Trinity High School (Euless, Texas)

Trinity High School
Responsibility, Pride, and Determination Make Trinity Different
Address
500 North Industrial Boulevard Euless, Texas, Tarrant County 76039 United States
Information
Type	Public
Established	1968
School district	Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District
Principal	Mike Harris
Staff	168.7 (2014-15)[1]
Faculty	155.7 (2014-15)[1]
Grades	10-12
Number of students	2,415 (2014-15)[1]
Color(s)	Black & Red
Mascot	Trojan
Rival	L.D. Bell High School
Yearbook	Triune
Website	Trinity High School

Trinity High School (also known as Euless Trinity) is a public high school in Euless, Texas. It administers grade levels 10–12 and is a part of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District.

The school is named "Trinity" as an homage to the three cities comprised by the school district in which it is located: Hurst, Euless, and Bedford (and also as a reference to the nearby Trinity River, which forms the southern border of the school district). The school's mascot is a Trojan. The Trinity High School football team has won the Texas 5A Division 1 State Championship 3 times in the past decade (2005, 2007, 2009).^[2][3]

History

Trinity was established as the second high school in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District. (The first high school being L.D. Bell High School, which opened in 1957 in Euless and moved to its current site in Hurst in 1965.) The campus sits on a hillside in west central Euless, less than one-fourth of a mile from the Euless-Bedford city limit.

Campus

Front view of the campus

Aerial image of the campus

Trinity High School is made up of eleven distinct buildings, most of which are named for the department they house (often abbreviated to just the first letter). The nine original buildings were: the Fine Arts Building, the Academics Building, the Library, the Science Building, the Physical Education Building, the Cafeteria, the Driver's Education Building, a small two-story building called D-Building, and an Administration Building. The Physical Education Building includes a natatorium. The late 1990s brought three major changes to the campus: a system of covered walkways was built to connect most of the school's buildings, a new band hall was added to the Fine Arts Building, and a wing was added to the Academics Building. This new wing became the new face of the campus because of its large and prominent façade and provided new offices for the principal, assistant principals, and secretaries. The original Administration Building was converted to house the counselors' offices.

In the first few years of the new millennium, two new buildings were added to the Trinity campus. The two-story N-Building lies on the campus's southern edge and houses the Foreign Language Department. Just a little further into campus from the D-Building is the new W-Building. The W-Building houses special education classrooms and is specifically designed to accommodate the needs of students with physical disabilities. An activity center named for former principal B.J. Murray opened in 2013 with a 60-yard indoor field, offices, and locker rooms.^[4]

Student body

During the 2014-2015 school year, Trinity High School enrolled 2415 students in grade 10 (34.0%), grade 11 (34.6%), and grade 12 (31.4%). Ethnicities represented include white (36.3%), Hispanic (26.3%), African-Americans (21.0%), Asian and Pacific Islander (12.9%), and Native American (0.7%). Forty-six percent were economically disadvantaged.^[1] In 2016, Niche ranked Trinity the most diverse high school in Texas.^[5]

Trinity High School receives students from three feeder schools: all students from Euless Junior High school and Harwood Junior High school attend Trinity along with a share of the students from Central Junior High school. Students in the attendance zones for Bell Manor, Lakewood, Meadow Creek, Midway Park, North Euless, Oakwood Terrace, Shady Brook, South Euless, Spring Garden, Viridian, and Wilshire elementary schools attend Trinity High School.^[6]

The State of Texas defined "college readiness," or readiness to undergo university studies, by scores on the ACT and SAT and in the 11th grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests. Holly Hacker of The Dallas Morning News said that the school was "high-performing" in that regard.^[7]

Academics

Among Tarrant County high schools, Trinity High School ranks eighth (of forty-six) in average points above passing on the 11th grade TAKS test.[8] On The Washington Post's 2016 list of America's most challenging high schools, Trinity High School is ranked 1497th out of approximately 22,000 public high schools, based on a ratio of 1.886 college-level exams taken per graduate.[9] Using similar criteria, the school was ranked 304th in the nation (and 6th within Tarrant County) on Newsweek's 2007 list of the top 1,200 high schools in the country[10] Among Trinity's class of 2014, the average SAT score was 1489 (Texas state average was 1417), and the average ACT score was 21.4 (Texas state average was 20.6).[1] In 2007, the school had 4 National Merit Finalists.[11] Trinity High School is an International Baccalaureate World School. The program graduated its first group of seniors in 2004.

TAKS - Met Standard (Sum of All Grades Tested)[12] Subject 2005 School (10,11) 2006 School (10,11) 2006 District (all grades) 2006 State (all grades) Reading/ELA 86% 93% 93% 87% Mathematics 74% 82% 85% 75% Science 73% 77% 80% 70% Soc. Studies 92% 96% 94% 87% All Tests 61% 70% 79% 67%

Athletics

Trinity hosts its home games at Pennington Field, which they also share with L.D. Bell High School.

Currently playing in Texas 6A Division 1 American football, the Trinity Trojan football team has earned 28 Texas State Playoff appearances, including 23 District Championships, seven semifinal appearances, 5 state championship appearances, and three state titles.

• The Boys' Tennis team succeeded in taking the 4A All-District Title in 1978 under the leadership of Hall of Fame, All Conference Tennis Coach, Cal Hopkins, defeating L.D. Bell with a Finals match between Trinity's Robert Matuszewski and L.D. Bell's Tom Ferris.
• The Girls' Soccer team reached the State Playoffs in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. They have also won the NSCAA Team Academic Award in 2005 and 2006.
• The Boys' Soccer team reached the State Playoffs in 1986, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008.^[13]
• The Girls' Basketball team has earned playoff spots 17 times in the past 20 seasons, including a 33-2 record in 2002. Coach Sue Cannon started the 2006 season with a career record of 858-251, with 490-173 at Trinity. They became the Area Champions in 2007.
• The Boys' Basketball team were the 1996 State Runners-Up.^[14]
• The Boys' Gymnastics team won State Championships in 1990 and 2002. The 2007 season brought them District Runner-Up, 2nd at Regionals, placed 5th at State, 3 Regionals Champions, one State Champion, and 2 athletes qualified for National Gymnastic Meet in Tenn.^[14]
• The Girls' Lacrosse team won the Div. II State Championship on May 6, 2007. They entered the tournament ranked second and defeated the defending div. II champions (9-8).^[15]
• The Girls' Cross Country team was the District 7-5A Champion in 2007.
• The Boys' Cross Country team had 2 runners qualified for Regionals in 2007.
• The Girls' Swimming team became the District Champions and had 13 qualified for Regionals in 2007.
• The Boys' Swimming became the District Runner-up and had 8 qualified for Regionals in 2007.
• The Baseball team was Bi-District Champion in 1999 and 2000 and reached Area-Round Competition in 2002 and 2003.
• The Softball was Bi-District Champions in 2007.
• The Tennis team won Runner up district Champions in 2003 and anvanced to Regional team tennis quarterfinalist under Coach Kevin Faulse.
• The Volleyball team won the District Championship in 2001 and 2007.
• The Drill Team in 2007 National Champions - Novelty 2nd place - Pom 5th place - Jazz Award of Excellence - awards to the top 10 teams at the competition
• The THS Cheerleaders won first place in a National Championship in Florida. Winning their division and finished in the top 10 of the overall level 4 division (out of 36 teams) in 2008.
• The Computer Science team (The Bobsled Team) had 2 TCEA state-finalist teams, 1 of which came in 1st at the regional competition in 2007.

Fine arts

In the spring of 1968, Mr. William D. Reavis was selected to be the first Director of Bands as well as Trinity's Director of Fine Arts; positions he held until the end of the 1972 school year. Before the official opening of Trinity H.S., Mr. Reavis composed the music and words for the Trinity High School Alma Mater and Fight Song. The first Trinity High School Marching Band consisted of freshmen, sophomore and only 10 juniors. Trinity did not have a senior class until its second year of existence. Most of these students had no marching experience and that along with no band hall, no practice field and only a few weeks to prepare for the band program's first UIL Marching Contest, their hard work along with Mr. Reavis's dedication they brought home Trinity's first ever UIL trophy. More trophies and awards were bestowed upon the band the first two years. The Trinity Band was becoming a powerhouse band and they obtained the coveted UIL Sweepstakes the third and fourth year of the school's existence. January 1972; The Trinity HS Symphonic Band, representing The United States, was invited to Mexico by the Department of Cultural Exchange. Three concerts were presented in Monterrey, Mexico as well as one concert en route at Three Rivers High School, Three Rivers, Texas. After building a well established sweepstakes band Mr. Reavis left Trinity after the fourth year and Mr. Tom Nugent then took over the band program the fifth year.

The Trinity Trojan Symphonic Band is an award-winning group in TMEA class AAAAA category, and during Tom Nugent's twenty-four years at Trinity High School, the band achieved twenty-four consecutive UIL sweepstakes ratings. The Trinity High School band was named Outstanding Band in their classification at several invitational contests throughout the United States, including Smoky Mountain Music Festival in Gatlinburg, TN, Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta, Six Flags Over Mid-America in St. Louis, the Durango, CO Fine Arts Festival, Winter Park Music Festival, Mountain States Music Festival in Phoenix, AZ, Bluebonnet Festival in San Antonio, Galveston Music Festival, and Cavalcade of Music in Colorado Springs. In addition, the Trinity High School band was selected to attend the UIL State Marching Contest on two different occasions and was an area finalist three times in Honor Band selection.

The Trinity Drama Department has also had its share of success, advancing to the State finals for UIL One Act Play in 1987, 1990, 1991, and 1992. They won the State Championship in 1992.

The Trinity Photography Department is a 5 time State Champion program. In 2008 Trinity had at least 9 finalists in the Best of College Photo Contest. At the Texas A&M Photo Shootout and the Association of Texas Photography Instructors Winter Conference in Arlington the Trojans brought home 33 awards. In 2008 alone the Trinity Photo Department won over 100 awards. They also had a special appearance in the nationally broadcast Dallas Cowboys End of Year Special in 2008.^[16] The Trinity Photography Department won State Championships in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2005.

The Trinity Choir program has seen success after success in National Competitions and at home. In 2007, the Trinity High School Choirs won 10 out of the 11 awards at the Disney Festival and received Sweepstakes ratings in the UIL Competition. The show choir, Harmony, is an award-winning 14-16 member auditioned ensemble and perform throughout the Metroplex including places such as The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Nationalization Ceremony for immigrants, and the Ft. Worth Petroleum Club.

Trinity’s Triune Yearbook has received National Awards for its 2007 publication. Including the Gold Medalist from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the highest ranking category. They have been nominated to receive the prestigious CSPA Crown Award presented only to the top 30 yearbooks in the Nation. They received the All-American rating with 5 marks of Distinction from the National Press Association, the NSPA's highest ranking. Triune has been selected as an elite NSPA Pacemaker Finalist recognizing the top 25 books nationally. They have also been selected by Taylor Publishing as a top 5% outstanding yearbook that will be shared with yearbook staffs around the country.^[17]

The Trinity Trojan Marching Band has become an increasing success in the past few years. The band made their first appearance in the Bands of America San Antonio Super Regional competition on October 24, 2009 and received division 1 ratings in the 2009 Region 5 Marching Contest at Pennington Field. The band also received Division 1 ratings in the 2010 UIL Region 5 competition. The marching band advanced to the UIL Area B Marching Band contest at Standridge Field. On Friday, October 29, 2010 the Band competed for the second time in the Bands of America San Antonio Super Regional Contest and received 39th place out of 53 bands, improving from 2009 which they made 37th place out of 50 bands that competed, They also increased their general score by a full seven points, from a 66 to a 73. For the 2011 marching season, the Trinity Band competed in the Aledo Unleash the Sound Marching Band Contest and placed 3rd overall. The Trinity band also received division I ratings in both the 2011 and 2012 UIL Region V Marching Band Contest. In 2012, the Trinity band returned to the Aledo Unleash the Sound Marching contest and received 2nd place overall as well as Best in Class 5A. On October 27, 2012, the Trinity band competed in the UIL Area B Marching Band Contest where the band placed 12th overall, just missing finals by two spots.

Famous alumni

Name	Distinction	Graduated
Neil Denari	Architect	1975[18]
Mike Baab	Former NFL center (1982–92) for the Browns, Patriots, and Chiefs	1978[18]
Michael Muhney	Hollywood actor	1993[19]
D. J. Brigman	Professional golfer	1994[18]
Sarah Shahi	Actress	1998
Ryan McBean	Baltimore Ravens defensive end	2003[18]
Daniel Woolard	Professional soccer player for D.C. United	2003
Trevor Vittatoe	American football quarterback	2006
Dimitri Nance	American football running back	2006
Kimberly Matula	Actress	2006
Denarius McGhee	College American football player	2010[20]
Myles Turner	Indiana Pacers Center	2014

Championships

Year	Organization	Award
1978	Rodeo Team	Chute Dogging Championship (Barry Winford)
1979	Rodeo Team	Saddle bronc Championship (Dino Hebb)
1987	Debate Team	State Mock Trial Championship
1990	Men's Gymnastics	UIL State Championship
1992	Drama Department	UIL State Championship One Act Play
1992	Journalism Department	UIL Silver Star Award for Newspaper (The Palantir)
2002	Men's Gymnastics	UIL State Championship
2005	Women's football (soccer)	NSCAA Team Academic Award
2005	American Football	UIL State Championship
2006	Women's Soccer	NSCAA Team Academic Award
2007	Golf	UIL State Championship FALSE Trinity did not win team or individual medalists (boys or girls), 2007 or 2008. No Trinity players even qualified to compete.[21] [22]
2007	Girls Lacrosse	UIL Division II State Championship
2007	Football	UIL State Championship
2007	Women's Soccer	NSCAA Team Academic Award
2008	Cheerleading	National Champions
2008	Criminal Justice	Texas Public Service Association State Championships
2009	Girls Lacrosse	UIL State Championship
2009	Football	UIL State Championship

References

1. "2014-15 Texas Academic Performance Report: TRINITY H S" (PDF). Texas Education Agency, re-hosted by HEB ISD. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
2. Lunsford, J. Lynn (2006-11-16). "A Tongan War Dance Enlivens Football in Euless,Texas". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2006-12-02. Retrieved 2007-05-08. (WSJ link)
3. Verdejo, Angel (2007-12-22). "Trinity wins 2nd title in 3 years". Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-03. Archived by WebCite
4. "Hundreds turn out for activity center ribbon cuttings". Hurst Euless Bedford Independent School District. 2013-05-16. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
5. https://k12.niche.com/rankings/public-high-schools/most-diverse/s/texas/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=2016k12RLP
6. "HEB ISD School Feeder Chart & Sites". Hurst Euless Bedford Independent School District. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
7. Hacker, Holly K. "Analysis shows true Texas high school performance, stripping away socioeconomic factors." The Dallas Morning News. September 3, 2011. Retrieved on February 10, 2012.
8. Brock, Katherine Cromer; Claassen, Jeff (2007-05-16). "School ratings can hide disparities: Another way to gauge high school quality" (– ^{Scholar search}). Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Northeast edition). pp. 1B,9B. (direct link to chart)
9. "America's Most Challenging High Schools: Trinity". The Washington Post. 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
10. "Tarrant schools make the grade" (– ^{Scholar search}). Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Northeast edition). 2007-05-22.
    "America's Top Public High Schools". Newsweek. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
11. "Nine Named National Merit Finalists". Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District. 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
12. "Academic Excellence Indicator System; 2005-06 District Performance; Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD; Trinity H S". Texas Education Agency. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
13. "Trinity Trojan Soccer". Trinity Football (soccer) Booster Club. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
14. "Dallas Morning News; My High School; Euless Trinity Trojans; Sports History". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
15. "Communications Department - District Spotlight - Archives, THS Girls' Lacrosse Win State Championship!". May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
16. "Trinity Photography Awards". Retrieved 2008-03-19.
17. "Trinity Triune Awards". Retrieved 2008-03-23.
18. "WFAA.com - My High School; Euless Trinity Trojans; Famous Alumni". WFAA.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
19. "Michael Muhney Biography".
20. "Division I Championship Subdivision College Football". Retrieved 19 August 2012.
21. http://www2.uiltexas.org/athletics/archives/golf/boys_champions.html
22. http://www2.uiltexas.org/athletics/archives/golf/girls_champions.html

External links

• Trinity High School Official Website

Coordinates: 32°50′34″N 97°05′47″W / 32.842892°N 97.09639°W