WCEA Accreditation

Accreditation is a process of ongoing school improvement. Our ultimate goal is the highest student achievement for our students, and we want to always be on the road to improvement. As the school prepares for our Accreditation year (school is accredited by the WCEA), we want to share the process with you as we proceed. All of our work is guided by our mission statement and in support of our parish.

The mission of Holy Trinity Catholic School is:
Through academic excellence, Holy Trinity Catholic School prepares students emotionally, intellectually, morally, physically and spiritually for the world in which they live.

Report of Findings, October 17, 2019

We are thrilled to report that our Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA) Accreditation visit went exceptionally well. The team of five spent three days at Holy Trinity Catholic School affirming the great mission driven work we are dedicated to. Our school was evaluated in multiple areas. I wish to briefly summarize their findings for you. There is a four level scale that the Visiting Team uses to evaluate eight different areas of our school: Highly Effective, Effective, Somewhat Effective and Ineffective. Below, I will list the category and our ratings.
3A. Assessment of the School’s Catholic Identity:

5 subsections
4 Highly Effective ratings
1 Effective rating

3B. Defining the School’s Purpose:

4 subsections
2 Highly Effective ratings
2 Effective ratings

3C. Organization of Student Learning to Support High Achievement of all Students:

4 subsections
3 Highly Effective ratings
1 Effective rating

3D: Data Analysis and Action to Support High Achievement of all Students:

6 subsections
4 Highly Effective ratings
2 Effective ratings

3E: SLEs and Standards Based Curriculum to Support High Achievement of all Students:

5 subsections
4 Highly Effective ratings
1 Effective rating

3F: Instructional Methodology to Support High Achievement of all Students:

5 subsections
4 Highly Effective ratings
1 Effective rating

3G: Support of Personal, Spiritual and Academic Growth:

6 subsections
2 Highly Effective ratings
4 Effective ratings

3H: Resource Management and Development:

7 subsections
3 Highly Effective ratings
4 Effective ratings

Overall, we received 42 ratings with 26 Highly Effective ratings and 16 Effective ratings. We are very pleased with these results, which affirm that our school is continuously seeking excellence and focused on growing each student’s faith. Additionally, we developed five goals to work on over the next six-year cycle. The Visiting Team Committee affirmed these goals and our Action Plans.

Math: Students will engage in problem solving and model real world situations by using mathematical ideas and procedures while using appropriate mathematical vocabulary and notation.
Learning Support: The school will increase academic opportunities and differentiation for high achieving students.
Technology: The school will integrate technology into our daily curriculum to cultivate digital citizens and foster the skills 21st century learners need to be successful in our technology rich high schools
Writing: The school will develop a cross-curricular writing program, that is both horizontally and vertically aligned, using the Jane Schaffer Writing program ensuring an overarching focus on analysis and the writing process, scaffolded to grade level capability, all the while assessing and intervening for the success of every student
Catholic Identity: The school will analyze and disaggregate ACRE results in order to identify areas where Holy Trinity Catholic School students can improve their commitment to being a Christian disciple.

Thank you for your commitment to our school and your support. If you have further questions, please contact me at asheridan@htsch.org.

Survey Results

We continue to draw insight from our survey results. Parents, students, faculty/staff, Parish leadership and our School Advisory Council have completed surveys. We value your insight and will use it to help improve our school. Here are some trends from our student surveys:

Areas of Success:

100% of students report feeling safe at school
96% of students report having fun while learning
94% of students report feeling respected and cared about by the principal and teachers
94% of students report learning about the Catholic faith is a priority for our school.
97% of students report teachers expect them to do their best.
81% of students report teachers challenge them to do better.
Class time is spent in various ways- teacher talk, whole group work, small groups and individual work.
Class time is spent on various tasks- reading, book work, projects, research and using technology.
89% of students report their time is spent doing working they find meaningful.

Areas to Focus Improvement on:

Increasing rigor and expectations for students ready for the challenge (50% of students report feeling challenged, 35% felt neutral about being challenged)
Applying what is learned in school to real-life situations (67.5% of students report understanding how to apply learning to real world scenarios, 24% felt neutral)
Growing and strengthening our Learning Resource Program
Continue social emotional learning to help with friendships and building social skills
Build a swimming pool and a Lego Room (!!! wouldn't that be cool???)

Accreditation Update February 4, 2019

As we close Catholic Schools Week, we are ever grateful for the privilege of serving our parish community through the ministry of Catholic education. A rigorous academic curriculum infused with the solid, life-affirming values of our Catholic culture and spirituality is at the heart of Holy Trinity Catholic School. Our Self-Study this year is helping us to strengthen our school and renew our commitment to serving students and families. Thank you to all who are contributing to this process toward our re-accreditation.

HT Parent Survey

School Accreditation Update December 3, 2018

Our journey towards re-accreditation continues. Committees are working diligently on various aspects of the Improving Student Learning Self Study process. They are putting discussion questions out to various groups of shareholders to gather the information and data needed to assess our strengths and identify our areas for growth. In the coming weeks, various surveys will also help up to gather the data needed to assess our overall school program. A primary focus of this process is the assessment of our Catholic Identity as a school and how effective we are at infusing this Catholic Identity into our entire curriculum and school culture so as to enhance the high achievement of all students. Catholic Identity is defined as "the distinctive religious dimension found in Catholic schools which emphasizes message, community, service and worship centered in Eucharist as found in the Catholic tradition".

School Accreditation Update October 5, 2018

Holy Trinity Catholic School is always seeking the best and most effective ways to educate children for the 21 st century, infusing this education with a strong and vital Catholic identity, while supporting parents for their role as the primary educators of their children. Every six years we have the opportunity for a very specific Self Study process leading to the re-accreditation of the school.

During the 2018-2019 school year, the school will involve all of its shareholders – faculty, staff, parents, students, and parishioners – in this process using a specific protocol outlined by the Western Catholic Educational Association (WECA). In the fall of 2019, a Visiting Committee from WCEA will review our Self Study document, including our Action Plan, for ongoing improvement, and will determine our accreditation status for the next six years. Throughout the year, we will be keeping you informed about this Self Study and Accreditation process. We welcome your support, your feedback, and your prayers for the success of this process. For more details on this process please visit our school website and the WCEA website.

New Mission Statement and SLE

In preparation for our 2018-2019 Self Study process, we spent the spring of 2018 reviewing our school mission statement and student learning expectations (SLE). Our mission statement was found to be inadequate to describe the complete picture of what great things we do here at school. Our SLE, while excellent in content and message, were too long for students to find useful. In staff, SAC, and administration meetings, we brainstormed, reviewed, edited and sought feedback. We are happy with our newly worded mission statement and SLE. Here is a look at the updated wording and visual.