September 8, 2015

Back to our roots

Today, on the anniversary of Trinity High School's founding, our principal Mr. Mailloux '72 made this announcement to the school community:

Dear Trinity High School community,

On this very day in 1970, Mr. Maurier and I began our junior years of high school at the brand new Trinity High School.  Earlier that spring, it was announced that three Manchester Catholic high schools - Bishop Bradley, Immaculata, and St. Anthony’s - would merge to form a new school called Trinity High School.  I was a student at Bishop Bradley and Mr. Maurier came from St. Anthony’s.  We came together with over 1,200 other students, teachers, and religious from those schools to be the Pioneers (literally and figuratively) of the new Trinity High School.  

One of the great traditions of Catholic education in Manchester has been the Lasallian Christian Brothers, a religious order founded in France 1680 by St. John Baptist de la Salle.  The Christian Brothers, who have always exclusively focused on teaching, especially the poor, quickly expanded around the world, coming to the United States in 1845 and Manchester in 1886.  The Christian Brothers taught at St. Joseph’s High School for Boys until the high school moved in 1951 to the brand new Bishop Bradley High School.  The brothers helped found Trinity High School in 1970 but due to declining vocations, left Trinity and Manchester in 1978.

On the occasion of Trinity High School’s 40th anniversary in 2010, we honored the Christian Brothers at a special assembly.  Three brothers who taught at Bishop Bradley and Trinity joined us that day - Bros. Jerome Cox, Brendan Gerrity, and John McMahon, F.S.C.  It was Bro. John who brought up an idea about Trinity and the Christian Brothers reconnecting in some way.  From there, conversations ensued about Trinity High School formally re-associating with the Christian Brothers, becoming a part of their worldwide network of schools, and adopting their mission and spirituality of education.  

With the enthusiastic support of Bishop Peter Libasci and of our Superintendent of Schools, Fr. John Fortin, O.S.B., we formally applied for association with the Christian Brothers this past June.  Next week a group will visit Trinity High School to see if we should proceed.  If they agree, together we will spend  the next three years discerning if association is indeed a good fit for both Trinity High School and the Christian Brothers.  Trinity, will of course, remain a diocesan school but the school’s Catholic identity and dedication to serving our students will be enhanced with the mission and charism of the Christian Brothers.       

Thus, this is just the beginning of a long but exciting process for Trinity High School.  It is, in a sense, a return to our roots, providing our school with a dynamic spirituality of teaching and learning, that provides a human and Catholic education to young people.  It is quite fitting that all this comes during the Church’s Year of Consecrated Life, a year dedicated to celebrating the self-less contributions of women and men religious to our Church, especially the Lasallian Christian Brothers.        

This is indeed an exciting moment in the history of Trinity High School and for me personally.  Trinity High School has been my life’s work and I have now been affiliated with the school since I was 14 years old, as a student, student-teacher, teacher, and since 1996, its principal.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  

Sincerely,



Denis Mailloux ’72

Principal

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