THE OUR KIDS REPORT:
Trinity College School

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School Leadership

What is the leadership style at Trinity College School? How do the school leaders shape the culture, priorities, and daily life of the community? How does this leadership style compare to that of other private and independent schools, and how might it influence your choice of school?

Page Contents

Facts and analysis
- Message from the school leadership
- Our interview with the school leader
Qualitative insights
- They have an approachable style.
- They're driven by a focus on character.

Facts and analysis

MESSAGE FROM THE LEADERSHIP

We asked Stuart K. C. Grainger, Headmaster at Trinity College School for their message.

They offered insights into their vision, values, and the principles that define their leadership style.

Stuart K. C. Grainger, Headmaster
MBA, MEd, BEd

For more than 140 years, Trinity College School (TCS) has been internationally recognized for excellence in educating young people. It is no surprise that our challenging and encouraging environment has helped TCS graduates gain entrance to top universities around the world, and that our alumni are leaders in their communities. But this is just half the story.

TCS has always been keenly involved in character development, as reflected in our mission, “developing habits of the heart and mind for a life of purpose and service.” Given the challenges facing our planet today, we know our students will be called upon to lead their communities, their colleagues, their cause and, in some cases, their countries. If we are to best prepare our students to meet these challenges, we must inspire them to become leaders of character, purpose and vision.

At TCS we think that the quality of character determines the quality of leader. As such, we challenge our students to establish worthy goals and to act to good purpose. We cultivate integrity in our students. We encourage honest and constructive conduct. And, on the strength of our people, our programme and our place, we help to develop leaders who are broad-minded, intelligent, thoughtful and confident.

If you are considering Trinity College School as a destination, I trust that this Web site will provide you with many of the details you desire.

However, in order to truly experience the strong, supportive community that is TCS, I would like to extend an open invitation to visit us in person. I can promise you that the caring and energizing environment that we foster and enjoy will prove unique from any other school you may have visited.

I very much look forward to welcoming you to campus.

Sincerely,

Stuart K.C. Grainger
Headmaster

INTERVIEW WITH THE LEADERSHIP

Watch our interview with Stuart Grainger, Head of School at Trinity College School

They reflect on their path to educational leadership, the school's mission, and the vision guiding their everyday decisions.

Stuart has served as head of Trinity College School for 16 years. He lives on campus and believes that learning takes place in and out of the classroom, 24 hours a day. His mission is to prepare students for their future and create a supportive international community that inspires learning. He hopes to engage students and create opportunities for them to find their passions and feel motivated to accomplish their academic goals. Stuart emphasizes facilitating a strong connection between educators and students and educators and parents to ensure kind and caring communication between them.

Video Contents

1:07 - Three things the Head of School loves about his job
2:26 - Surprises when he first joined the school
5:09 - TCS schedules between school days, evenings, and weekends
Show Full Video Contents
7:43 - A typical day for the Head of School
9:10 - Ratio of day to boarding students
11:05 - Cohesion between all the different students
13:41 - The TCS mandate
16:53 - Students who would not be the right fit for TCS
21:07 - A student who exemplifies both of those kinds of TCS students - the focused student and the open-minded
24:10 - Commonalities between TCS families
28:01 - The personality traits of the school
29:12 - TCS' plan for growth in the next five to ten years
32:12 - Parental communication and involvement
35:09 - Parent conflicts
37:48 - Advice for parents in their school search
39:54 - Red flags for parents to look out for in their school search

Qualitative insights

These insights are based on conversations with parents, alumni, and school leadership. Handpicked and curated by our editor, they offer a close look at how the school is experienced and perceived by those who know it best.

They have an approachable style.

Insights from students and parents highlight that the leadership at Trinity College School excels in approachability and maintaining a connected community by being physically present and engaged in daily school life.

The headmaster, usually within the first two or three weeks, held on to everyone's name. It's just those little things that I think make Trinity College School so awesome.

—Alex, alum (see full discussion)

I try to have coffee with the kids first thing in the morning because we have boarding students and day students coming in. We have assembly — chapel — all those kinds of things that unite the whole school together. And that's probably my favorite part of the day: when you have five hundred, six hundred kids all together from all across Canada — all across the province, all across the region, different countries around the world — to connect face to face, with all the kids. That's an incredibly energizing feeling.

—Stuart Grainger, Head of School (see full interview)

During my time at TCS, we had an incredible administration team. The Headmaster, Deans and academic support staff in their office were truly integrated into our community. Their families were as much a part of the school as they were and this made them all approachable. Many did double duty by coaching our sports teams, leading debates or simply being present at mealtimes. Broadly speaking, they were well liked and loved.

—Jocelyn Murphy, alum (see full review)

I can say that without a doubt I respect all of my school leaders. My headmaster is the definition of approachable, my guidance counsellor is extremely understanding and my teachers are more than helpful. I think all of them do well in terms of checking their student's welfare over the course of the year, I was very surprised to find my teachers asking if I was getting enough sleep and eating well, it really made me feel cared for. I wish they would do more of asking for feedback over the course of the school year and not focused only to the end of the year.

—Mariam Omilabu, student (see full review)

The leadership and administration at Trinity College School are outstanding. They respond to problems appropriately and foster a positive school environment ... The communication between leadership, administration, students and parents is also outstanding. TCS has many ways of communicating with parents. For example, each week, the TCS News is emailed to all families. It is an electronic newsletter that shares the school's latest updates on the activities, academics ... plus the latest pictures on events around campus. Monthly Parent Forum Meetings are another great way the school communicates with parents. The leadership team attends these meetings and shares all the latest updates.

—Erica Brown, parent (beginning 2020) (see full review)

The school leadership is everything you would want in a school. My daughter tells me that it is not unusual to have members of the leadership team mingling, chatting and joking with the students. This develops a sense of community which fosters a positive school environment indicating to the students that these administrators are approachable and friendly. From a parent's perspective, I love receiving the weekly emails updating me on what is happening at school. When an issue develops that needs to be addressed immediately the school is quick to deal with issues and concerns. Then promptly communicating to the parents and community in an email with a follow-up name you contact if you have further concerns.

—Kim McConnell, parent (beginning 2013) (see full review)

I have had only positive encounters with the school administration. My impression of Trinity College School leadership and administration is that it is a well-oiled machine. There are many departments that have sufficient and experienced staff ensuring the school runs at the high level expected. The communication is excellent from weekly parent newsletters which arrived in my inbox every Thursday and Friday (Junior School specific). The teachers are always available to meet with parents. The administration replies in a very rapid and thorough manner. My sons have ample time during the day to meet with their teachers one on one if need be and the teachers are always available via email or other online platforms outside of school hours.

—Candace Pickering, parent (beginning 2019) (see full review)

The most important part of the school leadership is that they work as a shared team across all areas. They are approachable by parents and kids. They are not always tucked away in offices but out and about with the kids as much as possible. I appreciate that they know my kids and have regular interactions with them. The school hosts annual face-to-face meetings with parents and school leadership to allow for open dialogue. I love that they are all down to earth and approachable.

—Jeanette M Lane, parent (beginning 2012) (see full review)

I was pretty satisfied with the school’s leadership. They were not scary or intimidating to us which encouraged us to effectively reflect issues to them. We felt connected to them as they made an effort to communicate with the student body about decisions and other things regularly. I think discipline issues were handled fairly because if there were small disciplinary mistakes quarters were offered, but if it was a larger mistake meetings were set up for better communication and understanding.

—Charisse Lee, alum (2017-2021) (see full review)

Stuart Grainger has been the Headmaster at the school for almost 20 years. He has been very welcoming to our family when we visit the school and always goes out of his way to say hi. He writes a weekly blog for the school newsletter that often reflects on many of the issues that our children face today. The weekly newsletter is an excellent communication tool for parents that provides relevant information about school life. Our sons' Housemaster has played an important role in their lives as we co-parent together. He is always responsive to our questions and concerns. Our boys find him very approachable and fair. I cannot imagine being responsible for over 30 boys in their House, but the residential staff take on the role with ease. Father Don is another wonderful leader at the school. He knows every student by name and has an incredible wealth of knowledge about the school's history.

—Leslie Gibson, parent (beginning 2017) (see full review)

They're driven by a focus on character.

Comments from administrators and students underscore the school’s commitment to instilling habits of the heart and mind, aiming to create purposeful, caring, and active individuals.

We are a mission driven school, and our mission is developing habits of the heart and mind for a life of purpose and service. We're very much on the brain and the heart: those are our two things. So kids are constantly striving to seek meaning and a sense of purpose in their lives, as they go forward in their lives. We talk about that a great deal.

—Stuart Grainger, Head of School (see full interview)

I think a lot of kids look at the world as almost broken. [Now], how can they be part of the solution? I would say the evolution of our school will be just to have a greater emphasis on creating kinder, more caring, more active, engaged, and involved students, willing to do something and not just speak about it.

—Stuart Grainger, Head of School (see full interview)

The school does an excellent job of communicating with parents with a Parents' Newsletter ... The Headmaster's newsletter is a thoughtful message (short blog post) that gives me confidence our kids are learning character and leadership skills. We don't hear about discipline from the school, but our boys tell us they have received Quarters (similar to demerits) for uniform and lateness infractions.

—Arundel Gibson, parent (beginning 2019) (see full review)

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