Mount de Sales Academy (Catonsville, Maryland)

Last updated

Mount de Sales Academy
Mount de Sales Academy Logo.png
Address
Mount de Sales Academy (Catonsville, Maryland)
700 Academy Road

, ,
21228

Coordinates 39°17′9″N76°43′17″W / 39.28583°N 76.72139°W / 39.28583; -76.72139
Information
Type Private
Denomination Roman Catholic
(Dominicans)
Patron saint(s)Saint Francis de Sales
Established1852;173 years ago (1852)
Founder Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary
Sister school Mount Saint Joseph High School
Oversight Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore
NCES School ID 00578546 [1]
PrincipalSister Mary Raymond Thye, O.P.
Staff30
Faculty50
Grades 912
GenderGirls
Enrollment460 (2023)
Average class size16
Student to teacher ratio10:1
Hours in school day6.5
Campus size10 acres
Campus type Suburban
Color(s) Blue and White   
Song"Hail to you, dear Mount de Sales"
Athletics conference IAAM
MascotSailor
Team nameSailors
Rival Seton Keough (Closed 2017)
Accreditation Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools [2]
PublicationThe View from the Cupola
NewspaperAnchor
YearbookIonic Columns
Tuition$17,675 (2023-2024)
AlumniAudrey Powers
Website www.mountdesales.org
Mount de Sales Academy
USA Maryland location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location700 Academy Rd., Catonsville, Maryland
Area10.3 acres (4.2 ha)
Built1852
ArchitectCurley, James & Son; Baldwin, E.F.
Architectural styleClassical Revival, Italianate
NRHP reference No. 86001187 [3]
Added to NRHPMay 30, 1986

Mount de Sales Academy is an all-girls secondary school located in Catonsville in unincorporated Baltimore County, Maryland. The school is located near the city of Baltimore and within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Contents

The school is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and is partially staffed by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia.

Mount de Sales Academy was founded in 1852 by the Visitation Sisters as a boarding school for girls. Now teaching only girls it now serves as a college-preparatory school. It was the first institution in Baltimore County to offer education to women of all religious denominations. [4]

Reputation

Mount de Sales Academy has been named one of the top 50 Catholic schools in the country by the Catholic High School Honor Roll each year since 2004 on the basis of academics, Catholic identity, and civic education . It is the only school in the state of Maryland to be included in the list.

Campus and Buildings

Mount de Sales is located on 12 acres (49,000 m2) of land, from which one can see the Inner Harbor and the Baltimore city skyline. The back yard of the school is home to a garden featuring a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The campus also includes the Center for Performing Arts and Student life (opened in 2021), athletic fields, a convent, and a gymnasium.

Most classes are still held in the original school building, begun in 1852 and expanded in the 1860s. The main building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, retains architectural traces of the cloistered sisters of the Visitation Order who founded the school. [4] The chapel, located in the center of the main building, is the oldest place of worship still in use in Baltimore. The stained glass windows in the chapel, original to the building, were cast in the same place and manufacturing technique as the famous stained glass of the Cathedral of Chartres, France. The windows are located at the back of the building, as Catholics in the area were undergoing much persecution at the time of the building's planning, and its founders wished to avoid vandalism and protest.

Over the years, the chapel has had several pipe organs. The current instrument was built by George Jardine & Son in 1884. This historic pipe organ was played in recital during the Organ Historical Society Convention in July 2024. [5]

The building also includes the Music Hall, which has details such as trompe-l'œil painting and is where graduation is held annually, the Padre Pio library, which contains relics of that saint and a mosaic in his honor, computer labs, a spacious art studio, the Ramona Carrigan Science Center, research lab, and newly added STEM and robotics rooms.

The Regina Keenan Knott Alumnae Hall was formerly an infirmary for the school's boarding students. At one time it was connected to the main building by a walkway which has since been demolished. The building's front is the opposite of the main building so that visitors would not see any of the sick or otherwise ailing girls. The building now houses the school's development and alumnae relations groups.

The Constance and Samuel Pistorio Sports Complex was dedicated in 1999. Its design was modeled after the architecture of the campus' historic buildings. The facility is located across from the main building, on a piazza featuring gardens and a bronze statue of Saint Joseph the Worker.

The Center for Performing Arts and Student Life, a 24,000-square foot building that opened in 2021, features music and dance classrooms, practice rooms for student performers, fully equipped scene shop and storage space for technical theatre students, 400-seat fixed lower-level orchestral section, 200-moveable seat upper-level multi-use space, and control room for audio, lighting, and visual equipment.

Brother School

The nearby all-boys Mount Saint Joseph High School is the Brother School of Mount de Sales Academy. The two schools share their long history with each other. In the present day:

Notable alumnae

See also

References and notes

  1. "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Mount De Sales Academy". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  2. MSA-CSS. "MSA-Commission on Secondary Schools". Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. 1 2 Peter E. Kurtze; John McGrain & Rev. Michael Roach (September 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Mount de Sales Academy" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  5. The Pipe Organs of Baltimore July 21–25, 2024 OHS 67th Annual Convention. (Villanova: Organ Historical Society, 2024), pg. 73
  6. "Catonsville school marks 150 years". Baltimore Sun. January 18, 2002.
  7. Kaltenbach, Chris (November 21, 2018). "In the moment with Pat Moran: Baltimore's casting director supreme recalls turning points in her career". Baltimore Sun.
  8. "Miss Florida USA | Miss Florida Teen USA | Pageant". miss-florida. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  9. "Isabella Whittaker". Arkansas Razorbacks. October 14, 2024.
  10. "Juliette Whittaker '22 Shines in Paris: Advances to Women's 800m Finals with Personal Best". Mount de Sales Academy. August 4, 2024.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catonsville, Maryland</span> Census-designated place in Maryland, United States

Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland. The population was 44,701 at the 2020 US Census. The community is a streetcar suburb of Baltimore along the city's western border. The town is known for its proximity to the Patapsco River and Patapsco Valley State Park, making it a regional mountain biking hub. The town is also notable as a local hotbed of music, earning it the official nickname of "Music City, Maryland." Catonsville contains the majority of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), a major public research university with close to 14,000 students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary</span> Historic church in Maryland, United States

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Baltimore Basilica, is a Catholic cathedral in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Catholic cathedral built in the United States after the nation's founding, and was among the first major religious buildings constructed therein after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Notre Dame of Maryland University</span> Private university in Baltimore, Maryland, US

Notre Dame of Maryland University is a private Catholic university in Baltimore, Maryland. NDMU offers certificate, undergraduate, and graduate programs for women and men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Seminary and University</span> Roman Catholic seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, US

St. Mary's Seminary and University is a Catholic seminary located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland; it was the first seminary founded in the United States after the Revolution and has been run since its founding by the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catonsville High School</span> Public high school in Catonsville, Maryland, United States

Catonsville High School (CHS) is a four-year public high school in Catonsville, Maryland. It is located on the southwest side of Baltimore County, Maryland, close to the Baltimore border near Anne Arundel and Howard County, just outside the Baltimore Beltway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immaculata University</span> Catholic university in East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania, US

Immaculata University is a private Roman Catholic university in East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community College of Baltimore County</span> Public college in Baltimore County, Maryland, US

The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) is a public community college in Baltimore County, Maryland, with three main campuses and three extension centers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute of Notre Dame</span> Private, all-female school in Baltimore, , Maryland, United States

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.

Mount Saint Joseph High School is a Catholic college preparatory school and secondary school / high school for young men from ninth to twelfth grade sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers and founded in 1876. It is located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Charles College (Maryland)</span> Historic district in Maryland, US

St. Charles College was a minor seminary in Catonsville, Maryland, originally located in Ellicott City, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Saint Agnes College</span> Catholic womens college in Baltimore, Maryland US

Mount Saint Agnes College was a Catholic women's college located in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It opened in 1890 and was operated by the Sisters of Mercy. In 1971, Mount Saint Agnes merged with nearby Loyola College in Maryland, which still oversees the Mount Saint Agnes Alumnae Association. The college closed as its own degree-granting institution in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Saint Joseph Academy (Flourtown, Pennsylvania)</span> Private, day, college-prep school in Flourtown, , Pennsylvania, United States

Mount Saint Joseph Academy, commonly called The Mount, in Flourtown, Pennsylvania, is a Philadelphia-area all-female, Catholic, college preparatory school within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It was founded in 1858 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. The academy was originally located in Philadelphia on the grounds of what is now Chestnut Hill College. Originally a boarding school, the academy began accepting day students in 1911. In 1928, this all girls high school was the first Catholic school to be approved by the Middle States Association accrediting agency. In response to the growth of the school and evolving educational needs, the Mount moved in 1961 to its present site, just outside the community of Chestnut Hill near Philadelphia. Since relocation to the new campus, the school has grown significantly.

Archbishop Spalding High School is a private, Catholic co-educational high school located in Severn, Maryland, USA. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. Most of its students live in Annapolis, Crownsville, Arnold, Pasadena, Severna Park, Crofton, Millersville, Glen Burnie, or Davidsonville in Anne Arundel County. Some also travel from southern Baltimore County, east Prince George's County and parts of Howard County. Spalding has numerous clubs for student involvement and/or academic competition, including Academic Bowl, Mock Trial, Strategic Gaming, HOPE and a NAIMUN award-winning Model United Nations team. It also has many competitive sports teams, such as rugby, soccer, cheerleading, dance, basketball, softball, american football, ice hockey, baseball, lacrosse, track and cross country. These athletic teams compete in the MIAA and the IAAM Conferences. The school sponsors a highly competitive music program, in which students participate in interstate competitions each year. Archbishop Spalding's mascot is the Cavalier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint John's Catholic Prep (Maryland)</span> American college preparatory school founded 1829

Saint John's Catholic Prep is a private, Roman Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory high school in Buckeystown, Maryland, located just southwest of Frederick City. At the time of its founding in 1829, it was located on Second Street in eastern downtown Frederick. Beginning in 1958 and for 45 years thereafter, the school was housed in the historic "Prospect Hall" mansion, (1787–1803), also just southwest of Frederick. St. John's was the first independent Roman Catholic school in the state of Maryland. It was also the first Roman Catholic secondary school in the state of Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association</span> US athletic association

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) is the association that oversees public high school sporting contests in the state of Maryland. Formed in 1946, the MPSSAA is made up of public high schools from each of Maryland's 23 counties and independent city of Baltimore, which joined the association in 1993 when its public high schools withdrew from the earlier longtime athletic league, the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) which was founded in 1919. The MSA had been composed of public high schools in Baltimore and private/religious/independent schools on the secondary level in Baltimore and its metropolitan area and the surrounding central Maryland region. It was one of the few state-level interscholastic athletic leagues in the nation composed of both public and private/religious/independent secondary schools. After the Baltimore City public high schools withdrew from the MSA, the remaining private/religious/independent schools conferred and organized two parallel regional/state-wide athletic leagues with sports competition and exercise activities with one for young men and the other for young women. These were the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland, which still exist today. All three state-wide athletic leagues, two for private/religious/independent secondary schools and one for co-ed public high schools exist today marrying on the proud traditions, memories and championships of the old Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA)—one of the oldest state athletic leagues for secondary schools in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Joseph College and Mother Seton Shrine</span> Historic district in Maryland, United States

Saint Joseph College and Mother Seton Shrine are two closely related campuses in Emmitsburg, Maryland, United States. It forms a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irvington, Baltimore</span> Neighborhood statistical area in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Irvington is a neighborhood in the Southwest District of Baltimore, located between Yale Heights neighborhood to the west and the Gwynns Falls neighborhood to the east. It was historically nicknamed "Skulltown" for its three large cemeteries: Loudon Park, Mount Olivet and New Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Ignatius Church (Baltimore)</span> Church in Baltimore, Maryland, US

St. Ignatius Church is a historic Catholic church in Baltimore, Maryland within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Established and administered by the Society of Jesus, the church is dedicated to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the order's founder. It is located at 740 N. Calvert St in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, north of downtown Baltimore, and is considered the city’s center of history and culture.

Mount Aviat Academy is a Roman Catholic independent, co-educational school, located in Childs, Maryland, United States. It is run independently within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and is operated under the direction of the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales. The current enrollment is just about 250 students, from Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Mount Aviat was selected as a 2014 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. This prestigious award is given annually to only 50 private schools nationwide.

Henry Berger was an American prolific organ builder. He was based in Baltimore, Maryland.