Bishop to decide on Trinity’s future
School facing record low enrollment
STAMFORD — On Wednesday, fewer students were confirmed to attend Trinity Catholic High School next year than were in the class graduating from the school Thursday night.
But parents and students at Trinity say they expect enrollment will increase enough for the school to reopen next year.
Steven Cheeseman, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Bridgeport, wrote a letter to the Trinity community Wednesday saying confirmed re-enrollment for next year was 82 students as of that morning.
The news followed Bishop Frank J. Caggiano’s announcement last week that Trinity faces record low enrollment, with only 158 students registered for the coming school year compared to this year’s 295 students.
If the school does not reach a “viable” number it might not be able to reopen, Caggiano said at a community meeting, adding every student would need to re-register in light of the news even if they had already committed for next year.
Final notification of enrollment at Trinity is due for all students on Friday at 11am. Later Friday afternoon, Caggiano will have a conference call with the school’s board of directors after which, according to Cheeseman’s letter, Caggiano “will make an announcement of his decision as to whether the school reopens next Fall.”
The optimal enrollment for next year in order to reopen is 175 students, Cheeseman said.
After grads and faculty filed in to commencement ceremonies Thursday night, they remained standing as the superintendent addressed the matter prior to the start of the program.
“I know this week has been a stressful week but I wanted to reassure you and to let you all know that this will not be the last Trinity Catholic High School graduation,” Cheeseman said.
Despite the challenging enrollment picture, students and parents on Thursday afternoon said they believed the numbers would go up in time for the school to continue.
“I think a lot of people just didn’t register yet and didn’t understand they need to recommit. A lot of people are committed to the school,” said Trinity parent Tricia LaValle.
“A lot of families committed, and didn’t know they had to recommit,” said Evan Field, a rising Trinity senior and a captain of the Trinity football team.
Nonetheless, Field said “there’s a lot of nervous tension within the school and some people are panicking.”
As a football player, Field said he believes enough of his teammates are committed for next year and the team will play on even though Cheeseman did not include football in his letter as one of the sports he believes can be offered next year.
Field’s dad, Ray Field, said he also thinks the numbers for Trinity, and the football team, will pull through, but if the school cuts sports, students will leave.
Despite his optimism, Ray Field said “rumors” about Trinity’s enrollment decline have become the school’s reality.
“People say, ‘Do you want to start your child at Trinity because two or three years from now it may be closed down.’ If you’re making a decision based on a hypothetical projection it’s going to scare people,” Field said, adding, “I’m not sure what path the school takes to dispel what seems to be like a systemic scarlet letter.”
Caggiano provided a similar explanation for Trinity’s declining enrollment at last Wednesday’s meeting.
“Quite frankly, my sense is that there is a narrative on the street that Trinity is eventually going to close. ... I think parents are not enrolling because they are afraid of some inevitability,” Caggiano said.
Trinity’s reputation as a school in decline frustrates Trinity students and parents because in their eyes Trinity, founded in 1958, is a strong institution that provides a quality academic and religious education.
Members of the Trinity community gathered for a service Wednesday night to pray for the school’s future, LaValle said, adding, “We need to keep Catholic education in Stamford.”
“My experience at Trinity has been positive. ... Students want the school to stay open,” said LaValle’s son, Alex LaValle, a rising senior at Trinity.
Angelina O’Boy, whose two daughters graduated from Trinity in 2015 and 2017, said she values Trinity for its caring environment. “I always felt they were safe there. I never had to worry about anything,” O’Boy said.
John O’Neill’s two oldest children graduated from Trinity in 2009 and 2010 and said both had a “tremendous” experience.
“It’s a tight knit community and the children who go there typically feel really good. They develop a certain amount of self-confidence and self-esteem in a smaller environment,” O’Neill said, adding he doesn’t believe his son Brain would have gotten into the University of Notre Dame if not for the strong academics and support he received at Trinity.
Still, members of the Trinity community admit global forces and recent trends within the school have contributed to its declining enrollment.
“There’s less people involved in the Catholic Church then there were 20, 30 and 40 years ago,” O’Neill said.
Half of the country’s Catholic schools have closed since 1960, according to data prepared by the National Catholic Educational Association.
“It seems as if the value of Catholic education is being taken for granted,” Evan Field said.
Closer to home, Ray Field said parents often default to public school when they see Trinity’s yearly tuition of $15,200, though school and diocese officials say they have generous scholarships and financial assistance available for families.
The high turnover of principals at Trinity since Tony Pavia retired from the school in 2014 has also hurt, parents said.
“I don’t think parents felt stability with the principals. ... I don’t feel that they’ve been promoting the school as well as Pavia did,” O’Boy said.
Current Principal Scott E. Smith, who started earlier this year, is a positive attribute for the school, parents and students say.
“I believe Mr. Smith can turn around Trinity and we can become a better school again,” Alex LaValle said.
First comes Friday. The Trinity community is hoping for good news. “I hope the Stamford community rallies around Trinity because once it’s closed, if it does close, the odds of it opening up again are zero. That will be a big loss to the area,” O’Neill said.