Institute of Notre Dame

The Institute of Notre Dame was a private Catholic all-girls high school located in Baltimore, Maryland. After 173 years, the school closed on June 30, 2020.

Institute of Notre Dame
Entrance to the Institute of Notre Dame
Address
901 Aisquith Street

Baltimore
,
(Baltimore City)
,
Maryland
21202

United States
Coordinates39°18′2″N 76°36′6″W
Information
TypePrivate, All-Female
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1847
Statusclosed
Closed2020
Grades9–12
Average class size16-18
Student to teacher ratio8:1
Color(s)Blue and white   
SportsSoccer, Volleyball, Field Hockey, Cross Country, Crew, Basketball, Cheerleading, Swimming, Badminton, Track and Field, Softball, Lacrosse
MascotPenguin
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
PublicationGarland (literary magazine)
NewspaperwINDows
YearbookClarissian
Websitewww.indofmd.org

History

The Institute of Notre Dame, known as "IND" or "the Institute" by those who are familiar with the school, was founded in 1847, making it the first school founded by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in the United States. The founder of the school was Mother Theresa Gerhardinger, now beatified in the Catholic Church. The school remained in its downtown location on Aisquith Street for its entire history. As of its closure, around 286 young women attended the school.[2]

In September 2010, IND was named Best Private School for the "Wi-Fi" Generation" by Baltimore magazine for its one-to-one student tablet PC program, which integrates technology across the curriculum. The historic building is fully wireless.[3]

In 2000, Spanish teacher William Brown won a national award from National Catholic Educators Association for his efforts in education and conflict mediation at the school.

The school also had a partnership with Johns Hopkins Hospital called "Bond to Bond", where students volunteer in different areas of the hospital.Dome | Johns Hopkins Medicine

The Institute of Notre Dame was very well known for its rivalry with Mercy High School. Once a year, the two schools' basketball teams matched up to play a game in the Towson SECU Arena gym. To fans, this game is known as 'The Game' or the 'IND/Mercy Game'. Over 4000 people have been known to attend. As of 2019, the series stood at IND 24, Mercy 30.

Alumna Barbara Mikulski, member of the class of 1954, had this to say about the school:

"Attending the Institute of Notre Dame taught me that I could do anything I dreamed of doing. The sisters were intelligent, caring and had incredible inner strength. They taught me more than geography or mathematics; they taught me to help those in need of help. They inspired my passion for service."

On May 5, 2020, the Institute of Notre Dame announced they were scheduled to close permanently on June 30, 2020, due to COVID-19 and $5 million in structural damage from a church fire that occurred next door to the school in March 2020. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio described it as among the highest profile Catholic school closures of the year.[4]

In film and television

Over the course of the summer of 2008, the film My One and Only was partially filmed in the school. The movie was released in 2009.

Notable alumnae
  • Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (first woman in US history to be so); 1958 graduate
  • Catherine "Cassie" Mackin, NBC Newsanchor, NBC's first woman floor reporter at the Democratic and Republican presidential conventions, ABC news correspondent, two-time Emmy award winner for television journalism; 1956 graduate
  • Barbara Mikulski, member of United States Senate representing Maryland, the senior U.S. Senator from Maryland, longest-serving female senator and the longest-serving woman in the history of the U.S. Congress; 1954 graduate
  • Captain Joan Queen, first woman and African-American captain of a U.S. naval hospital, “The Beaufort”; 1974 graduate [5]
  • Mildred Otenasek, the first female member of the Democratic National Committee for Maryland; professor, mentor, and trustee, Notre Dame of Maryland University; 1932 graduate
  • Grace Geppi Connolly, first woman Register of Wills for Baltimore County, serving since 1998; 1961 graduate
  • Rosemary Stafford Baldwin, Baltimore Colts cheerleader (one of first in NFL); 1956 graduate
  • Eleanor O'Neill Dudley, Baltimore Colts cheerleader (one of first in NFL); 1956 graduate
  • Betsy Slade, actress
  • Chief Laura Shiloh, first female battalion chief in the 149-year history of the Baltimore Fire Department; 1981 graduate
  • Brigadier General Allyson Grant Solomon, the first woman and African-American senior commander in the Maryland Air National Guard; 1979 graduate
  • Renee Demski MSW, MBA, Senior Director of Johns Hopkins Medicine's Center for Innovation in Quality Patient Care as well as the Senior Director of Quality Improvement and Operations Integration for the Johns Hopkins Health System; 1981 graduate
  • Theresa Franz Meade DVM, biomedical researcher and regulatory veterinarian for Charles River, Inc. at the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging; 1996 graduate
  • Carolyn Mignini, Miss Teenage America 1965, actress; 1965 graduate
  • Lauren Parkes, Miss Black Delaware USA 2007, Miss Maryland Galaxy 2008; 2005 graduate
  • Mary Anne Perry-Hoffman, former DJ at WLIF, now a news reporter for Maryland News Network.
  • Mimi Haw Dietrich, author of 17 books on quilting and the recipient of Teacher of the Year from International Association of Professional Quilters; Inducted Quilters Hall of Fame, Marion, Indiana July 2015; 1966 graduate

[6]

See also

References
  1. MSA-CSS. "MSA-Commission on Secondary Schools". Archived from the original on 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  2. team, The Explore Baltimore Heritage. "Institute of Notre Dame". Explore Baltimore Heritage. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  3. magazine, Baltimore (Aug 31, 2010). "The Best Public & Private High Schools". Baltimore magazine. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  4. Nieto del Rio, Giulia McDonnell (2020-09-05). "A Growing Number of Catholic Schools Are Shutting Down Forever". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  5. http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nhbeaufort/commandinfo/documents/captainjoanreneequeen.pdf
  6. "Institute of Notre Dame ~Leading Alumnae". www.indofmd.org. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
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