School Focuses On Well-Rounded Education
/By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com
Pictured above are students of Trinity Regional School in East Northport. The school emphasizes the importance of incorporating technology into education.
Trinity Regional School administrators and educators are on a mission to assist students in maximizing their potential, making them aware of those around them, servicing the community, and becoming productive members of the workforce and global Christian citizens, said Principal Jeanne Morcone.
Located on the grounds of St. Anthony of Padua parish in East Northport, the 37,000-square-foot school offers educational programs from the nursery level up through eighth grade. There are 25 classrooms, and state-of-the-art a computer room, science lab, library and gym.
Morcone, of Queens, has been principal of the school ever since it opened in 1992. She said that the Trinity Regional School has made a strong push to incorporate technology in its daily curriculum.
“We’ve been integrating some technology programs in the area of English, language arts and math that are computer-based so that students can work at their own pace,” she said. The school currently has 30 iMacs, 60 iPads, 30 Chromebooks, video conferencing equipment and SMART Boards in every classroom for teachers and students to utilize, Morcone said.
“We’re also continuing to enhance the opportunities for [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] STEM learning for the students,” Morcone said. “Each year we have a STEM fair that focuses on inventions building construction as well as science experimentation.”
As a Catholic school, Morcone said that the values of their Catholic faith permeate how students interact with each other. The designation has also pushed Trinity Regional School to be competitive with local public school.
“We’re in an area where the public schools are good schools. We have to always excel in academics so that parents will want to send their children to a school such as this, knowing that they’ll get the religious values and the character development, as well as a fine academic education,” Morcone said. “We look at them from their spiritual, social, emotional and physical development as well. These are all areas that are part of how we approach our classroom and how we approach what we do with the students.”
Trinity Regional School first opened its doors at 1025 5th Ave. in September 1992 as a combination of six schools at local parishes. In the ’80s, Morcone said, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre was concerned about the size of the various schools that then existed and came up with a plan called “regionalization.” With that, every parish in the Rockville Centre Diocese, which spans Nassau and Suffolk, was placed into a region.
Trinity Regional School combined St. Anthony’s of Padua, St. Philip Neri in Northport, St. Hugh of Lincoln in Huntington Station, St. Francis of Assisi in Greenlawn, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Centerport and St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Melville.
“This was always the main building and over the years this has become the place for anyone interested from the six parishes,” Morcone said.
Ensuring that each student participate in activities, the school also offers many extracurricular programs during, such as a newspaper club, three choral groups, the leadership group and STEM clubs.
Afterschool programs include a marching band, theater productions for sixth, seventh and eighth graders and a middle school sports program that sports soccer and cross country teams in the fall; basketball and bowling in the winter; and baseball, softball and volleyball in the spring. The school is also hoping to introduce a girls lacrosse team in the future to fulfill requests from community members.
Trinity Regional School
1025 5th Ave., East Northport
631-261-5130
Trinityregional.org
