The Institute of Notre Dame is a private Catholic all-girls high school located in Baltimore, Maryland. After 173 years, the school closed its doors forever on 30 June 2020.
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 is Mother Theresa Gerhardinger, now beatified in the Catholic Church. The school is unique in the fact that it has remained in its downtown location on Aisquith Street since its founding. Currently, around 286 young women attend the school. 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. 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 has a partnership with Johns Hopkins Hospital called "Bond to Bond", where students volunteer in different areas of the hospital. The Institute of Notre Dame is very well known for its rivalry with Mercy High School. Once a year, the two schools' basketball teams match up to play a highly anticipated 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 stands 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 fire that occurred next door to the school a month prior.
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.
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
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
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
