News

Many people refer to The Catholic High School of Baltimore, one of the last all-girls Catholic high schools in Baltimore, as “the little school that could.” With an average of 300 students, the school, located in the Belair-Edison community in Northeast Baltimore, has educated more than 13,000 students during its 83-year history. To ensure Catholic High strongly commits to educate young women for another 80-plus years, the school highlighted its 80th anniversary by establishing a capital campaign. The campaign’s goal was to raise an unprecedented $4 million to support its annual fund, to make improvements to the school’s campus, to upgrade classrooms and learning spaces and to grow the school’s endowment for scholarships and tuition assistance.

While the goal was a lofty one, the school’s longtime President, Dr. Barbara D. Nazelrod, Ph.D. ’68, was confident the mark was achievable and pointed to the strong support of alumnae, friends, Foundations and others who see their investment in Catholic High as an investment in students who look to the education provided by the storied institution as an integral step in their future success.

The campaign’s theme, “Lighting the Way ~ Empowering Women ~ Transforming the World” perfectly sums up the school’s mission and the reason it continues to thrive.

Catholic High’s indomitable spirit was put to the greatest test it had ever faced when the COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after the school launched the campaign it hoped would help strengthen its future. And while the school seamlessly and resiliently pivoted to virtual and hybrid learning models to ensure the uninterrupted education of its students, supporters of Catholic High also refused to let a pandemic get in the way of its mission. And while raising money under the best of circumstances can be challenging, the school once again beat the odds by raising nearly $4.4 million, the most in its history, all during a pandemic!

The campaign’s success was a resounding affirmation of the school’s value to the community and to the students, who come from over 70 zip codes throughout Greater Baltimore each day to “the little school that could.” They come for Catholic High’s signature STEM programs — highlighted by its Engineering and Biomedical concentrations, in addition to the strong math program whose Mathletes recently placed 1st in the Nation. Students come to Catholic High to be part of the school’s Franciscan community, and to receive an education that will help them advance to college and to live according to the gospel values that are foundational to the school’s Catholic identity.

The funds raised enabled the school to develop a new Sports Medicine concentration and to build a clinical simulation lab, in addition to adding two new concentrations in the Visual and Performing Arts program with Catholic High’s new dance company and marching band — one of the only all-girls high school marching bands in the nation, and to fund the future building of a new team visitation and fitness center. In addition, the campaign made possible the much- needed renovation and beautification of the school’s western campus and enabled the endowment for scholarships and tuition assistance to grow by 20 percent and its annual fund by 25 percent.

The campaign’s success means Catholic High can continue to focus on growing enrollment — the school’s incoming freshman class is approaching 100 students with several months to go before the new school year — and on continuing to provide a world-class, academically excellent education to the students it serves.

Thanks to the support of its sponsoring institution, the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, and devoted alumnae, faculty, staff, parents, board members, friends, businesses and others, Catholic High can continue to let its light shine as a beacon of hope and a symbol of educational excellence for another eight decades and beyond.