Trinity Episcopal Day School
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Trinity Episcopal Day School was a
private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
located in
Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...
, United States, with students in preschool through twelfth grade. Trinity Episcopal was accredited by the
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
State Department of Education, the
Mississippi Association of Independent Schools The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) is a consortium of schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas. It is responsible for accreditation of its member private schools as well as governing athletic competition for i ...
, and the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees ap ...
. Athletic teams carried the nickname of Saints, and the school colors were red, white, and black. Due to shrinking enrollment, Trinity announced in January 2018 that it would be closing permanently. The school graduated its final class in May 2018.


History

In 1885, Trinity Episcopal Church in Natchez began a
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
, which operated in the
parish house A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, par ...
but was dissolved a few years later. The parish started a
nursery school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...
in 1952. Magnolia Hall, an
antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern US ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum architectu ...
home in Natchez, was purchased in 1963 from Mrs. George Armstrong, and both nursery and
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
classes were taught starting in the fall of 1964. In 1965 first grade was added, and further expansion in 1966 yielded the addition of second through fifth grades. Growth continued the following two years, and in 1969 the congregation voted to expand the school. The high school building was erected at the present location south of Natchez on U.S. Highway 61, donated by Frederick Schurchardt. The building was designed and built by William Howard Pritchartt, Jr. In the fall semester of 1969, the school offered preschool through eighth grade in the new facility. Ninth and tenth grades were added in the spring semester of 1970, along with the construction of a new elementary school building. Trinity Episcopal Day School graduated its first class in 1971. Trinity Episcopal Day School was held by the Rev. Louis O'Vander Thomas Educational Foundation, a
non-profit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation ma ...
. At its height in the mid-1990s Trinity had more than 400 students. By 2017, that number was down to 140. In May 2018, Trinity graduated its final class and closed permanentally. The reasons given for closure were the "dwindling local population, a depressed local economy and eroded support for the school among parents, friends and alumni.”


Athletics

Trinity Episcopal participated in
Mississippi Association of Independent Schools The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) is a consortium of schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas. It is responsible for accreditation of its member private schools as well as governing athletic competition for i ...
Class 2A. The Saints won the MAIS championship in
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
in 1989, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2013. The boys' basketball team won the MAIS championship in 1974, 1978, and 1980. The girls' basketball team won the MAIS championship in 1978. The Saints baseball team won their only MAIS championship in 2011.


Notable alumni

* Campbell Brown,
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anchor, former
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
anchor * Dudley Guice, Jr., NFL wide receiver *
Greg Iles Greg Iles (born 1960) is an American novelist who lives in Mississippi. He has published seventeen novels and one novella, spanning a variety of genres. Early life Iles was born in 1960 in Stuttgart, West Germany, where his physician father ran t ...
, bestselling novelist, who also was on the school board that led the school into disarray and closure * Sarah Gray Miller, ''SAVEUR'' editor-in-chief; former ''Country Living'', ''O at Home'', ''In Style Magazine'', and ''Budget Living'' editor *
Stevan Ridley Stevan Todd Ridley (born January 27, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers and was selected by the New England Patri ...
, running back for the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots *Jonathan Scott, leader of the musical group Doleful Lions


See also

*
List of private schools in Mississippi This is a list of private schools in the U.S. state of Mississippi: *Adams County Christian School *Amite School Center *Annunciation Catholic School *Bass Memorial Academy (Boarding) *Bayou Academy *Benedict Day School *Benton Academy *Brookha ...


References


External links


Trinity Episcopal School official websiteMSAIS Homepage
{{authority control Schools in Adams County, Mississippi Private K–12 schools in Mississippi