Trinity School (also known as Trinity) is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, preparatory, and

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

for grades

K–12 K–12, from kindergarten to 12th grade, is an English language expression that indicates the range of years of publicly supported primary and secondary education found in the United States and Canada, which is similar to publicly supported sch ...

on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, New York, United States, and a member of both the New York Interschool and the Ivy Preparatory School League. Founded in 1709 in the old Trinity Church at Broadway and Wall Street, the school is the fifth oldest in the United States and the oldest continually operational school in New York City.

History

Trinity School traces its founding to 1709, when founder William Huddleston opened the school to teach poor children in the parish of Trinity Church. Huddleston obtained books and funding for the school from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in London. The school's first classes met in Trinity Church at the head of Wall Street; the first schoolhouse was built on church grounds in 1749. The building burned down two months later and had to be rebuilt.

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, then King's College, was founded in that building's first floor. The first Trinity students, boys and girls, in addition to religious instruction, also learned to write plainly and legibly and were taught enough arithmetic to prepare them for employment. These eighteenth-century Trinity students were almost invariably apprenticed to trades such as blacksmith, bookbinder, carpenter, cordwainer, mason, mariner, shoe binder, and tailor. In 1789, Trinity's 56 boys and 30 girls were under the instruction of John Wood, clerk of St. Paul's Chapel at 29 John Street. Its tuition stood at seven dollars per quarter, in addition to a one

guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

entrance fee. In 1838, Trinity closed admission to girls. Girls would not be readmitted until 1971. In 1889, Trinity School moved to 627 Madison Avenue (at 59th Street), and moved again a year later to 108 West 45th Street. In 1898, the trustees established the St. Agatha's School for Girls at 257 West 93rd Street as a sister school for Trinity. St. Agatha's eventually closed. During its first two hundred years, Trinity moved many times as the population of both Manhattan and the School grew. The establishment, in the nineteenth century, of a public school system in New York meant that the role of the

charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

had come to an end. English and classical learning became the rule as the school increased in size to as many as 250 students and as Trinity refashioned itself as a college preparatory school for boys. The curriculum was designed to meet the admissions standards of the leading colleges and universities of the time. In 1895, Trinity moved to its current location at 91st Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues on the

of Manhattan. Trinity currently occupies seven connected buildings: 151 and 149 West 91st Street house the admissions, advancement, and business offices; 139 West 91st houses the Lower School; 121 West 91st Street houses the Lower School language labs, Middle School Science Labs, and the Morse Theater; 115 West 91st houses the Middle School and two gymnasia; and 101 West 91st houses the Upper School, the two swimming pools, and the John McEnroe '77 Tennis Courts (opened in 2012), and in 2017 the school opened a 65,000 square foot addition, adding new science labs, classrooms, and a new performing arts center. Shortly before the completion of the new upper school building in 1968, Trinity severed its Episcopal ties with Trinity Church, and is now non-sectarian, thus receiving no endowment from the Church. The school does, however, retain an Episcopal priest who is paid by Trinity Church. The priest delivers weekly chapel services at the school, as well as the annual baccalaureate service held at Trinity Church each May. Forbes Magazine named Trinity the country's best private school in 2010. In 2004, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' ranked Trinity as third best at getting its students accepted to some of the country's most exclusive colleges. Under the leadership of John Allman, Trinity has tried to address some of the class and elitism issues that plague the school given the shift from its origins, and continues to build on their decade-long attempts to address diversity.

Academics

The Lower and Middle School courseloads are highly structured, and ninth and tenth graders are offered limited flexibility in their courses. Juniors and seniors are freer to flexibly select electives and other such courses. English is the only subject mandated through four years in the Upper School. Math is mandated for three, and the lab sciences for two. There is a requirement for a religion, philosophy, or ethics course and

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

. Trinity is also notable for having a full

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

department. Nearly 40% of the student body takes either Latin or Greek, while more than 60% take two languages.

Athletics

Trinity is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) The school competes in the New York State Association of Independent Schools Athletic Association (NYSAISAA). Championships in this league are used as qualifiers for overall state championships. * Girls' volleyball – 1997, 2012 *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

– 2006 *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

– 2007, 2009,2023 * Girls' soccer – 2009 * Boys' cross country – 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023 * Girls' cross country – 2019, 2021 * Boys' soccer – 2017, 2018 * Boys' Indoor track and field – 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 * Girls' Indoor track and field – 2019, 2022 * Boys' Outdoor track and field – 2022 * Boys' swimming – 2020, 2022, 2023 * Girls' swimming – 2020 *

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

- 2024

Performing arts

Trinity School has musical groups ranging from instrumental music – jazz groups, orchestras, and chamber ensembles – to vocal music – choruses, both accompanied and a cappella. Musical performances figure in all three divisions with concerts, assemblies, and chapel performances during the school day and in the evening. The school also has dynamic dramatic art showings with performances ranging from plays to musicals, both as classes and as extra-curricular events. A yearly Shakespeare play is student-directed by The Nicholas J.P. Kau '08 Shakespeare Appreciation Society Previous plays have included

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

(2017),

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

(2018), Romeo & Juliet (2019),

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

(2020),

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

(2021),

Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farce, farcical Shakespearean comedy, comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addit ...

(2022),

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

(2023),

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

(2024), and

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

(2025).

Notable students

* Louis Ayres (1892), architect * Bill Berkson, poet, critic and editor * Jake Bernstein (journalist) (1987), Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author *

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, actor * William Gage Brady Jr. (1904), a chairman of National City Bank *

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, attorney and politician * Chip Brian (1989), CEO of Comtex * Nick Bruel (1983), author and illustrator *

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, novelist and screenwriter * Jim Carroll (1968), author, poet, autobiographer and punk musician * Andrew Cohen, film director, journalist * Reed Diamond (1985), actor * Edward Downes, musicologist and radio quizmaster * David Ebersman (1987), former CFO of

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and

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, actor/singer * David Faber (1981), financial journalist on

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* Jim Fixx (1949), bestselling author and evangelist of

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* Daniel Garodnick (1990), representative,

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, 4th District * Russell Gewirtz (1983), screenwriter, '' Inside Man'' * Caroline Giuliani, filmmaker, writer, and daughter of

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* Ryu Goto (2006), violinist * Frank S. Hackett, educator, founder of Riverdale Country Day School * April Haney (1987), actress * Sophie B. Hawkins (1982), singer/songwriter * Alan Ramsay Hawley (1882), early aviator * Amy Helm, singer/songwriter * Warren Hoge (1959),

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bureau chief, ''

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'' * Craig Kallman (1983), chairman and CEO of

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(1964), independent filmmaker and producer, founder of Troma Studios * William P. Lauder (1978), executive chairman of Estée Lauder Companies * Sir Michael Lindsay-Hogg, stage and television director, actor, writer * Stacy London (1987), fashion consultant and co-host of TLC's '' What Not to Wear'' * Yo Yo Ma, cellist * Ian Maxtone-Graham (1977), TV writer and producer, ''

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'' *

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(1977), professional tennis player and media personality *

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(1984), professional tennis player and sports commentator * John Hine Mundy (1936), British American medievalist, professor at

* James Murdoch, media *

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, media * Zak Penn (1986), screenwriter * Francis Lister Hawks Pott (1879), former president of St. John's University, Shanghai * Najla Said (1992), Palestinian-American author, actress, playwright, and activist * Aram Saroyan (1962), minimalist poet * Eric Schneiderman (1972), former New York State

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* Eric Shawn (1975), television reporter * Michael Shure (1984), TV political correspondent and host, '' The War Room with Michael Shure'' *

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(1995), Editor-in-chief of

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, film director * Eric Trump, businessman, son of Donald J. Trump * Katrina vanden Heuvel (1977), editor of ''

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'' * Emily Warren (2011), singer and multi-platinum, Grammy winning songwriter *

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recipient * Jeremy Wright (1990), Member of Parliament; Attorney General for England and Wales * Charles Wuorinen (1956), composer *

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publishing * Dirk Edward Ziff (1981), billionaire businessman, heir of

publishing

References

External links

* {{Authority control Preparatory schools in New York City Private K–12 schools in Manhattan Educational institutions established in 1709 1709 establishments in the Province of New York Upper West Side Ivy Preparatory School League