Trinity School receives Blue Ribbon

Trinity School at Meadow View in Falls Church is the only private school in Virginia earning the distinction this year.

Trinity School at Meadow View in Falls Church, a private ecumenical school, was selected to receive the Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award for 2009 from the U.S. Department of Education.

The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement. The schools that receive Blue Ribbon designations rank in the top 10 percent nationally of private and religious elementary schools based on nationally standardized testing in math and reading.

It was announced last week that St. Agnes School in Arlington, All Saints School in Manassas, Corpus Christi School in Falls Church and St. Mary School in Alexandria all received Blue Ribbon status.

Trinity School is an independent Christian school that started in 1998. It has an enrollment of 131 students in grades seven-12 and its students are primarily Catholic and Protestant. According to the school Web site, its mission is to provide students with the skills and knowledge needed to “more effectively build God’s kingdom on earth.”

“We’re very proud that in our own little corner, the divisions that have separated us for centuries are healed and that we have a community that really love each other and serve each other and works very hard in accomplishing an enormous amount of work,” said Headmaster Andrew Zwerneman.

Trinity School at Meadow View is one of only two private schools in the country to receive the award this year. In Virginia, it’s been five years since a private school has earned the award.

“We’re a small school and we don’t have a lot of bells and whistles, but we have a really dynamic faculty and students and we work very hard and it meant a lot to everybody to have the acknowledgement,” Zwerneman said.

One of the ways in which Trinity School has worked to improve student performances over the year has been through its rigorous curriculum, which requires all students to take four years of Latin, two years of calculus and physics, and to take on extensive reading in all areas of western tradition, including literature, philosophy and theology.

Earlier this week, the students celebrated the school’s award with a surprise assembly in which they were given ice cream sandwiches. As the year progresses, there will be more celebrations at the school. In addition, Zwerneman and Tim Maloney, a senior faculty member and physics teacher, plan on attending the ceremony honoring the Blue Ribbon schools in Washington, D.C., Nov. 2-3.

“Everyone at the school was really excited and so grateful that after our first decade or so, we’ve been acknowledged as a school that’s succeeding and educating the students, and ensuring they’re achieving high performances,” Zwerneman said.