Mount de Sales Academy (Catonsville, Maryland)
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| Established | 1852 |
|---|---|
| Type | Private Catholic Secondary |
| Principal | Sr. Elizabeth Ann O.P. |
| Students | around 450 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Catonsville, Maryland, ,USA |
| Accreditation | Accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Colors | Blue and White |
| Mascot | Sailor |
| Newspaper | Anchor |
| Website | mountdesales.org |
Contents |
[edit] Background
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. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The school is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and is currently staffed by the Dominican Sisters of the St. Cecilia Congregation. It is in no way related to the Mount de Sales Academy of Macon, Georgia.
Mount de Sales Academy was founded in 1852 by the Visitation Sisters as a boarding school for girls, but now serves as a college-preparatory school. It was the first institution in Baltimore County to offer education to women of all religious denominations.
[edit] Reputation
The school says in its mission statement: "The love of God impels the Trustees and Administration of Mount de Sales Academy to contribute to the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ on earth by providing a quality education for young women in the spirit of St. Francis de Sales. The educational process and content will be, as in generations past, undergirded daily by the teaching and practice of the faith passed on by the Apostles and promulgated by the Catholic Church. The curriculum will be primarily academic in nature, emphasizing the liberal arts as a tested way of preparing students both for further studies and for the challenges of life." [2]
Mount de Sales Academy's Catholic tradition is evident throughout the school. The entire school community attends Mass monthly and on special occasions. Each day begins and ends with prayer, and daily Mass is said in the school's chapel, which is also the oldest place of worship still in use in Baltimore.
Mount de Sales also maintains a reputation for rigorous academics. Applicants must take a standardized test, followed by an interview with faculty. The school awards numerous scholarships each year to incoming freshman on the basis of academics, art, and music. Thirteen Advanced Placement courses and numerous honors sections are offered every year.
The school encourages students to be well-rounded and active in the community, and requires at least 160 hours of community service from each student over her four years of attendance. Students in the past have participated in public projects such as the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and have testified before committees of the Maryland General Assembly. The school nicknames are : "The Mount", "MDS", and "de Sales". Also, school legacies such as the 'highly anticipated' Spirit Day and Fall Festival are days to see. Class colors and school spirit are put in over drive on these competitive, fun filled days to see who is the most spirited.
[edit] Recognition
Mount de Sales Academy has been named as one of the top 50 Catholic schools in the country by the Catholic High School Honor Roll for the years 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 on the basis of academics, Catholic identity, and civic education [3]. It is the only school in the state of Maryland to be included in the list.
In recent years, numerous students have become semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program, and two of the top five African-American students in the country for 2005 were students at Mount de Sales.
[edit] Campus and Buildings
Mount de Sales is located on twelve acres 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 athletic fields and other gardens.
Most classes are still held in the original school building, begun in 1851 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. 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. Interestingly, 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. The building also includes the Music Hall, which has details such as trompe-l'œil painting, the Padre Pio library, which contains relics of that saint, computer labs, a spacious art studio, and the Ramona Carrigan Science Center.
The recently renovated 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 Constance and Samuel Pistorio Sports Complex was dedicated in 1998 and is one of the best athletic facilities among secondary schools in Maryland. 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.
A state-of-the-art Center for Academics and Performing Arts is planned for construction in the future.
[edit] Notable Alumnae
- Mary Pinkney Hardy McArthur, wife of General Arthur McArthur, mother of General Douglas McArthur
- Emily MacTavish, the Younger (Sister Mary Agnes)
- Estelle Wetzler, first woman to climb Mt. Fuji
- Julian Kelly, author.
[edit] Priest Firing
In October of 2006, Reverend Timothy Fell was asked to resign after it was alleged that he had an affair with an admissions director and another woman. In June of 2007, Reverend Fell and the Mount de Sales Academy were named in a lawsuit claiming defamation, battery, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit was filed by the former admissions director who had previously been fired for unrelated reasons. The other woman who brought charges against Reverend Fell later admitted to fabricating the story. [1]
