From freshmen being paired with a “big sister” in the junior class to “The Big Game,” a basketball rivalry played in front of thousands, the Institute of Notre Dame established dozens of traditions during its 173 years as a Baltimore landmark.

At the core of its legacy, however, is the education provided generations by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who came to Baltimore from Bavaria and founded the school in 1847 as the Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies.

“It’s grounded in spirituality and service,” School Sister Patricia Murphy said of that education.

Sister Patricia, along with School Sister of Notre Dame Charmaine Krohe, provincial leader, announced May 5 that IND would cease operations because of declining enrollment, the economy and an aging school building.

The decision hit Sister Patricia particularly hard. The chairwoman of the IND Board of Trustees, she was in its class of 1962 and was the third of four Murphy sisters to attend the school from 1954 to 1963.

Her school-day commute began with a streetcar from Paradise Avenue in Catonsville to downtown. Then and as recently as the 2018-19 school year, fixtures on IND’s campus included School Sister Hilda Sutherland, the inspiration of “Hildie’s Helpers,” which in a typical recent year involved half the student body. She died in March 2019.

The school will close its doors June 30. To commemorate the moment, parishes in Baltimore City have been invited to ring their church bells at 3 p.m. on that day. The class of 2020 will provide one final memory July 26, at 6 p.m., when its 54 members participate in graduation ceremonies at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.