Dear Trivium Prep Families,   

As you may have read in Superintendent Crowe's recent communication, we are embarking on some exciting initiatives to enhance the prep school experience here at Trivium and across all Great Hearts prep schools in Arizona. I'm excited to provide you with more specifics on what these changes will look like here for the upcoming 2024-25 school year:  

College Credit Opportunities:  

• The purpose of the college credit initiative is to create pathways for our students to earn college credit while completing the rigorous honors level work within our high school courses. This can be accomplished through enrolling in our dual credit courses or taking AP or CLEP tests. By earning college credit during high school, students will have the opportunity at in-state and other universities to forego some pre-requisite or general education courses, move into the coursework for their major sooner, and perhaps graduate earlier, ultimately saving money in the process. 
• At Trivium, we will be offering a small set of dual enrollment courses for next year in 10^th – 12^th grade. We are working with our Great Hearts Academics team to finalize the list of offered courses and prepare for their implementation this coming fall. We will have more information to share soon.
• Our students will also be able to take AP and CLEP exams next year right here on campus to earn college credit as well. Stay tuned for information on test-prep opportunities.

Simplified Uniform and Dress Code:

• The purpose of this initiative is to simplify our current dress code so that it is easier for students and parents to know and follow. We are still keeping the core elements of the uniform, which will maintain the unified and scholarly look in line with the rigorous study within our classrooms. At the same time, our hope is that the reduction in the number of additional guidelines will lead to less time and attention needed to be given to dress code matters that can instead be devoted to other edifying conversations with our students.
• Here at Trivium, we had already moved quite a bit in this direction over the last few years, but there are a couple of changes coming. We are allowing students to have facial hair, with similar guidelines to hair in general (well-kempt, etc.). Additionally, we have firmed up the language around “accessories” so that it is easier to remember: one bracelet, one watch, one ring, etc. So students are allowed one of each.

Spirit Wear:  

• This is one I’m particularly excited about. The Spirit Wear initiative gives students an opportunity to show their school spirit during the school day and bond with their peers through wearing another form of unified attire. Each academy will produce their own school-approved spirit wear and students can look forward to wearing such, once every week.
• At Trivium Prep, every Friday will be a spirit day – Trivium spirit wear tops (polos and t-shirts) while the rest of the uniform is unchanged (uniform shoes, uniform pants/shorts/skirts). We are also looking into creating some additional options (e.g. Trivium spirit wear shoes, etc.).

Mid-Quarter Progress Reports:

• The purpose of the mid-quarter progress report initiative is to give students and parents visibility into students’ academic performance across each quarter. In this initiative, there will be points in the quarter where a snapshot of the grade book for each class will be sent to families. The goal is to equip parents, before the quarter has ended, with the information needed to help their children give their best in all of their classes.
• At Trivium you can expect one mid-quarter progress report at or around the 5th week (same time as deficiencies). It will include your scholars’ grades in every class, and it may include current grades in each category (homework, assessments, classwork, etc.). If your student’s grade is deficient in any class, you will also receive a deficiency notice in conjunction with the progress report.

House Systems:

• The purpose of the house system initiative is to create a greater sense of belonging, community, and enjoyment within our schools by grouping students into teams, or houses. Students in their houses will have structured times in which to build relationships with one another and engage in collaborative and competitive activities across the school year.
• At Trivium, we had a house program for a while until the pandemic. Our homeroom period in middle school along with the student mentorship program has been our way of reintroducing house one step at a time. This year, we added the rotation of activities on Fridays; next year we will begin reintroducing house identities and expand the opportunities for earning “house points” (which we do now only in assemblies). We are also looking at increasing the number of assemblies.

Cheerleading:  

• The addition of spirit and cheer squads to our schools will give our students another avenue in which to engage in physical development and be part of an athletic team at our school. Cheer squads will also help to enliven and unify the home game experience for our athletes and fans and bring a greater degree of spirit and exuberance to our celebrations as a school community. 
• At Trivium, we have already begun advertising our high school spirit line tryouts, which are happening shortly, and we hope to be able to introduce spirit line in middle school as well.

Online Summer School:  

• The purpose of the online summer school initiative is to provide students with an accessible platform in which to recover credits needed to graduate or take courses that help them shore up skills needed for continued success in our middle school and high school programs.
• At Trivium, we have often used BYU Online courses, especially for high school students who need to recover credits, and we will continue to do so. We may also make use of the Great Hearts Online courses which have the advantage of real-time instruction with a teacher. 

I am very excited about the positive impact these initiatives will have on our community, and I want to assure you that I’m committed to keeping you informed every step of the way as we roll these out here at Trivium. I invite you to reach out with any questions or feedback you may have. You’re welcome to reach out to me directly, or to share your feedback with the broader project team at PrepSchool@greathearts.org.  

Thank you for your continued partnership and support as we work together to strengthen the prep school experience.  

In partnership, 

Dan Schutten

Headmaster

Trivium Prep