By Catholic Review Staff
Three schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore earned the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence distinction Sept. 30.
The U.S. Department of Education bestowed its highest honor on the School of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland, Immaculate Conception School in Towson and Our Lady of Grace School in Parkton.
The schools will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., Nov. 10-11.
In 2014, there were 50 private schools nationally to receive the award, including 10 schools ( public/private) in the state of Maryland. Three of those schools were Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
According to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Blue Ribbon program honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either “academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.”
Archbishop William E. Lori greets a student at Immaculate Conception School in Towson on the first day of classes in August 2013. Immaculate Conception is one of three elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore to be named National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence. (Tom McCarthy Jr. | CR Staff)
Dr. Jane Towery is the principal of the Cathedral school, which serves kindergarten through eighth grade. Madeline M. Meaney and Jeffrey Dudley are the principals, respectively, of Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Grace, which offer pre-K through eighth grade.
“It is with great joy that we celebrate the accomplishment of three more Catholic schools being awarded the prestigious designation,” Dr. Barbara Edmondson, superintendent of schools, said in an archdiocesan news release. “This academic honor reflects the excellence of our Catholic schools and the commitment of our outstanding teachers, students and parents.”
Our Lady of Grace School in Parkton is one of three elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore named as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 2014. Archbishop William E. Lori visited Our Lady of Grace on the students’ first day of school in August of 2013. (Tom McCarthy Jr. | CR Staff)
Twenty-one Catholic schools in the archdiocese have earned the honor; 14 since 2008. An alphabetical list of the schools follows, with the school year in which they were recognized.
Archdiocese of Baltimore Blue Ribbon Schools
Archbishop Keough High School, 1987-88
Archbishop Spalding High School, Severn, 1992-93
Calvert Hall College High School, Towson, 1984-85 and 1988-89
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION SCHOOL, TOWSON, 2014-2015
Loyola Blakefield, Towson, 1986-87
Mount St. Joseph High School, Baltimore, 1988-89
Mercy High School, Baltimore, 1984-85
Notre Dame Preparatory School, Towson, 1984-85 and 2012-13
OUR LADY OF GRACE, PARKTON, 2014-2015
Resurrection-St. Paul School, Ellicott City, 2009-10
THE SCHOOL OF CATHEDRAL OF MARY OUR QUEEN, BALTIMORE, 2014-2015
St. Augustine School, Elkridge, 2012-13
St. John Regional School, Frederick, 2009-10
St. John the Evangelist, Severna Park, 2008-09
St. Joseph School, Cockeysville, 2013-2014
St. Louis Catholic School, 2010-11
St. Margaret School, Bel Air, 2013-2014
St. Mary’s, Annapolis, 2013-2014
St. Rita Catholic School, Dundalk, 1986-87
The John Carroll School, Bel Air, 1995-96
Trinity School, Ellicott City, 1989-90 and 1998-99
See video of St. Augustine being named a Blue Ribbon school in 2012.
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