Edwards to replace Hollenbeck as principal of Trinity Catholic

Published May 5, 2022

Dr. Karen Hollenbeck, principal of Trinity Catholic School in Fort Smith, announced she was leaving Catholic schools after 19 years to return to being a public school elementary counselor this fall. After earning her education degree in 1993, Hollenbeck taught at Christ the King School in Fort Smith before working as a counselor in Fort Smith public schools.

She was named principal of St. Boniface School in 2002 and left in 2015 to lead Trinity.

“With God’s help and guidance, I will be entering a new season,” she wrote in a letter to parents. “I will continue to pray daily for parents, students, faculty, benefactors and pastors in our Catholic schools.”

Trinity’s administrator Father John Antony, JCL, said, “I look back with great pride and admiration on what she has accomplished, both at St. Boniface and Trinity, especially navigating Trinity through the years of the pandemic and the transition from junior high to middle school.”

Father Antony announced that Zach Edwards, dean of students and admissions and facilities manager, would be the new principal. Edwards joined Trinity in 2009 as the band director before taking his current role seven years ago.