CHARLOTTE — A new era at Holy Trinity Catholic Academy was commemorated Tuesday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the school’s recently renovated administrative and Bishop Begley buildings.
Bishop Michael Martin blessed and dedicated both buildings and spoke to a gathering of donors, students, staff and members of the Holy Trinity community.
During his remarks, he talked about the role the upgrades will have in the lives of students and staff and called Holy Trinity a “light on a hill” that can be a symbol of Catholic identity and education to people who pass by on busy Park Road, which runs in front of the school.
“This project is an example of what we do well in diocesan schools and what they do well at Holy Trinity – we remember the past, draw on the old traditions and respond to the needs of the present,” said Dr. Greg Monroe, superintendent of schools.
Renovations to the two buildings were part of the first two phases of an $11.5 million, three-phase enhancement project at the school, which includes a grant of more than $1 million from Shea Homes for upgrades to the athletic field and fine arts classrooms.
Wharton Smith was the contractor for the project, and Little Architects handled the design.
In the administration building, science classrooms were rebuilt with new cabinetry, flooring, hanging ceilings and lighting, and an additional classroom was added for theology. The nurse’s office was reconfigured, all administrative offices redone and a conference room added.
In the Begley Building, the formerly open-air, two-story library was closed in to add nine new classrooms, and the library was relocated to another part of the building. Ceilings and lighting were redone throughout the building, and a stairway was added indoors so students won’t have to go outside to access the second floor. Four offices and new bathrooms were added. Both buildings also have new HVAC systems.
President Kevin Parks said the renovations add to the school’s rich history. The administration building dates to 1953 and is the oldest building on Holy Trinity’s campus, while the Begley building – named after Bishop Michael Begley, the first bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte – was added in the 1970s.
“There is something particularly meaningful about taking buildings with this much history and preparing them for another generation,” Parks said. “We are not leaving that history behind – we are building upon it.”
As Monroe noted: “This is proof of the continued growth and investment in the diocese. It’s exciting to think of what this building will continue to offer to the school and the diocese in the future.”
New signage was also added to the front of the school for the beginning of this school year.
Principal Bobby Conrad said he was excited about the upgrades to Holy Trinity, which he said now looks very different from when he was a student there in the 1990s.
“All of these new classrooms are great, because we had 11 teachers who floated from space to space last year,” Conrad said. “The teachers like it and the students seem to really, really like it as well. This took a lot of cooperation and effort, and now our teachers and students are enjoying the fruits of the project.”
After the ceremony Bishop Martin took a tour of the Begley Building led by a group of student ambassadors and stopped to talk with students in several of the classrooms.
The newly renovated buildings were the latest chapter in what is a year of innovations for Holy Trinity. This year the school changed its name to Holy Trinity Catholic Academy to reflect its new approach to education. The school has started a transition toward blending single-sex core classes and co-ed electives to offer students a more tailored educational experience. This instructional method will be phased in over the next three years, being implemented this academic year for the sixth grade, the seventh grade the following year, and the eighth-grade level during the 2028-2029 year.
— Christina Lee Knauss
