By Elizabeth Skalski
Tracey Ford has been named the first lay president of Maryvale Preparatory School.
Ford succeeds Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Shawn Marie Maguire, who has been president and headmistress of the Brooklandville school since 1981.
Ford, a former Maryvale Prep trustee, is the first lay president in the school’s 66-year history.
“I am honored to have been selected as Maryvale’s next president,” Ford said in a statement released by the school. “Especially given the remarkable opportunity to build upon Sister Shawn’s 30-year legacy and the dedication of the other sisters who guided Maryvale throughout the school’s history.”
Maryvale has never had a headmistress or president who was not a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. It was once in the school’s bylaws that a member of the order had to hold the position.
Ford is currently the director of development at Towson University. She has served as assistant head of school for advancement at St. Paul’s School for Girls in Brooklandville and director of development at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson.
Ford is a graduate of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and has a master of administrative science from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in Baltimore.
Sister Shawn, who arrived at the school in 1978 as assistant principal and an English and religion teacher, announced her plans to retire last June. Ford starts July 1.
During Sister Shawn’s tenure the school added a sixth grade and opened the Maria Luisa Rodriguez Center. The school serves grades six through 12.