Mount de Sales Academy is an all-girls secondary school located in

Catonsville Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 41,567 at the 2010 census. The community lies to the west of Baltimore along the city's border. Catonsville contains the majority of th ...

in unincorporated

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

. The school is located near the city of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

and within the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore ( la, link=no, Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the premier (or first) see of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and nine of M ...

. The school is affiliated with the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and is partially staffed by the

Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia The Congregation of St. Cecilia, commonly known as the Nashville Dominicans, is a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a member of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, one of the ...

. Mount de Sales Academy was founded in 1852 by the

Visitation Sisters , image = Salesas-escut.gif , size = 175px , abbreviation = V.S.M. , nickname = Visitandines , motto = , formation = , founder = Saint Bishop Francis de ...

as a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

for girls. Now teaching only girls it now serves as a college-preparatory school. It was the first institution in

to offer education to women of all religious denominations.

Reputation

Mount de Sales Academy has been named one of the top 50 Catholic schools in the country by the Catholic High School Honor Roll each year since 2004 on the basis of academics, Catholic identity, and civic educatio

It is the only school in the state of Maryland to be included in the list.

Campus and Buildings

Mount de Sales is located on of land, from which one can see the

Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". Th ...

and the Baltimore city skyline. The back yard of the school is home to a garden featuring a statue of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother ...

. The campus also includes the Center for Performing Arts and Student life (opened in 2021), athletic fields, a convent, and a gymnasium. Most classes are still held in the original school building, begun in 1852 and expanded in the 1860s. The main building, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, retains architectural traces of the cloistered sisters of the

Visitation Order , image = Salesas-escut.gif , size = 175px , abbreviation = V.S.M. , nickname = Visitandines , motto = , formation = , founder = Saint Bishop Francis de ...

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 Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly co ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. 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 ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

painting and is where graduation is held annually, the

Padre Pio Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a ...

library, which contains relics of that saint and a mosaic in his honor, computer labs, a spacious art studio, the Ramona Carrigan Science Center, research lab, and newly added STEM and robotics rooms. The 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 building's front is the opposite of the main building so that visitors would not see any of the sick or otherwise ailing girls. The building now houses the school's development and alumnae relations groups. The Constance and Samuel Pistorio Sports Complex was dedicated in 1999. 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 Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

the Worker. The Center for Performing Arts and Student Life, a 24,000-square foot building that opened in 2021, features music and dance classrooms, practice rooms for student performers, fully equipped scene shop and storage space for technical theatre students, 400-seat fixed lower-level orchestral section, 200-moveable seat upper-level multi-use space, and control room for audio, lighting, and visual equipment.

Brother School

The nearby all-boys Mount Saint Joseph High School is the Brother School of Mount de Sales Academy. The two schools share their long history with each other. In the present day: * The schools jointly produce theatrical events * The schools cooperate on bus service * Sailor cheerleaders support Gaels' sporting events * The schools hold joint social events such as dances * The schools share many school clubs

Notable alumnae

*Nicolette Jennings, Miss Florida USA 2019 * Brigid Kemmerer, young adult author *Audrey Powers, Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations of American aerospace and spaceflight company Blue Origin.

Gallery

File:MDSA chapel.JPG, Chapel of St. Francis de Sales at Mount de Sales File:MDSA grad07.JPG, Class photo at graduation on the front steps of the main building File:MDSA musichall.JPG, The Music Hall File:MDSA.JPG, The Main Building

References and notes

External links

*
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore
{{authority control Catonsville, Maryland Catholic secondary schools in Maryland School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Italianate architecture in Maryland Neoclassical architecture in Maryland Private schools in Baltimore County, Maryland Girls' schools in Maryland Educational institutions established in 1852 1852 establishments in Maryland Catholic schools in Maryland Dominican schools in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore County, Maryland