Interview with a representative of Trinity College School, Canada

Trinity College visited our exhibition in Kiev in February 2018 to tell Ukrainian students about a unique American program AP Capstone Diploma, which offered only by a few of schools of Canada. We discussed the feature of Capstone Diploma and other advantages of the Trinity College, Ontario.

L: What students and parents need to know about Trinity College School?

R: the School is located near Toronto, in the small quiet town Port Hope, Ontario. High school accommodates about 450 students from grades 9 to 12. Trinity is a boarding school, it’s a home to 60% of high school students, most of them are foreign students. We offer our students an American program Advanced Placement. We have about 20-22 AP courses. We also offer a unique program AP Capstone Diploma, which run by only 10 of Canadian schools. In addition, Trinity is strong in sports: the school has sports clubs for hockey, football, field hockey, golf, tennis, swimming and American football.

L: Tell us more about the features of AP program in Trinity and the AP Capstone Diploma.

R: AP and AP Capstone Diploma are the two-year programs for grades 11 and 12. In standard curriculum AP program students must earn 8 credits in grade 11 and 6 credits in grade 12, 4 of them at the level of AP (1 credit for 1 course). In AP Capstone Diploma program students have most courses at the Advanced Placement level. AP Capstone Diploma consists of AP Seminar (11th grade) and AP Research (12th grade) and is designed to complement and improve the disciplinary studies courses the AP. The purpose of these courses is to teach children to conduct research and write a thesis that prepares students for University studies. In the AP Capstone program children have more flexibility in the choice of subjects. It is the American equivalent of  IB. The program is strong enough, only 20% of our students enroll in AP Capstone Diploma. To do this, they must be among the top students in her class. Since this is an American degree it is very much appreciated by US universities and can be an advantage for admission.

L: What makes Trinity College School being unique

R: I would say that the advantages of our school are location and size. The school is located an hour from Toronto, close enough to drive to the city, but at the same time far enough to provide comfortable accommodation away from the bustle of the city. The school has 450 people, of which 60% live in campus so we guarantee care for each child. I want to outline our academic programs, the above mentioned AP Capstone Diploma, and separately our program in the fine arts. Graduates of this program enter the best universities of art and design American Academy of Dramatic Arts, California College of the Arts, University of the Arts London. Many students come to us already with specific skills, but we can also teach everyone from scratch in this program.

L: What are the conditions for admission to the school?

R: We demand a high level of English from candidates. We do offer ESL classes in 9th and 10th grade but even for that at the age of 14-15 we require Upper-Intermediate English. STo get a place at 11th grade the level of English must be Advanced. We also encourage foreign students to enroll in 9th or 10th grade and use those years to prepare for studying in a Canadian school. Sometimes foreign students have to repeat a program of grade 10 but they improve their English and receive intensive preparation for studying at school. For example, one Ukrainian student has already completed grade 10 in Ukraine, but we sent her back in grade 10, so she spent a year preparing for successful completion of Canadian school. We no longer accept foreign students to grade 12, only if the child has studied before abroad in an English school and wants to transfer to Canada.

We also take into account school grades, recommendations of teachers, the results of our entrance tests and interview with a representative of the school, SSAT or school test which includes math, English and logic, and can be done remotely.

Trinity College School is an academically strong school that wants to see in their ranks only strong and motivated students. Admission to the school will largely depend on the level of English and therefore applicants must be ready to enroll in the grade below. Students with high English language and good grades in school can enroll in the AP Capstone Diploma program.

Trinity is a first school I met with a Capstone diploma. Binding a program of research courses it prepares students for study at the University and AP Capstone Diploma will be an advantage for admission to top universities in USA.