Growing our Faith…and Size!

Kelly Reilly

Principal

HTLS began the mission of providing Christ-Centered Education in South Tampa in 1958. Throughout the years there were many shifts in not only the community around us, but the make-up of the school. Much like a chameleon, HTLS has changed to match its surroundings and the needs of the community. Program offerings have ranged from Kindergarten up through 8^th to a Preschool and Kindergarten only. The latter change was a result of the steady decline in enrollment that occurred in the years following the 2007 recession. Across the country private school enrollment declined drastically as family resources needed to be directed to fulfilling the necessities at home.

In 2013, the leadership of Holy Trinity Church and School felt that it was time to again re-structure the school and its offerings. The plan was to enlarge the size of our preschool to provide a solid base that could filter up to support a re-growth of the Elementary grades. Over the next 5 years one elementary grade level was added per year, finishing with the addition of 5^th grade in 2018. This type of growth was the first of its kind at Holy Trinity. This growth did not come without its challenges. Stakeholders were not convinced that the re-growth would actually work, and many questions emerged like the following:

Were we really going to add another grade the next year?
Are there going to be enough students?
What about the new teachers and administrator…do they know what they are doing?
What about the new curriculum…will the students be prepared?

The questions were valid and unfortunately ones that could only be answered with time, faith and prayer. Through the grace of God, HTLS has continued to grow in numbers throughout the re-build and on November 5^th, 2019 a “State of the School” address was presented that provided data on the re-build and addressed some of the stakeholder questions that are listed above. Below are some highlights from the presentation. We continue to be in constant prayer for our school, our students, our families and our teachers, asking God that they are all blessed by being a part of HTLS. “Now to him who is able to doimmeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!” (Eph. 3:2)