Trinity Classical Academy is in its second year. They currently serve 140 students, grades kindergarten through 5th.
They use a classical, Christian, collaborative model. Students attend class two days a week, either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. They spend two days being homeschooled and then a third day at home is meant to be used for field trips or to further pursue other areas of study.
There are three stages of classical learning: grammar, logic and rhetoric. The majority of the students at TCA are in the grammar stage which goes to 4th grade.
Learn more about Trinity Classical Academy, here.
Head of School Sara Breetzke said, "they're in the grammar stage, they're memorizing things, they're just taking in information. "If you know young children, you know their brains are sponges, they repeat things back so we want to put good things in their brains."
They start each school day with assembly which includes worship. Breetzke said, "afterwards we often have recitations where students recite a poem or some scripture and what we're dong with that is we're teaching students rhetoric, the art of public speaking, even at a young age."
Katie Arbataitis' children, Maggie and Romas, attend TCA. She says homeschooling always appealed to her, but she works part time and wasn't sure how her family would be able to make it work. Shes says TCA provides the best of both worlds which allows flexibility.
Each Friday, parents are able to access the lesson plans online. They spell out what the children are learning in school and what that they need to learn at home.
Arbataitis said, "the school has done all the legwork for us, they have really researched this curriculum, they have researched what it means to have a classical eduction. They have done all that hard work."
She learned about the school through another parent. She recommends anyone who may be interested in this style of learning to reach out to Trinity Classical Academy and attend an informational meeting.
The classroom instruction takes place at St. Paul's Lutheran Church at 133rd and Millard Avenue. The school goes up to grade 5 now, but they hope to grow with the children and add a grade every year through high school.
