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& Events Reprinted from the pages of the Texas Catholic Newspaper September 24th, 2004 Holy Trinity School an Oak Lawn fixture for 90 years. by Anna Maciasaguayo
“We’ve been going through records and databases, alerting
the alumni of this all-school reunion,” said Dr. Ned Vanders,
principal. “We’ve got ‘decade chairs’ dating
to the 1930s that will sit alumni according to the decade that they
attended Holy Trinity. “Because Holy Trinity preceded St. Rita’s, St. Monica’s,
Christ the King and all the other schools, just about anybody in
Dallas will tell you they have an aunt or an uncle or they know
someone who attended Holy Trinity.” Holy Trinity was founded on Oct. 12, 1914, by the Daughters of Charity
and the Vincentian Fathers. The first class included about 30 children of Irish, Polish, German
and Italian working-class immigrants. The first classrooms were located in a three-story house off of
Holland Street in the Oak Lawn neighborhood. By 1925, a red-brick
building was built for the school at its current location. In 1947,
the building was expanded and gold brick was placed over the red
so that the structure would match the church’s façade. The school has kept many of its original architectural details,
such as high ceilings, arches and hardwood cabinetry. It is a comfortable, safe, nurturing place,” Vanders said. “When engineers come out to check on the building, they call it the “Grand Old Lady.” But it’s people who really make up a building.” Holy
Trinity’s faculty is known for its longevity with teachers
spending as long as 16 years there. In the 1960s the campus was
among the first Catholic schools to be accredited by the Texas Catholic
Conference Education Department. Over the years, an average of 95 percent of Holy Trinity graduates
has gone on to Catholic high schools. An overwhelming majority of the alumni/alumnae also go on to universities
across the country. Some students have been accepted to The Citadel,
the U.S. Naval Academy, Vanderbilt, Harvard and local universities. We have a student who became a doctor, another student became
a lawyer. One is currently in medical school, Vanders said. “Our
students go on to become productive, respectful citizens.” Middle-school students want to be independent,” he
said. “They are constantly testing the limits, testing expectations,
searching for their identity. But they do grow up, mature and become contributing people
to society.” As have many urban Catholic schools, Holy Trinity has had its own
struggles with growth, fluctuating enrollment and finances. Last
spring a nonprofit group called the “Friends of Holy Trinity
Catholic School, Inc.” was formed to help the school through
economic times. Members of the Friends’ group said they formed the group to
raise money to boost the school’s operating budget, provide
scholarships for deserving students, to help increase enrollment
and to ensure the school’s future. Holy Trinity is where a lifetime of learning begins,”
he said. “It’s a positive place. And I hope it will
continue providing a Catholic education into the next 90 years.”
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