Press Release
July 2, 2015
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Theresa Kiernan, Director of Advancement
[email protected]
The Art of Perseverance: Middletown Approves Trinity Hall
Middletown, NJ – After a lengthy application process, Trinity Hall, an independent, all-girls high school in the Catholic tradition, received approval from the Middletown Township planning board on the school’s application to build a permanent campus on Chapel Hill Road. The school’s application was denied by the planning board in June, 2014, but remanded back to the board in November, 2014 by NJ Superior Court Judge Paul A. Kapalko, at which time the application was approved. Most recently Judge Kapalko vacated both earlier decisions of the planning board, noting procedural issues in the Middletown Township planning board process. The planning board meeting, which drew both supporters and opponents, began at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1 and a decision to approve the application was reached shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday, July 2.
“Trinity Hall has a home on Chapel Hill Road,” said Mary Sciarrillo, head of school. “I thank our community for their support and belief in the mission of Trinity Hall. I do firmly believe the road improvements to Chapel Hill will be appreciated by the neighbors as the widening of Chapel Hill Road will provide a safer road for all of us. Trinity Hall is and will continue to be a valuable asset to the Middletown community and to the Chapel Hill neighborhood. As a small all-girls school we give back to the community as we educate and empower our students. We will respect and support the neighborhood as we partner with many community groups. In the years to come I expect to see a harmonious relationship between our school and this vibrant and engaged neighborhood.”
“Throughout this process we have stayed true to the core values of Trinity Hall: leadership, respect, perseverance and faith,” said Victoria Gmelich, co-founder of Trinity Hall. “We have prevailed after a long, arduous, and often contentious process in which we maintained grace under pressure. We have kept our heads up and behaved aboveboard and I am proud of that. We will be breaking ground as soon as possible.”
“On behalf of Trinity Hall I would like to thank the Middletown planning board for their consideration, and the people of Middletown who have given the school their support from the very beginning,” said Mairead Clifford, co-founder of Trinity Hall. “Trinity Hall is good for Middletown and we will be good neighbors to the people in Chapel Hill.”
“I am so excited for our emerging Trinity Hall community – and the greater community in fact – that this long overdue educational option for girls will soon have an appropriate and inspiring home for our future,” said James Palmieri, assistant head of school.
DIGroup Architecture, LLC, New Brunswick, designed the school building and campus site; French & Parrello Associates, Wall Township, are the site engineers; and Avison Young, Morristown, are the project management team serving as the school’s representatives throughout the campus construction project.
Trinity Hall is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3), committed to educating and empowering young women. Trinity Hall’s core values of leadership, respect, perseverance and faith are foundational to its mission and work as educators. For more information, visit www.trinityhallnj.org.
In Picture: Trinity Hall students attended the Middletown Township planning board meeting at Town Hall – and stayed until 1 a.m. to hear their school’s application approved. Left to right: Colleen Egan, Brigid Clifford, Julia Henning, Kate Burgess, Grace Molloy, Alessandra Sanfratello.