TRINITYCOURAGE
2024-2025 A N N U A L R E P O R T
Board of Trustees
2024 - 2025
JoelConkling,Chair
KateBenson,HeadofSchool
LynneBramlett
BrittEason
ShanGao
JudeHarmon
MariaKalinina
IvonneKing
PhilLacroute
JohannaMahal
JonPoe
MaryElisabethPlowden
ReverendDanSpors
SalinaSung
AmyVoedisch
MarenWolf
Table of Contents
MessagefromtheHeadofSchool
MessagefromTrinity’sBoardofTrusteesChair
MessagefromTrinityParentAssociationChair
Highlights
TheCourageToLearnAtAGlance
AnnualFund
AnnualGala
TrinityParentAssociation
OurFinancials
Grade5Graduates
Our Mission
To cultivate academic excellence in an environment where each child is known, valued, and uniqueintheirownvoice.
Message from Head of School
Thebestlearningdoesn’thappenwithoutalittlebitofcourage.
Iwanttoacknowledgehowgenerouslyallofyouhavebeeninyoursupportof boththeschoolandmeinmyfirstyearasHeadofSchool.Youcourageously welcomed me back into the Trinity community and showed up wholeheartedlyforourschoolanditsmission.Forthat,Ithankyou.
Inthisyear’sAnnualReport,we’veorganizedourreflectionsaroundtheideaof courage. Courage can take many forms. It can mean facing a challenge head-on,speakingupwhenitwouldbeeasiertostayquiet,orstandingfirm inyourvalues.
IfIgodownthepathoftrulyexaminingmy“why”behindchoosingacareerchangeallthoseyearsagoto becomeateacher,Iamledtotheideaofcourage.Ibelievedthen,andstillbelievedeeply,increatingthe conditionswhereyoungpeoplecangrowintocourageouslearnersandhumanbeings.Andbythat,Imean cultivatingyoungpeoplewhocourageouslytakeonacademicchallenges,whocourageouslyworktoward theirgoalswithdetermination,andwhocourageouslystandupforothersandforwhattheyknowtoberight.
Courageinschoolsisn’talwaysloud.Sometimesit’saraisedhandafteramomentofhesitation,achild seekingguidancewhenthereissomethingtheydon’tunderstand,orevenaskinganewfriendtoplayat recess.Iseeitinourfacultyandstaffaswell:guidingstudentstostretchbeyondwhat’scomfortable,tolead withkindness,andtocontributemeaningfullytooursharedcommunity.
Courageisfoundintherelationshipswebuild,theriskswetakeinourlearning,andthetrustweplaceinone anotheraswegrow.Theseeverydayactsofcouragearethefoundationofathrivinglearningcommunity.
AsParkerPalmerwrites,“Thecouragetoteachisthecouragetokeepone’sheartopen,inthoseverymoments whentheheartisaskedtoholdmorethanitisable,sothatteacherandstudentsandsubjectcanbewoven intothefabricofcommunitythatlearning,andliving,requires.”
ThisisthekindofcourageweaimtomodelatTrinity andthekindwehopeourstudentswillcarrywiththem longaftertheyhaveleftourcampuses.
Thankyoutoallofyouforthetrustyouplaceinusandforsupportingusincultivatinghumanbeingswhoare courageousintheirthinking,theiractions,andtheircareforothers.
Warmly,
KateBenson HeadofSchool
Message from Trinity School’s Board of Trustees Chair
DearTrinityCommunity,
InspiredbyourTimberwolfmascot,thethemeforthisyear's Annual Report is “Courage.” It’s a quality I’ve regularly witnessed across our community, a strong and generous communityforwhichI’mtrulygrateful.
This year marked a big change for the school as we enthusiastically welcomed the new Head of School, Kate Benson. The grace and optimism shown by our faculty, parents, and students were remarkable and set a positive tonefortheentireyear.
The Trinity School spirit is also alive and well in our classrooms in students who take on new academic challenges, and in teachers who foster an environment where taking on academic challenges is encouraged, and every child’s voice is valued. This relationship between students andteachersisatthefoundationofhowTrinityfulfillsitsmissiontocultivatecuriousmindsand discerning hearts, developing students who have the confidence and courage to share those traitswiththeworldinmiddleschoolandbeyond.
Our accomplishments of the past year are a testament to our collective spirit and our unwaveringfocusonprovidinganunparallelededucationtoallTrinitystudents.Onbehalfofthe Board, my deepest thanks go to our families, generous donors, dedicated TPA members, and tireless volunteers. Your courageous investment of time, talent, and treasure is immeasurably importanttoourcommunity’ssuccessandallowsourstudentstothrive.
Withgratitude,
Message from Trinity Parent Association
Chair
DearFriends,
2024-2025 was a busy school year for us! The Trinity P Association team and the Gala committee worked ha building community and making parents and childre like one big Trinity family. Halloween Carnival and the Robinson Math Festival brought together friends from campuses.BigHelpDaywasawonderfulchanceforfa to gather at school and help make hygiene kits for community organizations and sort books to be donat Achungo School in Kenya. The License to Party Annua wasacelebrationofeleganceandgenerosity.
It takes time, energy, and courage to volunteer. As a first-generation Russian immigrant, I still remember how anxious I felt when I first volunteered to read a book to 20 first graders. The anxiety of mispronouncing a word or choosing a story that was too long was undeniable. But I also remember how much joy I felt being in that classroom. That experience continued to fuel mycouragetostepoutsideofmycomfortzoneandfindthestrengthtodonewthings.
IhavetheprivilegeofwitnessingthecourageourTPAmembersandleadersdemonstratewhen taking on the challenge of running an event: from planning activities to ordering supplies, coordinating volunteers, hosting a count-me-in party, and asking other parents for donations. All that courage helps create lifelong friendships and precious memories for us and for our children. Our courage will inspire Trinity students to give their time and energy to the causes theyfindworthy.
Thank you, Trinity volunteers, for your generous contributions of your time and talents and for anotherwonderfulyearfilledwithfuneventsforchildrenandparents.
Sincerely,
MariaKalinina
Highli
152 Students In our Early Childho students enrolled, wh boasts 97 students exemplifycourageby educationandcollab
Every single Trinity family, along with the Board of Directors and Staff, made contributions to the AnnualFund.
63 Years For63years,Trinity outstanding acade setting that responsibility, welc allfaithsandbackg
ood program, there are 55 hile our Elementary program
s. Each day, our learners yactivelyparticipatingintheir boratingwithoneanother.
Schoolhasofferedan emic program within a highlights social coming students from grounds.
19
Cities
Students come from 19 different cities that include Atherton, Belmont, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Newark, Palo Alto, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Carlos, San Jose, San Mateo, Stanford, Sunnyvale, Union City, and Woodside, to learn and be a part of the Trinity School community.
ANNUAL FUND
TheAnnualFundplaysavitalroleatTrinitySchoolbyenhancingourstudents' educationalexperiences.Asanindependentschool,werelyoncontributionsto bridgethegapbetweentuitionrevenueandoperatingcosts.AnnualFundgifts directly support student learning, faculty professional development, and countlessotherexperiencesthatmakeTrinityunique.
AnnualFundChair
AliceLi
PineClassCaptain
MeghanDurkin
LaurelClassCaptain
ShanGao
TierraClassCaptain
TeresaMota
KindergartenClassCaptain
AlexWang
Grade1ClassCaptain RiaPurswani
Grade2ClassCaptain TakahiroBaba
Grade3ClassCaptain KyuheeVoorhies
Grade4ClassCaptain YoyoYe
Grade5ClassCaptain AnuVasanth
$576,630 Raised*
Thefigurespresentedinthisannualreportareunauditedatthetimeofpublication.
The Courage To L
At Trinity, learning is both a challenge and a understandings with courage,whetherinthe clas learning or beyond the schoolyard. By tapping obstaclesbutalsodiscovertheexcitementof learni
earn At A Glace
joy. Our students embrace new knowledge and sroom through both independent and collaborative into their inner strength, they not only overcome ng.
The annual spring gala, License to Party, was an extraordinary evening that brought together the Trinity School community.Parents,alumni,friends,andstaffjoinedincelebration,strengtheningconnectionsandhonoringthe spiritofTrinity, whilealsosupportingourFundANeedprogram. Thegalasuccessfullyraised$253,293, reflecting TrinitySchool’sunwaveringspiritofgenerosity.
Our Sincere Thanks to Trinity Parent Association
Trinity Parent Association Executive Team
MariaKalinina President
PiperGriffin VicePresident
PaulButtery
Treasurer
IlanaMorady Secretary
TiffanyChen
EarlyChildhoodCampusEventLiaison
KaitlynDePristo TeacherAppreciationChair
AliceLi GiftingCommittee,AnnualFund
LaurenMilano
ElementaryCampusEventLiaison
AoPeng
EarlyChildhoodCampusAdmissionLiaison
RiaPurswani
ElementaryCampusAdmissionLiaison
LaurenRalph RoomParentCoordinator
AndreiaStark GiftingCommittee,BenefitGala
SalinaSung
ElementaryCampusEventLiaison
EachYear,TrinityParentAssociationspendscountlesshourstosupport andenrichourlearningcommunitybyservingaseventchairsandroom parents.
Special Event Chairs
PaulButtery,MariaKalinina, SalinaSungandErikWolsheimer Back-to-SchoolBBQ
MinHaeberleandTeresaMota MathFest
ShanGao,SandieKulick,YangLi, LaurenMilanoandHaleyYu
HalloweenCarnival
TiffanyChen
EarlyChildhoodCampusBookFair
EarlyChildhoodCampusIce-CreamSocial
PiperGriffin,SalinaSung,YoyoYeand JennyZhao
LunarNewYear
KemeshaDelisser,JieYuandNanZhang ChristmasCraftFair
YanLuo MathKangaroo
PiperGriffinandMelissaTronquet BigHelpDay
LaurenMilano FunDay
Room Parents
LaurenRalph RoomParentCoordinator
TiffanyChen,TeresaMotaandAoPeng EarlyChildhoodCampus
ShanGao,MariaKalininaandLekhaMikkilineni KindergartenClass
MaritaIrani,FarheenMirzaandAndreiaStark
Grade1
ShuXiaoandMengyaoZhao
Grade2
KaitlynDePristoandAmyVoedisch Grade3
TiffanyChenandNehaMehta Grade4
MatthewBurtandMeghanReynolds Grade5
$6,792,646
$7,019,507
RalphAckermann
SallieBaron
KateBenson
AnnaBykov
BrendaCano
XianjingCao
RachelCheung
BimCleland
AmyDellaMaggiora
TrishDoon
Our Faculty and Staff
MichelleFlach
RhondaGamblin
BeneraldaFlores
IvyGates
HeidiGonzalez
ReneshaHaggans
MichelleHinshaw
YonasKameda
SueKrishna
AlisonMcKee
ColetteMcWilliams
AlexaMenendez
JennyNakagawa
KrystinNeuenfeldt
LesleOlmosVera
KristinePetermeier
AnnaQuijano
LadyReyes
StephanieRubio
LindaRutherford
RebeccaSchoenstein
AliSteele
WentaTesfaye
KimThacker
PalThinnappan
ClaudiaWeitsman
AlexWilliams
OliviaWuTait
330RavenswoodAvenue
MenloPark,CA94025
ElementaryCampus
2650SandHillRoad
MenloPark,CA94025
www.trinity-mp.org