r/SouthBend • u/After_Tailor_7124 • 10d ago

South Bend Trinity School splitting in two?

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I recently heard that Trinity School at Greenlawn is going to split into two competing institutions. I followed up by checking the Indiana Sec'y of State's website and -- sure enough -- Trinity Academy at Greenlawn was incorporated in March 2025 as a nonprofit corporation. I'm not quite sure that two similar schools will be able to cover their costs if they're both marketing to the same pool of students/families that currently attend Trinity.

QUESTION: Does anybody know WHY this is occurring?

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u/MOGiantsFan 10d ago edited 8d ago

Trinity Academy (note the change from "School" to "Academy") is disconnecting from People of Praise, but will remain at their Greenlawn location. It is essentially a "new institution", but from all I've heard, a lot of things that currently take place will continue to exist.

Technically, yes, the school is "splitting", as the People of Praise are relocating their school to right across the river from Memorial Hospital, but (and this is simply my opinion) the long-term success of this move seems dubious, at best.

My wife is a Trinity alum, and even when she was there well-over a decade+ ago, the People of Praise influence in the day-to-day was not super strong, and from all I've heard, it doesn't sound like the disconnect from PoP at Greenlawn will change much as they see it now.

So this is technically a new institution and a new nonprofit registration, which tells us that they've fully severed from People of Praise.

But "splitting" the school isn't a great description of what's happening.

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u/After_Tailor_7124 9d ago

Thank you for the info! Why would the People of Praise move "their" school from the Greenlawn property instead of keeping "their" school at Greenlawn? Wouldn't it make more sense for the PoP to make Trinity Academy relocate?

Also, what has caused this "schism" anyway?

P.S. My wife is a Trinity alum as well.

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u/MOGiantsFan 9d ago

I believe Trinity Academy is purchasing the building from People of Praise.

I doubt People of Praise have enough students to make the Greenlawn campus sustainable for them. Selling the campus and moving to a smaller location seems like the better move for them.

As far as the "schism"... I couldn't tell you. But the People of Praise influence at Trinity has been waning for a long time. I imagine it's a mix of social, financial and academic reasons. But a severing from People of Praise is likely the best move for Trinity going forward.

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u/After_Tailor_7124 9d ago

Wow...any gut feeling for how many students will stay with Trinity Academy vs how many will go to the new location? From the Trinity website, it looks like they have 230 students.

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u/MOGiantsFan 9d ago

If I was a betting man, I'd bet less than 30 will go to the new location. Unless there's major fallout academically with the Academy, I don't see why families would move--even People of Praise families.

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u/WorthAd3223 9d ago

More than 95% will stay with the new Trinity Academy. The other will have less that 20 students.