a-week teaching model for younger students. Now school officials want to know  if there is any interest.

When the school began its strategic planning process, one of the things officials wanted to do was consider expanding their curriculum in different ways, said Trinity Headmaster Larry Collins. They began working on it, and about a year ago they received a lot of feedback on what he calls an alternative mode of education.

“We studied it for a while, and we really think we have something that will offer quality academic instruction,” Collins said. “For us, this would be where our academic instruction would be three days a week. There would be longer periods of time for those subject matters than the traditional setting because we are getting five days worth of instruction into three. We think the quality in terms of instruction is there. It provides where the instruction is coming from one of our teachers.” 

They want to gather input and make sure their program will meet the demand. They anticipate pods, or groups, of two or multiple grades. Collins said the instruction would be individualized.

“We don’t anticipate in that pod, a teacher teaching the exact same material to first and second graders,” Collins said. “We want there to be a differential between first and second grade. The curriculum will be ours. It will be what we are doing in our classrooms. This is not an experiment. We feel very good about it.”

Collins said he believes there is some interest in an alternative to the five-day model. For Trinity, the students eligible for this three-day model are those in first through eighth grades.

“We are not quite yet getting into high school credits and college transcripts and things like that yet,” he said. “We’ll step into this with first through eighth grade students in mind. We think our students will be eligible for different clubs, athletics and other extra curricular activities. We are really just having conversations.” 

During the month of April, Trinity officials want the community to know they are willing to commit to do this new three-day model. Administrators want to make sure they have the personnel in place. 

“The personnel will go through all of the same protocols as all of the other teachers that we have,” Collins said. “We have a statement of faith that all of our employees commit to. They’ll be accredited and certified like all of the other teachers we have on campus.”

The school held an information meeting on March 26. Collins is not aware of any other school in the community, or in their association, that is doing any thing like a three-day hybrid program.

“We are stepping out and leading in a way,” Collins said. “It is based upon what we do know. We know students learn better when there is quality instruction.” 

For more information, call the school at (478) 272-7699 or email Shannon Brantley (sbrantley@trinitydublin.org)

“We are thinking about starting this next school year,” Collins said. “We want to make sure this is in line with the mission of the school. Now, it’s just a matter of seeing if there is any interest.” 

The only question is how many days a week the student wants to attend — three or five. It may come down to what is better suited for the family.

“We have a lot of families who desire the five days,” Collins said. “But there are some families who may have a more flexible schedule. This does not mean the students in the three-day model would have less work. They would attend Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday classes. If they are looking for college preparatory and Christian education, and they desire a more flexible schedule, then maybe this for them.”