Trinity School at Greenlawn

1981 – present

Founded: Trinity School was founded in 1981 by the People of Praise, the charismatic Christian community itself founded in South Bend in 1971, with fewer than thirty students. It is a private Christian school for grades six through twelve, classical in its curriculum, and one of the first classical Christian schools in the country. Dr. Kerry Koller, who came to South Bend in 1977 and co-founded the school, led Trinity Schools for thirty-six years, as head of school at each campus and then as president, until his retirement in 2017; he died on 30 September 2020.

Greenlawn: The school took its full name from its ground. In August 1982 the People of Praise acquired Elm Court, the estate Clement Studebaker Jr. had built about 1914 on Greenlawn Avenue — afterward the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis — for the school's and the community's joint use, and the school became Trinity School at Greenlawn (the Studebaker section carries the house's family). Trinity was the first of three Trinity schools: River Ridge, at Eagan, Minnesota, followed in 1987 and Meadow View, at Falls Church, Virginia, in 1998; in March 2025 Trinity Schools announced Meadow View's closing, leaving Greenlawn and River Ridge. The Greenlawn school has won the U.S. Department of Education's Blue Ribbon award four times, one of only nine schools in the nation to have done so. Its enrollment was 240 in 2023–24. In July 2025 the school announced its relocation to the former St. Stephen's School building at 1024 Thomas Street, on the Near West Side.

Sources:

1. Trinity Schools, its published history — the founding of 1981, and the sister schools of 1987 and 1998.
2. The school's standard reference record — the People of Praise founding with fewer than thirty students, the Elm Court acquisition of August 1982 and the Greenlawn name, enrollment of 240 in 2023–24, the Meadow View closing announced March 2025, and the relocation to 1024 Thomas Street announced July 2025.
3. South Bend Area Genealogical Society, memorial record of Dr. Kerry J. Koller (died 30 September 2020) — his co-founding of the school in 1981, his thirty-six years leading Trinity Schools, and his presidency and emeritus standing.
4. People of Praise community overview — the community's founding in South Bend in 1971 and the four Blue Ribbon awards, Greenlawn one of nine schools nationally with four.