"It has been a challenging year or two, that's for sure. Student learning has been virtual, hybrid and now returned to in-person. As a parent, you know those challenges for your child better than anyone." But at Holy Trinity, we were always here.
Holy Trinity: An Episcopal School is a Preschool through 8th grade located across two campuses in Glenn Dale and Bowie, Maryland. Founded in 1963, the school’s foundation is based upon its Episcopal values illustrated in its vision and mission, to ensure academic excellence, inclusiveness, as well as spiritual and moral formation for each student. The learning triangle is the communication commitment and bond that holds the three-part student, parent, and school together in-community. Holy Trinity stood on these unwavering pillars as the school and community navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic shut down. Now as it focuses on its current plans of in-person engagement it leans once again on the truths that kept the school delivering on its mission through virtual, hybrid and once again in-person learning.
Beginning late February 2020, the school began considering the idea of adding a virtual platform in case the rumors of the COVID-19 virus would in fact become a reality. Little did the school know that it would be directly affected by COVID-19 causing it to close on March 10th just two days before Maryland State Governor Hogan’s announcement of the statewide shutdown. In those two days, the school made a critical pivot to begin on March 16, 2020, holding all classes Preschool through 8th grade on their new virtual platform with Microsoft Teams.
The next three and a half months posed to be the most critical time of the country. The school’s community experienced firsthand what the country was grappling to discern. Members of the community rallied to support one another as individuals tested positive, fought in recovery, or tragically lost their lives to the virus. While our country’s health and social equality remained unclear, Holy Trinity’s administration, faculty, and staff rallied together to remain focused on their mission to “nurture, teach, mentor, coach, and inspire students of diverse backgrounds and abilities to become their best selves.” The school with the support of local and national pandemic aid assisted families in need. Together the school and community forged through to support one another.
Using the Microsoft Teams virtual platform, the school remained online with a full academic schedule Monday through Friday, 8:30am through 3:00pm. Middle School students were able to connect with teachers with both live and recorded sessions. Additionally, their schedule included working class periods structured to support students academically and collaboratively through the virtual adjustments. Preschool through 4th grade students and parents received tools to include recorded class sessions, learning resource bundles, and regular emails to support continuous learning. School remained virtual throughout the remainder of the 2020 school year. Mindful of significant screen time and online fatigue, class schedules included 15-minute breaks in between classes and class activities that encouraged a combination of independent and online engagement. Unsure of what to expect of the pandemic, Holy Trinity prepared for a continued virtual learning environment during the 2020-2021 school year.
Holy Trinity remained committed to ensure the proper safety measures as well as social and emotional resources were available. The summers of 2020 and 2021 consisted of daily, weekly, and sometimes hourly policy and procedural meetings with State Officials, the Prince George’s County Health Department, and the School’s Board of Trustees. The school hired a full-time student counselor to support the social and emotional needs as virtual learning continued.
Ever vigilant to keep its predominantly African American school community connected and safe, Holy Trinity found itself navigating through the pandemic by following the safest protocols. Virtual learning continued through the first and second trimester of the 2020-2021 school year. Holy Trinity installed cameras in its classrooms to support a more robust virtual learning approach for students. This allowed the dedicated and committed teachers to gradually return to their classroom during the second trimester of the school year with minimal exposure. Faculty and staff received professional development in virtual learning resources to aid the transition to online classrooms. Academic planning included the development of “learning bundles.” Learning bundles included school supplies, project kits, and books, bundled for each student to prepare for the next month of learning. Following its traditional carline procedures to pick-up and drop-off children, this process now supported the pick-up and drop-off of learning bundles. These moments also provided small opportunities where students could get a glimpse of their beloved teachers and staff. The school also remained laser focused on communicating to parents each step in the transition. The Head of School and Division Administrators hosted school wide and division specific virtual “Happy Hour” information sessions to ensure the school’s pillars were working together. Remaining connected within the school and greater Bowie community is a critical element of Holy Trinity. The school rallied throughout the year donating monies and gifts for those in need in the Bowie and local Prince George’s County area. Holy Trinity hosted both a virtual Holiday concert and Spring music concert to raise money and showcase student instrumental learning despite the absence of playing instruments in-person.
In March 2021 Holy Trinity prepared for the next transition to bring students back into the building in a hybrid learning platform. Gradually, Holy Trinity began this next phase with a little over 50% of its student body returning to the in-person classroom while maintaining the virtual learning platform. The in-person classroom included the implementation of critical Covid protocols, student temperature checks, social distancing, face masks, and hand sanitizing stations. Additional safety measures were implemented in the facility and cleaning procedures, to include UV air filters for safe air circulation, sanitization canisters to clean each classroom, and corral partitions to ensure safety measures during lunch.
In September 2021, Holy Trinity opened the new 2021-2022 school year with 99% of its teachers vaccinated and 97% of its student body attending classes in person. The school reinforced COVID protocols to include wearing a face mask, often adorned with the school’s logo, practicing social distancing, and sanitizing workstations. The school also implemented a program to administer weekly COVID-19 testing. The case rate has remained extremely low. COVID aside, students have rejoined in a social environment that continues to support learning of the whole child.
Now more than ever, the school understands its mission to prepare students to be “confident in work and action, so that its graduates will be curious, creative, and active participants in life and their communities.” Looking back on the last 18+ months it is clear that the banners that hang in the Primary School hallway, Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, and Kindness, along with the encouragement of The Golden Rule - to treat others as you want to be treated, are the social and emotional pathways as we face the next steps in developing this generation. As Holy Trinity continues to safely engage in more in-person social and emotional interactions, it leans ever more on its Episcopal values and the learning triangle to ensure that it remains safe and mission focused. Most of all we understand that, “Together We Can Do This!”
Holy Trinity invites you to be a part of our community. Please register for a Virtual Drop-In Wednesday or upcoming Open House on January 8, 2022 by registering at https://htrinity.org/admissions. Families are encouraged to also visit the school’s website to navigate the virtual campus or register for a small in-person tour with Roz Cruz, Director of Admissions. Small group tours are available by registration only. For more information, please contact the Office of Admissions at 301-262-5355 or admissions@htrinity.org.
