Baltimore

Baltimore's Oldest Girls Catholic School Announces Closing

The Institute of Notre Dame graduated its first class in 1864, and since educated notable alumni including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

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A Catholic college preparatory school for girls which counts among its alumni House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski announced on Tuesday that it is closing.

The Institute of Notre Dame will close on June 30 in the midst of a pandemic that will prevent anyone from being inside the school building during its final days, The Baltimore Sun reported.

“We had hoped to have a different outcome and have been trying valiantly the last several years to build a sustainable future,” leaders wrote in an email to the IND community. The leaders cited declining enrollment, financial difficulties and a need to raise millions of dollars with at least $5 million in building repairs as among the reasons for closing.

According to the school’s history, its first class graduated in July 1864 as cannon fire from the Civil War could be heard in the distance. In the 1970s, as other preparatory schools moved out to the suburbs, IND stayed at its East Baltimore campus.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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