Students from St. Gregory the Great High School, 1677 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., know what they have: an excellent education in a small, caring environment, a place that feels like home. So when school administrators announced in December that the school would close its doors at the end of this year, students understandably felt bereft. But administrators at both St. Gregory and at Holy Trinity High School, 1443 W. Division St., hope that many students will find a new home in the halls of Holy Trinity. Leaders of the two schools worked together, with input from the staff of the Office of Catholic Schools, before making the announcement that St. Gregory would close, but that Holy Trinity would offer as many students as possible a safe place to land. The important thing, said Peter Dinges, St. Gregory’s dean of students, is that Holy Trinity is committed to welcoming the former St. Gregory students, and that it has a similar mission to the one St. Gregory embraced for its 75 years. “We pride ourselves on offering a quality Catholic education to any student from anywhere,” Dinges said. St. Gregory’s 90-plus students come from 22 ZIP codes, Dinges said. That includes more than 20 students this year who were placed at St. Gregory by a refugee resettlement program run by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. While several are scheduled to graduate this year, 12 would be expected to return to St. Gregory next year. Holy Trinity’s student body is nearly three times the size of St. Gregory’s, but when St. Gregory administrators visited the school, they were most impressed with its “small school” feeling, Dinges said. “They asked all the right questions,” Dinges said. “Their questions were completely directed to making sure our students would feel welcome there.” Tim Bopp, the president of Holy Trinity High School, said leaders from the two schools spent time looking at the various clubs, teams and other extracurricular organizations offered at both schools, to see if St. Gregory students could find ways to become involved at Holy Trinity right away. At the same time, he said, he thinks some former St. Gregory students will enjoy the wider opportunities offered at Holy Trinity because it is a larger school. Holy Trinity is sponsored by the Brothers of the Holy Cross. It also is a diverse school, with students from 45 ZIP codes, and it is located within easy walking distance of public transportation, including the Ashland Avenue bus and the Blue Line subway. St. Gregory students — most of whom receive financial aid now — were promised that they would not have to pay any more in tuition for the remainder of their high school careers than they pay now if they are accepted into and attend Holy Trinity. Those who choose other Catholic schools will receive $1,000 toward their tuition for next year from the archdiocese. By late December, Holy Trinity had more than 20 applications from St. Gregory students, Bopp said. Bopp said his school hopes to welcome as many St. Gregory students as want to come. “I saw the commitment on the part of their administrators,” Bopp said, saying that gave him a “positive feeling” about the tradition. “But when all is said and done, it is the individual St. Gregory student that matters. We are used to helping people who want what we have to offer.”