Mother Mary Lange Catholic School thrives, embodying namesake's legacy in Baltimore education

The cafeteria buzzed with conversation Sept. 19. Parents, teachers and residents gathered around tables decorated in blue and white, digging into fried catfish, potato salad and cornbread while jazz and R&B played in the background.

Rhylie Lane, a sixth grader at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School, works on her laptop during a Sept. 24 study period with classmates in the library. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

The second Family and Friends Day Fish Fry fundraiser was more than a celebration. It was a testament to how far Mother Mary Lange Catholic School has come in four years.

When the school opened in 2021 amid a pandemic, it was starting from scratch: a brand-new building, a brand-new staff and a student body drawn from schools across Baltimore.

Today, Mother Mary Lange Catholic School stands as a thriving center of learning in West Baltimore, deeply committed to the community and serving nearly 400 students from more than 60 ZIP codes from pre-kindergarten (age 3) through grade eight.

From ground zero

When Mother Mary Lange Catholic School opened, it was the first new Catholic school built in Baltimore in 60 years. The $24 million, 65,000-square-foot educational complex at 200 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in downtown Baltimore was constructed on once-vacant land following a 2019 groundbreaking ceremony that attracted leaders such as Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. The new school welcomed students from the former Holy Angels Catholic School and Ss. James and John School as well as others from across the region.

Middle school science teacher and STEM program coordinator Dr. Cynthia Tilghman-Lee recalled that the first year brought major challenges, especially after students had endured pandemic-era remote learning elsewhere the previous year.

The faculty was new, the students were new and the school was still establishing its policies and procedures. “It was a lot at once,” she said.

Despite those difficulties, the school has shown steady growth in enrollment and achievement. It offers competitive academics – particularly in STEM education – with a wide range of extracurricular opportunities.

Nate Cannizzo, a math teacher at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School and a University of Notre Dame Alliance for Catholic Education teaching fellow, aids seventh grader Khalia Taylor with a business equation. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“As of last year, and of course, it changes each year, but last year we had 28 after-school programs and eight of those programs supported STEM initiatives,” said Principal Lynnea Cornish.

Tilghman-Lee’s robotics program exemplifies that ambition.

“I’ve had big growth last year with our robotics team,” she said. “I have two robotics teams – a younger middle school and an older middle school team. Last year, we competed at the Baltimore City level and we trophied, which was amazing – and one of my other teams made it to the Maryland state level.”

The school’s success is reflected not only in academic growth but also in where its graduates continue their education. In the last four years, about 100 students have matriculated into private high schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Archdiocese of Washington as well as premier public schools in the city and county.

“My graduates are at St. Paul, they are at Bryn Mawr, they are at City College, they’re at Western, they’re at Dunbar,” Cornish said. “I have some folks who have gone on to Christian schools, like Mercy High School. We constantly have our alumni coming back.”

For graduate Jaylah Golder, who attended Holy Angels from kindergarten through seventh grade before transferring to Mother Lange for her eighth-grade year, the experience was transformative. She remembered playing basketball at Mother Lange in two separate leagues.

“We were really working and pushing, and we ended up winning a championship in a tournament that we were invited to, and that stays in my mind constantly because it shows the community that I built within that school,” said Jaylah, now a student at Mercy High School in Baltimore.

Deep roots

Community engagement has been central to Mother Lange’s mission from the start. Students include those from the surrounding neighborhood as well as families from throughout the Baltimore region and as far away as Pennsylvania.

“We marched through the community one year for the fall at the harvest time,” Tilghman-Lee said. “We went and we put notes, stickers and pumpkins on the steps of each of the houses that border our campus.”

The school also partners with the University of Maryland and other local institutions that provide educational support.

Lyric Caligone, a fifth grader at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School, performs a liturgical dance Sept. 24. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“During the science fair, I had about 30 judges who volunteer who have built relationships with the University of Maryland, Bio Park,” Tilghman-Lee said. “It was amazing for them to come together and honor our students in such a way that they could converse with them and listen to them explain their projects.”

Ashlee Davis, the school’s advancement director, highlighted what makes Mother Lange distinctive.

“Our diversity makes us different,” she said. “I would definitely say that we have a melting pot of students and we celebrate all of that as well.”

The school also observes both Black History Month and Latin American Heritage Month and maintains a diverse teaching staff.

Carrying a legacy

Mother Mary Lange Catholic School honors its namesake, Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, foundress of the Baltimore-based Oblate Sisters of Providence – the first religious order for Black women – and founder of St. Frances Academy in East Baltimore, the first Catholic school in the nation to teach Black children.

Deacon B. Curtis Turner, head of school at St. Frances Academy, attended Family and Friends Day to show his support, noting that his staff partners closely with the administration at Mother Lange.

Tilghman-Lee said the school strives to embody the spirit of its namesake.

Mother Mary Lange Catholic School music teacher Jason Matthews, left, leads the school choir during a Sept. 24 Mass. Facing the camera are Diron Williams and Marlie James. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“This woman sacrificed her life every day to allow minority children the opportunity to read and learn and grow their faith, and that’s exactly what we’re doing every day,” she said. “We’re an urban school, so we’re exposing them to things that they’ve never heard of or ever seen, and every day we are carrying out her mission of reading, writing and faith.”

Part of the fundraising for the new school included the establishment of an endowment to provide tuition assistance. Additional support comes from Partners in Excellence, an archdiocesan program that expands educational opportunities for low- and very-low-income families and from the BOOST (Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today) state-run scholarship program that provides funds to help students from limited-income families attend Catholic and other nonpublic schools.

As the school prepares to mark its fifth anniversary, it is focused on stability and growth. It is currently raising $500,000 for its fifth anniversary campaign.

“The idea is sustainability – the idea is that we want to continue to give your children, your grandchildren and your friends and family the best education possible,” Cornish said.