Dear TCS Parents and Guardians:

As promised last week by Mr. Grainger, I am reaching out today to families we believe to be continuing their TCS journey next academic year, in order to share more details regarding your child’s continued enrolment at Trinity College School, offer a brief update on the TCS Connect e-community program, and provide further insight into the School’s plans for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Not surprisingly, our students miss being alongside their friends, on the campus that they love. One mom captured it best in sharing that her daughter is “homesick and missing her TCS family.” While this current reality of distancing is not what any of us could have foreseen, our students are proving resilient, showing up each day online to engage, not only with their teachers in the TCS Connect classrooms, but also through co-curricular and student life offerings and support services, all of which make up integral parts of our e-community. Whether it be brainstorming about a gratitude initiative with 45 housemates in a house meeting; working through a sports injury in a one-on-one session with one of our athletic therapists; continuing to explore university options with their Grade 11 guidance counsellor; or meeting with the School’s librarian in the virtual library for advice on best citation practice; the students and staff of Trinity College School are very much engaged in all aspects of school life. The feedback received from our families is that the core TCS values have successfully been infused into our online programming and interactions.

While we are currently planning for Opening Week 2020, scheduled to begin September 8th, it is also responsible for us to address the possibility that all students may not be able to join us in person for the start of the academic year. So, what would that mean for teaching and learning? And what would that mean in regards to tuition?

To address these possibilities, the School has the following plans in place. For simplicity, these are offered below as falling into one of three scenarios.

Scenario A: TCS Campus is Fully Open
Assuming it is deemed safe to do so, certainly the complete re-opening of campus is what we are all hoping for and working towards for September 2020. There is nothing more joyful than imagining 580 TCS Bears arriving to campus on September 8th and 9th, eager to start the 2020-2021 school year. In this scenario, we will operate under the tuition fee tables which have been rolled back to match current 2019-2020 fees, as confirmed last week in Mr. Grainger’s email to the community. The new 2020-2021 fees have now been updated online:  www.tcs.on.ca/fees. Families are being billed with the assumption that Scenario A will apply. We thank you for ensuring your account is kept current over the summer. Should campus not fully open in September, students’ accounts will be credited monthly for the difference of tuition charged initially. (Please refer to Scenarios B and C below for more information on credit amounts.)

Scenario B: TCS Campus is Closed
While not a situation we like to imagine, it is important to plan for a scenario in which Ontario still remained under the limitations of a state of emergency, as dictated by the provincial government. As previously mentioned, in this scenario, teaching, learning and community engagement would continue through a renewed TCS Connect e-community program.

Should the TCS campus be fully closed in September, tuition fees would be adjusted so that every family (boarding and day families) would be charged 80% of the day tuition fee based on their child(ren)’s grade level. This means tuition fees would be as follows:

• Grade 9-12 day and boarding students: $28,800 (vs. $36,000)
• Grade 7 and 8 students: $21,800 (vs. $27,250)
• Grade 5 and 6 students: $20,600 (vs. $25,750)

In this scenario, tuition charges would be prorated based on the amount of time required to be spent learning off-campus.

Scenario C: TCS Campus is Open but Operating with a Hybrid Model
With no firm confirmation of when the campus will re-open and given our diverse community, this is a likely scenario to imagine for the fall. With new and returning students coming from over 35 countries around the world, we are anticipating some delays in travel plans and/or study permit processing.

Should campus be open to students for the start of the year, the staff at TCS would deliver the program in-person to those on campus, as well as continue to provide robust programming via the TCS Connect platform to those students who were unable to attend campus. In this scenario, anyone unable to get to campus (due to travel restrictions, study permit delay, health restrictions) will engage fully over the TCS Connect platform until a point when they could join the school community on campus. For students attending school on campus, the recently adjusted 2020-2021 fee tables would apply. Students unable to attend school on campus would be charged the day tuition fees applicable to their grade level until they were able to arrive to the TCS campus, at which point, 2020-2021 fee tables would apply. International families are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the most recent information and guidance from Global Affairs Canada (GAC) regarding government travel restrictions or study permit/visa matters.

As human beings we crave order, certainty and control. In these times of COVID-19, uncertainty is disrupting our ability to plan for the future. The School is looking to give your family as much flexibility as possible to consider and plan for your child's education while also needing a commitment from our families regarding enrolment for 2020-2021 in order to ensure we are well prepared with programming and staffing in place.

The important date for all returning and newly enrolled families to note is Monday, June 1, 2020. If a family withdraws from the 2020-2021 school year on or before June 1, 2020, any tuition paid to date will be fully refunded. Effective June 2nd, families become liable for the full tuition fees for the entire school year (as indicated in Scenarios A, B and C, above).

We appreciate there is an abundance of details to digest in this communication. We are working to get as many facts to our families as possible in an authentic and transparent manner. The finance team is working on the details of each revised tuition fee table as described in this communication and these tables will be sent out, in addition to your April statement, next week.

As always, we are here to support our students and families. The pandemic has posed an unwelcomed detour in each family’s TCS journey. However, we look to find inspiration in some of our key habits of the heart and mind; certainly perseverance, creativity and courage will help us continue along the path we are on and look towards the day when we all arrive back to the School on the Hill. I look forward to seeing you there soon.

Be well.

Kathy LaBranche
Director of Admissions