Trinity High School, in the Sinsinawa Dominican tradition, challenges young women to seek faith, knowledge and truth. The school community guides young women in developing skills for lifelong learning, an ethic of care and the desire for excellence. Each student is recognized as unique. In a nurturing, Catholic, college preparatory environment, she is encouraged to become self-directed toward responsible participation in the global community in order to impact society, Church and family in the twenty-first century.

Trinity High School is a private, for-profit, Catholic, all girls school, ranking 68 out of 100 private IL high schools. The stockade is aesthetically satisfying, contains modern safety measures, and an incredible IB programme. However are lacking in substance in college prep academics, counseling services and supportive administration. Students are challenged and expected to conform to absurd standards, while also dismissing the diminishing academic performance of those in college prep. While harassment and public humiliation of students remains a core value and rather frequent occurrence, the environment can be anything but nurturing to those who have been isolated and targeted by Trinity's administration. The institution's handful of fraudulent claims have been debunked in the process of gathering research. Significance behind these consistent fallacies has been the overwhelming cost of the mental well being and stability of many past and current students.

Trinity claims to have a unique college prep program, which is not completely true, as demanding the students enrolled in the curriculum to suckle the breast of regurgitation for academic excellence is a fairly standard concept within our education system. Underperforming students enrolled in solely college preparatory have been on a steady decline, as standardized tests scores have been declining.

In a recent survey (and one of the only resources for public response towards their academia), 118 students and past alumna volunteered to grade Trinity's academics (college prep). 118 students out of the thousands whom have attended, gave Trinity a letter grade of B, However, collectively, the 118 had an average of 23 for their composite ACT score;

College prep students are often expected to solely regurgitate answers on many tests, quizzes, presentations, and homework. In many courses, they are even taught at the level and pace of the slowest child in class, genuinely hindering the learning experience for many.

“They teach us like we are idiots in college prep. I don't understand why we must learn at the pace of the slowest girl. We get it, 2+2=4, just because so-so doesn't get it doesn't mean the rest of us don't.”

“I have never felt challenged academically with my full college prep schedule, it's actually pretty easy.”

“I loved college prep!! It was so easy!! I was able to walk out with a fantastic GPA, done with very little work. I dropped out of my community college and work at Victoria Secret, why do you ask?”

The college prep program in regards to a majority of courses is severely lacking, as consistent babying of students is nowhere near an accurate reflection of a college's workload. College prep students are often only required to engage in memorization and a trivial workload. There is often a lack of critical thought and analysis throughout many of the preparatory courses, as expected answers that range between A,B, and C require very little intellectual stimulation.

“These students tend to learn more deeply and they tend to perform better, not only on traditional achievement tests but also on assessments of more complex understanding,”

Hand-holding throughout many of the courses often occurs to ensure each child is nursed through assignments and exams, only to be weaned off Trinity's icy nipple during the walk at graduation. With their ideal intimate classroom sizes, deeper learning alongside standard education can truly allow for the attainment of knowledge and skills taught by Trinity's passionate teachers. The teacher’s passions are not to be ignored when they are forced to follow our poorly designed education system. However, if Trinity was to be unique, the college prep program would not be a reflection of our poorly structured system, but rather unique. Academically challenging students has also been shown to give a sense of accomplishment, a feeling many of those enrolled in the IB program understand. Applying a similar rigor to college prep can help improve self esteem within students, overall grades, and birth a more concrete, critical thinking process within students. *However, to be fair, a handful of teachers refuse the typical Trinity's babying techniques and demand rigor. For these few courses, college prep students will be challenged and expected to engage in actual thought.

“I was seeking students who were good at regurgitation. If my test results were good, then I was a good teacher. As I continued to grow as a teacher I began to really appreciated the fidgety kids. They were into learning, they were out of the box thinkers, connectors, imaginative, impulsive and curious. These were the students who were going to push the envelop, test the limits, create, invent and change in the world.These student were not passively waiting to be taught but eagerly trying to educate themselves. They were active, enthusiastic learners stuck in a passive, measured learning environment.”

The academic side of this institution, although drastically lacking in multiple areas for college prep, rises above others with the International Baccalaureate programme. The IB program, as I described to Harvard, is much like shoving a freshly baked slice of pizza into your mouth, rewarding, yet painful. The program's rigor stands well above anything their college prep program has to offer. Each course in the program, even the IB art and film courses, demand a substantial amount of dedication and critical analysis, as devout attention to research is demanded. Students will learn substantial skills in communication, academic management, and research. The program submerges students in continuous hands on experience, as IB academia is always applicable to the world around us. By gaining such a plethora of not only experience, but knowledge, students carry their IB findings for years outside of the intuition's walls.The intensity that academically challenged students provides superior, quality education, experience, and irrefutable knowledge.

Enrollment in the program even grants students an unspoken freedom out of following dress code. By conforming, an idea dear to Trinity's mission statement, students are freed from any anxiety incited by the administration. Trinity's absurd, strict, and yet inconsistent dress code is one of Deborah Murphy, the dean's, window to express her repressed aggression, which she projects on the college prep community or others she targets; IB students or athletes are often found to be wearing non-uniform socks, shoes, and sweaters, yet rarely face penalization. Murphy has publicly harassed and even humiliated students over wearing incorrect shoes, socks, hoodies, and depending how much the administration dislikes you, stained clothes. Her harassment includes disapproving gestures, verbal belittlement, and often a sickening face of glee as she engaged in petulant behavior towards the already uncomfortable students. The humiliation, however, does not stop at dress codes. Students who reported feeling targeted by administration reported to have frequent encounters where Murphy often sought out the student, taking any opportunity to isolate the member from the community.

“Deborah Murphy would never leave my daughter alone. Your guys' school sweaters were awfully form fitting, just as your shirts were, so my daughter would wear a hoodie, as she was a bigger girl at the time, to cover her body. She often felt uncomfortable in the form fitting sweaters Trinity required. I encouraged her to wear her hoodies or baggy crew-necks because I wanted her to feel more confident and comfortable. Everyday she would come home crying, as Deborah would demand she undress herself from the hoodie wherever Deborah had caught her, even if she was in front of a large crowd. She would demand her to take off the hoodie or crewneck, already insecure, she just consistently crumbled.”

“I never got in trouble for my uniform,but I would see how Murphy would treat some of the girls...... It was just both frightening and disgusting.”

“Why did Murphy always look so happy to inciting fear and anger within students? I remember her often making snide comments to this one girl that she very clearly did not like, and the angrier she got, the more Murphy smiled. It was like watching a horror movie.”

“As an IB student, I was never stopped for my moccasins, however I did perform superior to other students, especially those in college prep. We (IB students) get more leeway for being smarter than the college prep kids. Murphy never stopped me and trust me, she saw my moccasins.”

“Uniform code, on the other hand, was a daily threat. "Very important announcements" that turned out to be just another complaint about ankle socks, ms. Murphy gleefully snatching sweaters during lunch periods, not being allowed to be in any picture without those sweaters that felt like chain mail. It's kind of ridiculous. I only dealt with the last one personally but that doesn't mean I didn't see the unnecessary chaos it caused. Whole classrooms filled for detention, really? I remember someone asking during this one "college prep" type seminar and the teacher in charge said that each detention was representative of getting fired from a job for dress code violation.These girls aren't wearing bikinis, for lord's sake. Not to mention that during the winter especially, there was no heat in half the classrooms. By being so strict about the wardrobe, you automatically take attention away from the work. This goes without saying”

“I was full college prep. One time after art foundations, I legit only had a few blotches of paint on my shirt, Deb, who targeted me before demanded I change and insisted I was out of uniform. What the f****.”

“Murphy would waddle down the stairs looking happier than a pig in sh**, while girls were crying for being targeted yet again by Der Fuerher”

“One time Murphy asked if I was a gang leader because I wore my bandanas as headbands, like what”

“Why did all the IB girls get to wear their khaki colored or cheetah print boat shoes when Murphy would literally b*tch and moan about our shoes having to be black or navy blue”

“Why were we being threatened with detentions for socks being under our ankles? You add 2-inches of cotton and suddenly it's okay? Also, why were they enforcing knee high socks at one point? This isn't pornhub and I am not role playing.”

As though targeting students for wearing incorrect clothing was not enough, Trinity's administration has been not only notorious for disregarding students with mental illness or disorders, but has shown severe callousness by not offering any actual understanding, support, or resources to students who are struggling or suffering. Trinity's Administration claims to offer a nurturing environment, however it is painfully obvious that this "nurture" is only available to those that they find deserving. They do not even have any organized center or emotional support service being offered to young women enrolled at Trinity. Instead, they give one week attention to mental illness with flyers and ribbons. If Trinity were to hire people with masters degrees in clinical or counseling psychology, obtaining actual counselors, they would be able to offer the resources and support teenage girls desperately need to thrive and maintain their well being in 2016. With mental health problems on the rise, it is absolutely necessary for Trinity to organize actual resources.

“They only time mental health came up was a bit during Red Ribbon week, where we all got the standard "how to decrease stress" handout, and Health class, where I could suddenly find a mental illness diagnosis for every member of my family and the teacher refused to stop and explain or clarify because she had a time limit”

“I went to the counseling center, because at the time I thought it was actual counseling, not just college planning, and I spoke with that one lady with the spikey hair about my mom. She said "You'll be okay" and that was all. I am now suffering from severe depression and anxiety, I would have appreciated real mental health resources when I was there”

“I got sick for an extended period of time which weighed down on my self-esteem, energy levels, and immune system (just trust me on this one, I trying to be judicious with how much I tell, believe it or not). I got no sympathy or help whatsoever in the end. I fell asleep a lot because of it but they said I could only do that if I was medicated or stayed home (something that is frowned upon in IB). I had a hard time concentrating, not to mention I'm exhausted, and I told all the teacher this, but instead of understanding, my English teacher wrote a note on the back of one of my less than stellar grades telling me how disappointed she was in me. The next year, when I wasn't sick but still swamped, I and the other IB girls would joke about how we'd all sold our souls for the slim chance that a college would acknowledge us.”

“I always thought about killing myself in High School, but no one would have ever known. I also know many other girls from Trin that you would have never guessed were so suicidal in High School. Yet Trinity also never knew. Could you imagine if we didn't hold on and embrace life? Would that have forced Trinity to care about our mental health? Or would we still be viewed as pieces of degenerate sh** by the admin”

“Many of my underclassmen friends have legit medical issues and post about what they go through on social media, reminding me about how I would go to the counselors at Trinity thinking they would let me rant, or listen, or would help, because that is what I thought social workers/counselors do, and instead they would claim that my parents needed to get me a therapist because clearly I was too emotional. That's 1920s thinking. This is the 21st century. I really truly think they all need to grow a heart - and maybe some common sense.”

“I know a lot of cutters from Trinity. It's surprising they haven't caught on yet. They also teach abstinence only and look at all the pregnant girls now. The more they teach us to just ignore reality and wallow in delusion, the more f****** up we become. When are these unintelligent, cold hags going to realize that?”

An estimated 2.8 million adolescents (ages 12 to 17) in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in 2014. Furthermore, about 80 percent of kids with an anxiety disorder and 60 percent with depression are not getting treatment.

Anxiety disorders affect over 50 million people, and, Depression affects over 350 million in the United States, making the likelihood of students enrolling who deal with one of these disorders or illnesses, quite high and rather likely. The faculty have been the ones to be seen in a multitude of cases to offer the necessary emotional support and accommodations, as the administration has washed their hands of the duty. The counseling center found at Trinity's high school is merely to aid in college planning. The misleading notion that the institution offers any sort of emotional counseling is a huge disadvantage to students with a mental illness or disorder, as support is key in maintaining one's well-being. However, administration has incited, encouraged, and forced anxiety, fear, and depression within students, aiding in crumbling their overall psyche. Nurturing environment? The counseling office? Oh wait.

“I was penalized and harassed by administration for having depression. One time I wanted to speak to Dr. B about how Murphy kept harassing me, she told me I couldn't have a meeting with her unless Murphy was there. They are constantly trying to intimidate students with mental illness.”

“Trinity's counselors are in no way proficient, nor equip able to offer any type of sort of emotional support or recommendations, as not one of the counselors is even has a degree in clinical psychology. One student recently told me she was being banned from both homecoming and prom for having a known diagnosis of Depression. She's not some dangerous person???? Mr. Daly teaches Psychology, you should tell him to educate the Administration.”

“I have an anxiety disorder and I was in the hospital, and the made no effort to help me. They didn't send my homework, they were hard to reach, and they acted almost as I was a delinquent ditching school. The hospital set up simple things to help me when I got back to school, and they said they would follow them, but nothing was set up for when I got back. I felt like I was a burden and they didn't want me there.”

“I became even more suicidal after dealing with Trinity's administration, as the constant harassment and belittlement became incredibly overwhelming.”

“Another thing that was kind of a catalyst for my anxiety, I was forced to drop from full IB to partial and the way I was talked to about it made me sound like a failure and a burden”

“The counselors were not even equip to help my daughter. They have absolutely no realization towards the struggles women face today in the 21st century. They provide absolutely no support system for our daughter's mental well being. Mental illness is on a steady incline, yet they treated my daughter as though it was HER fault for dealing with depression and anxiety. If you do not fit their mold and conform to their happy-go lucky attitude, or they even hear gossip, they will never remove the target from your back. It is no longer the 1950s, and to treat these young women as though they are at fault for their illness or disorders, only goes to make them feel more depression, isolation, and anxiety. The Administration are the ones who ultimately make decisions, which is absolutely ridiculous because they have no training in psychology and a very stigmatized, un-involved attitude. Through this un-involved attitude they provide no community of support, nor understanding.”

“Everyday my daughter would come home with no energy, it was like they stole her soul for 6 hours and my husband and I would try so hard to revive her happiness.”

“My mom insists I still kicked ass that year in my studies (and may have written my college essay partly about it) but it greatly hurt. It felt like I was finally seeing people's true colors. Sure, I told them in the first place that having my situation (it's called Bell's Palsy, by the way) made me feel Not beautiful, so quite a few teachers went out of their way to tell me I looked good, but as they consistently marked me off for my exhaustion and missing work due to my slower pace, their words just felt empty. At the very beginning some were forgiving, but as I struggled more, I tried to explain myself, at least one if not a few of them said "now you know you can't keep making up excuses". I'm a pretty outgoing person. I try to be honest and I enjoy excelling in book smarts. By telling me I was, as I translated it, lying and cheating my way out of doing work, it hurt me to the core. Also that now the only thing I was doing well in their eyes appeared to be physically "looking good." It just seemed so petty of them and I just had to deal with it. I went home and cried many days because there seemed to be so few people who believed in me...including my reflection, which was temporarily stuck for almost six months in a smirk-like frown.”

“Deborah Murphy's existence made me have so much anxiety. As a Catholic, I often am in great peace at church, I even fall asleep at times. She screamed at me for sleeping. SCREAMED. She must not have any concept of prayer or Catholicism.”

“I wish the admin they offered an actual nurturing community, I wouldn't have thought about killing myself so much.”