Trinity High School is a Catholic, all-boys, college preparatory high school located in St. Matthews, Kentucky, a city within Louisville Metro (consolidated city/county government). It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville. The school incorporates the Catholic tradition of teaching and learning. The school campus comprises about 1,200 students. In 1992, Trinity was named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. In 1995, Trinity was accredited by the non-profit Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (now known as AdvancED).
History
Trinity opened its doors in 1953, when Archbishop John Floersh anticipated the growth of Louisville's eastern suburbs by choosing the site of Holy Trinity School, a former Roman Catholic church and grade school in St. Matthews. The school was formerly owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville; however, Trinity is now sponsored by the Archdiocese, owned by the Trinity High School Foundation, Incorporated and governed by the Trinity High School Board, and managed and operated by the administration and faculty. The school is named after the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, which holds that God is three consubstantial persons. The school was founded with the intent to eventually become self-sufficient over time. Trinity's first class graduated in 1957.
Campus
On September 1, 1882, Bishop William McClosky established a new parish for the benefit of the farming community of St. Matthews. Until that time, Catholics went into the city for Mass and other liturgical services. This new parish, named Holy Trinity, was the first Catholic Church in eastern Jefferson County, and the twentieth in the area. The Church was dedicated on December 17, 1882. After outgrowing the first church, a second church was built. This second church was heavily damaged by fire in 1937 but was renovated and used until 1953. At that time, the parish donated its property to the Archdiocese for the purpose of establishing Trinity High School. The property also originally contained two buildings which would later be named Floersh Hall and Old Trinity Hall. Before the school opened in the fall of 1953, Shamrock Hall and the Trinity Football Field were added to the campus, as well as a rectory for the resident priest. In 1968, the Trinity Campus was expanded to include Sheehan Hall, which is connected to the main building.
In 1999, construction of the R.W. Marshall Sports Center was completed and serves as the hub for Trinity Athletics. In 2001, Alumni Hall was added to the main building, which serves as the school's cafeteria and administrative hub, as well as hosting the Trinity Campus Store. The Trinity Campus expanded again in 2004 to include the third expansion to the main building, Duerr Hall.
In November 2004, it was announced that Trinity would be razing its athletic stadium to build a brand new one at the end of the season. The R.W. Marshall Stadium was constructed between December 2004 and May 2005, at a cost of $3 million (equivalent to $ million in ).
Other buildings on the Trinity Campus include the Communication Arts Center, which holds Convocation Hall, and the Trinity Theatre.
Student body
Demographics
The ethnic makeup of Trinity's student body was classified in 2015 by the United States Department of Education as being "overwhelmingly white", with 7.7% of students being African American. Other minorities include Asians (0.7%), Hispanic (1.3%), and students identifying as mixed race (4.7%). All minority students make up a combined 11.2% of the student body.
Athletics
The Trinity Athletics Department participates in 14 KHSAA sanctioned sports and KSHAA sports activities. Trinity also participates in five club sports.
Football
Overseen by Head Coach Bob Beatty, Trinity Shamrocks' football program is statistically the most successful high school football program in Kentucky. The team annually hosts a roster of nearly 100 student-athletes, The 27 state championships are the most in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association's history and the program's 600-plus wins put them at the top among programs statewide.
The program has eight undefeated seasons, a state record 50-game winning streak from 1988 to 1991, and four Mr. Kentucky Football award winners in Keith Calvin (1973), Jeff Brohm (1989), brother Brian Brohm (2003), and James Quick (2012). The team has also won three consecutive titles on three separate occasions, first in 1988 to 1990, then again in 2001 to 2003 and then four consecutive seasons from 2005 to 2008. Trinity plays their home games on Father Harry Jansing Field in R.W. Marshall Stadium.