Trinity School at River Ridge

Trinity was an amazing experience and I owe so much to the teachers and coaches and fellow classmates. Now I'm a Christian missionary in the Mississippi River Valley relating to all kinds of people but especially the poor. Trinity gave me the tools to see others with love and compassion and as better than myself. That's important.

I went to Trinity at River Ridge from 7th grade through 12th and graduated in 2010. I have relied on my education there to get me through a Big Ten engineering program with relative ease and I maintain a life-long love for learning thanks to the education and community of learners at Trinity that I was fortunate to be a part of.

We have a daughter at Trinity school who is in her sophomore year; she started last year as a freshman. Both she and we are very happy with this school. The academic excellence, the moral fiber and character of the teachers and staff, and the calm, orderly, and happy atmosphere of the school all work together to educate the whole person. The whole environment encourages the student to study and learn and equip them with the love of learning for the rest of their lives.

We have sent 6 children to Trinity School. My wife and I love the focus on academics, it has challenged our children to push themselves with great results. I don't have an artistic bone in my body, but Trinity found one in each of our kids! The perspective on academics vs. sports is perfect and the new school is beautiful. The best school environment in the Twin Cities!

It's difficult to express our appreciation of Trinity School at River Ridge in a few sentences. The academic rigor is excellent, the teachers go above and beyond any other school we have experienced, the culture of respect among the students and staff creates students with character and consideration for others. Trinity creates thinkers who will difinitely contribute to our society. The music and art are incredible, largely due to very gifted teachers. The way the classical curriculum is presented results in students who develop a life long love of learning. We feel very blessed to have found Trinity. We home schooled for 17 years and had transitioned our kids into two other Christian schools. We were starting to think we were very difficult to please. The truth is that Trinity is a very different place to learn. It is exactly what we had hoped for in a school. We are incredibly grateful to have our kids educated there.

As teachers ourselves, we find Trinity's educational philosophy coherent and powerful. We have had children attend Trinity since 2000, and we have seen the benefit of a complete Trinity education. Grounded in a Christian classical view, Trinity provides a formation that cultivates the intellect, nurtures the virtues, and builds character. Trinity develops the whole student, not in some generic fashion, but in a way that builds robust habits of mind and heart to take seriously the long Western intellectual tradition. It exposes students to a rich collection of texts from literature, philosophy, and theology that deepens the student's ability to encounter the profound character of the Christian. This was most vividly brought home to us when our eldest daughter, a 2007 graduate, was reading one evening for her Humane class curled up on a couch. We asked her about the book, Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, and with great spontaneity and passion she responded, "I love Dostoevsky." We have found that one of principal challenges we have as teachers and parents is to nurture in our students a love for learning. In our sometimes overly careerist and grade conscious culture, we have instrumentalized education to economic or occupational goals that often remove the intrinsic value of education. While our children have not loved every course they have taken at Trinity, we are grateful for Trinity's fostering a love for learning, a seriousness in intellectual dialogue and the critical habits of mind while engaging questions of what is good, true and beautiful. Teresa and Michael Naughton

We homeschooled our four children through sixth grade and then sought out alternatives to best prepare them for college and beyond. We were impressed by the poise, confidence, and articulation of Trinity students and the graduates we met. They engaged adults in thoughtful conversation well beyond their years. We wanted that educational experience for our children and we were willing to drive 21 miles each direction for the opportunity. Trinity School at River Ridge has exceeded our expectations. Ron and Kristin Moss