Holy Trinity Catholic School Opens
The doors have opened at the newest school in the Diocese of Evansville and the community support is strong, according to Sally Sternberg, principal at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Dubois County.
The new school has three locations in Dubois County for grades pre-kindergarten through eight:
• the Holy Family Parish school facility in Jasper, designated the East Campus, contains grades three through eight;
• the Precious Blood Parish facility in Jasper, now known as the Central Campus, contains preschool through grade two;
• the St. Mary Parish facility in Ireland, now the West Campus, has classroom use for pre-schoolers.
Sternberg said that as the first day of school approached there was a “whirlwind of excitement” as parents and students “toured their new campus buildings, met their teachers, checked out their classrooms, and dropped off school supplies. We had lots of smiles, and the energy was positive!”
She said the new school “had a presence throughout all of the Strassenfest weekend” — including the food booth, which had Saints Chips [Holy Trinity teams are designated as the Saints].
She added, “As we walked the parade route, we could feel the support as the community cheered and clapped for us.” The parade entry for the new Dubois County school was its yellow bus, which was “decorated with notes of thanks to our supporting parishes for their (collective) partnership with Holy Trinity Catholic School.
“We are very pleased with our enrollment figures, especially after graduating two large classes of fifth grade from Precious Blood School and eighth grade from Holy Family School,” she said. “With change, especially change this large, we knew it was a possibility to have a decline in enrollment.
“Instead, it has remained constant. At last count, we were right around 470 students in preschool through grade 8.”
Sternberg said, “We have felt the support of our Catholic parishes in Dubois County as we have been welcomed to attend their summer picnics and socials. We are very thankful for the partnerships we have developed, and we look forward to strengthening them as we continue the journey as Holy Trinity Catholic School.”
Daryl Hagan, diocesan superintendent of schools, said Holy Trinity Catholic School “is a result of a strategic planning initiative implemented by the diocese that included core groups from each deanery that had representatives from each parish, the pastors and facilitators for the process.
“The Jasper Deanery unanimously recommended combining the Catholic schools of the Jasper Deanery into one regional Catholic pre-kindergarten-through-eight school with multiple locations supported by all of the Jasper Deanery parishes.”
He said the community has been “very receptive” to the new structure.
Sternberg had served as the principal at Holy Family School in Jasper. Tyler Lemen is now the assistant principal at Holy Trinity Catholic School.
Father Gary Kaiser, pastor of Precious Blood Parish in Jasper and St. Mary Parish in Ireland, is Bishop Charles C. Thompson’s delegate for the school administration.
