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INDAA members present the tuition assistance check to The Catholic High School of Baltimore. Pictured, from left, are Debra Henry, '93, INDAA Mission Committee member; Kelly Eick, '06, INDAA President; Dr. Barbara Nazelrod, president of The Catholic High School of Baltimore;  andMaureen Ciesielski, '72, INDAA immediate past president.  (Courtesy INDAA)

IND alumnae association continues to give back to community


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Catholic Review Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Schools

The Institute of Notre Dame Alumnae Association announced that it has donated $45,000 this fiscal year to five all-girls schools in the Baltimore area, keeping alive the impact of the revered East Baltimore Catholic School that closed in 2020 after 173 years.

The donation announcement comes on the heels of the INDAA providing $47,000 last fiscal year to the Baltimore area’s five Catholic all-girls high schools and The John Carroll School in Bel Air. The donations went toward tuition assistance and other student expenses.

“We are proud of what our alumnae have been able to accomplish since the school closed in May 2020,” the INDAA said in a media release announcing this year’s grants. “While the school is no longer in existence, the alumnae of the Institute of Notre Dame remain committed to the mission impressed upon every student who walked through the school’s door – that is to empower girls and young women through education.”

Members of the INDAA Mission Committee presented “gratitude gifts” for tuition assistance for existing or incoming students. 

INDAA presented five $7,000 checks to the following schools: 

  • Notre Dame Prep on April 23, 2024
  • Mercy High School on April 26, 2024
  • The Catholic High School on April 30, 2024
  • Maryvale on May 9, 2024
  • Mount De Sales Academy on May 10, 2024

In addition to the $7,000 gratitude gifts the INDAA bestowed six $2,000 gifts to those five schools and The John Carroll School in 2023 to be used toward extraneous costs often incurred throughout the school year, such as books, uniforms, field trips or other needs for students. Last year, these gifts were able to purchase seven school rings, two summer music camps, one senior trip to New York City, one trip to a national debate camp and three summer art camps for students.

“It is our hope that the schools find this contribution helpful to ease tuition burden for students who experience hardships or financial troubles. One of our goals is that the next generation of young girls still benefit from the values that an all-girls education offers, in the same way that it benefitted us,” said Maureen Ciesielski, former board president of the INDAA.

The funds for the gratitude gifts were raised through INDAA events, including an annual crab feast, bingo, annual alumnae weekend and giving Tuesday efforts. This year an alumna offered to match gifts up to $25,000 to continue to support the school’s original mission in educating young women in an all-girls school environment.  

“We look forward to continuing to offer this type of financial assistance to our sister schools beyond 2024 and well into the future,” said Kelly Eick, president of the INDAA Board.

IND administrators cited the economic downturn, declining enrollment and its aging school building at 901 Aisquith St. in East Baltimore as reasons behind the school’s closing in May 2020.

IND began educating girls in 1847. It counts among its graduates former U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulksi and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

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