Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School has merged with Holy Trinity schools, with the school system rebranding as Bishop Guilfoyle Academy. / Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School and Holy Trinity Catholic School are merging to create Bishop Guilfoyle Academy.

The new school system will include prekindergarten through 12th grade beginning July 1 with the 2024-25 school year, according to Joe Adams, the president of the academy.

“We’ve been together as one and so this is a natural next step to create a positive school community,” Adams said. “I think it’s going to make sense to everybody.”

An additional site for pre-K and kindergarten, and eventually a full elementary school, will open on Spruce Street in Hollidaysburg to add capacity for BG’s growing enrollment, according to Lisa Georgiana, director of enrollment management and international programs.

BG’s Pleasant Valley campus will house 6th-12th grade, while the Eldorado (Sixth Avenue) and Fairview (Wopsononock Avenue) campuses will house pre-K through fifth grade, Georgiana said.

Adams attributes BG’s increase in enrollment to its schools that are “consistent academically.”

“We’re starting a strong academic rigor with individualized attention from preschool, and parents know that we’re aligning the whole system to pay attention to each individual child year by year,” Adams said.

The student population at BG has also been changing in recent years as more families without a religious tradition or are non-denominational Christian take an interest in the school, Adams said.

About 23% of students at BG are non-Catholic.

“Back in our history, when the schools started, it was predominantly Catholic schools for Catholic students from Catholic parishes,” Adams said. “The school adjusted policies and practices in recognition to make everyone feel welcome. We’re a school for everybody in the community.”

When asked if this new system is supported by the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Adams said that BG had “an extensive dialogue and partnership with the bishop and our Catholic priests and we feel a strong alignment, strong support and strong partnership.”

“We’ve been educated that it’s entirely appropriate for Catholic schools to be a welcoming, diverse, loving school for everybody in the community, regardless of faith tradition,” Adams said. “So that’s the proper way to think about a Catholic school and so we actually got help from them and feel supported by them.”

Tony DeGol, spokesman for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, echoed those sentiments, stating that “in these ever-changing times, our schools are evolving to meet the needs of current and future students, as well as their families.”

DeGol added that “countless alums attribute their personal and professional success to the foundation they received from their experience in Catholic schools.”

Students who aren’t Catholic can opt out of Catholic religion courses, Adams said. He noted that BG offers alternatives such as world religions, philosophy or a study of the classics.

No changes will be made to BG’s transportation system, Adams said, and they had already made the changes to classroom assignments in August 2022 that were effective in August 2023.

The decision to drop the word “Catholic” from BG’s name drew discussions, Adams said.

“I think people understand that, at the end of the day, Bishop Guilfoyle was operated under the vast majority of its history without the word Catholic in its name,” he said. “Before 2009, it was Bishop Guilfoyle High School.”

While the schools will be rebranded under a new name, all students will be Marauders, he said, and work on a new logo, website and signage will begin shortly.

It will take 12 to 18 months for branding elements to be fully implemented, he said.

Bishop Guilfoyle’s announcement comes as Catholic schools in the Johnstown area combined to form the Bishop McCort Catholic Academy on Feb. 7. Adams said that he couldn’t speak on state or national trends, but that officials at BG were not aware that Bishop McCort was also planning to rebrand.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.