There are a number of key ingredients that make classical Christian education work, most importantly, the role parents play in their child’s education during the hours at home. One of the growing forms of classical Christian schools is the hybrid or collaborative schools model, a form of schooling that instructs children at school a few days of the week and partners with parents to continue the prescribed teaching at home on the other days. If you aren’t familiar with this model, you will be intrigued, as there are many new and growing collaborative schools and quite a number of 5-day-a-week schools now adding a hybrid option. My guest panel today not only provides some first-hand history and overview of hybrid schools, but they share best practices in managing home life that ensure continuity between home and school, in all kinds of settings.
Mariana Anderson and her husband, Neil, are one of the founding families of Trinity Classical School of Houston. She has worn many hats at TCS, serving as the Primer School Academic Director for almost a decade, teaching PreK, but most importantly co-teaching her four kids at home. Antonella graduated from TCS and is a sophomore at The University of Texas at Austin, Jeremiah is a senior, Sam a junior, and Augie a freshman.
Mariana attended Baylor University and is a licensed social worker and owner of a private practice that focuses on holistic family health. She is a consultant to classical schools, providing training and guidance on trauma-informed education.
Gambrill Wagner is a mother to three classically educated teenagers, wife to an entrepreneurial accountant, and is both a homeschooling and classroom teacher with Trinity Classical School of Houston.
Originally from the DC area, she received her BA in Biology from Rice University and a Master of Public Health from UNC-Chapel Hill. Between college and grad school, Mrs. Wagner taught high school science (Biology and Environmental Science) at E.L. Furr High School in east Houston with Teach for America. A TCS co-teacher for the past 12 years, and proud parent of a recent TCS alumna, she is happily guiding her younger two children through the Rhetoric School.
She has been a TCS Campus Teacher in 4th grade and 7th Grade Science and a Sunday School teacher at church. She and her husband, Marcus, have been happily married for 22 years and enjoy traveling, cooking, and spending time with family.
Patti Hinze has been teaching for over half her life. She started as a high school AP English teacher, then moved to Szigetszentmiklós, Hungary, where she taught English at a seminary for two years. She then spent several years teaching special education to hospitalized kids at a children’s hospital in Dallas, and MD Anderson in Houston.
For the past nine years, she has been teaching her own three children, who attend Trinity Classical School, a Christian, classical, and collaborative school in Houston. She enjoys watching birds, eating cake, and hiking in the mountains with her husband Jodey, her kids, and their dog, Kipling. She has a daily habit of long, very slow jogs along the Houston bayou. She also loves engaging deeply with great books, and is honored to be teaching a class of 7th grade humanities this year at Trinity Classical School.