Notre Dame Prep develops new commons area

TOWSON — After years in the making, long-overdue renovations to Notre Dame Preparatory School’s cafeteria in Towson were off and running Dec. 22, days after the school closed for winter break. Hidden by a temporary wall inside and by a large fence outside, the former cafeteria – the “heart of the school” as staff call it – will open as the Huffman Commons at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year.

Funding comes through “Common Ground: Building NDP’s Future,” the school’s first sprint campaign – its shortest fundraising drive ever – with a goal of $6.5 million by June 30. Proceeds will support the renovations and the school’s annual fund.

“Obviously, that’s a big undertaking for someone coming in new. You had to be aware and ready to take that on,” said Angela Allen, the school’s new head of school who took on the project when she started in the fall. “This is such an exciting project.”

The $10 million project will transform the 1960s-style cafeteria into a state-of-the-art commons center featuring flexible seating areas, a student cafe and a brand-new kitchen with a wood-fired pizza oven.

“We’ve gotten all of the use out of that kitchen that we can,” said Bobby Baird, executive director of facilities and operations for NDP. “We’re taking it down to the dirt literally, replacing plumbing, electric. Really trying to bring it up to modern building code. We’re thinking about efficiency of equipment, the energy impact. All of that’s being considered.”

A 2,300-square-feet addition to the current 10,000-square-feet cafeteria will feature a wall of windows and a new faculty and staff dining room with its own patio.

“The addition is really not even the hardest part of the project,” Baird said. “It’s mostly a renovation. Even though it is a renovation, it is a new building inside of a building.”

The new area is named after Richard and Dawn Huffman, whose daughter Addison Huffman, is a current senior at the school. Through the Huffman Family Foundation, they donated $1 million to the campaign.

The School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), founders of the school, also donated $1million toward the campaign. Allen said the SSND gift highlights how the school remains rooted in the religious order’s charism and tradition. 

“It helps people understand the connection that we have as a ministry of the SSNDs – that it is still very strong,” she said.

A portion of the money raised through the campaign will go toward The Fund for Notre Dame Prep, an annual fund.

“I call it kind of like the breath of the building,” Allen said. “There’s one thing to build a space, but then you have to think of the programs and the people that fill them. It’s the lifeblood of the school. Your annual fund allows you to continue to enhance what you do.”

Allen has received overwhelming support for the project, she said, with many alumnae sharing memories of their time in the old cafeteria.

“So many things have happened in that dining room from a tradition’s perspective and just daily life,” Allen said. “We evolve even with those beautiful traditions.”

It is important, however, to recognize the needs of the current student population as well as the future, she said.

“We’ve brought in the students and gathered their feedback,” Allen said.  “I think it is important to empower our students to have a voice in this because they’re the ones using it each and every day.”

Betty Burgess, an eighth grader, is excited about the project.

“It is a new place to be able to hang out,” Betty, 14, said. “A cool, clean space. I’m very excited about that.”

Senior student class president Mackenzie Ward, 18, said the school was doing all it could to make her class’ last year at NDP memorable.

“They’re throwing in extra fun stuff and special things for us,” Ward said, like allowing the students to wear sweat shirts and pants as the students now eat in a tent.

And while she and her fellow classmates are not going to be able to use the new commons area, she is happy to see it come together.

“It is all about continuing to grow and build,” Ward said. “Change is not bad. Change is where growth is. Change makes things better.”

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org

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