Sister Patricia McCarron, new schools superintendent, talks about what inspired her to become an educator

School Sister of Notre Dame Patricia McCarron was featured on the Aug. 17, 2025, episode of Catholic Review Radio. Click play below to listen to the full episode. A story follows.

School Sister of Notre Dame Mary Kyran Flaherty was so filled with joy, she inspired fourth-grader Patricia McCarron to consider a vocation in the order that taught at St. Pius X School in Rodgers Forge, across the street from where the youngster lived.

“You know, when we’re loved, we can do more than we ever thought or imagined,” Sister Patricia McCarron said, as she talked about how happy Sister Karen was in her life and how happy she was in service to the children at the school.

“And love is at the heart of Catholic education – God’s love for us and our love for God and our love for one another. And with that love, each and every student, teacher, administrator, faculty member, staff member can do more than they ever thought or imagined,” Sister Patricia said.

After serving for 20 years as head of school at Notre Dame Preparatory in Towson, Sister Patricia now takes the reins of the Department of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Baltimore as superintendent. 

She was among 55 people recognized by the Daily Record this year as Influential Marylanders. Among the six given the honor in the education category are Sister Patricia; Joseph Baker, chief administrative officer at Calvert Hall College High School; and Terrence Sawyer, president of Loyola University Maryland.

The core of Catholic education empowers individuals to reach the fullness of their potential and to use their God-given talents to make the world a better place, Sister Patricia said. Through all the changes in educational technology over the decades she has spent in education, that core remains timeless.

Catholic schools have a long history of academic excellence and passing on the Catholic faith to students in partnership with their parents. Sister Patricia acknowledged the partnership between previous superintendents – including Dr. Donna Hargens, who retired in June after seven years as superintendent – and archbishops of Baltimore, including Archbishop William E. Lori. Such leadership allows the schools in the archdiocese to compete with public and other private schools.

The schools’ Catholic identity sets them apart from those other options, Sister Patricia said. Her goal is to ensure that schools continue to be academically excellent while continuing to be deeply rooted in the traditions and teachings of the Catholic Church. 

She attended Catholic schools from kindergarten through her doctorate. 

“I have loved every institution and every program I’ve attended and am forever grateful to my parents for giving me the gift of a Catholic education and for their commitment to Catholic schools,” she told the Catholic Review this summer.

When she looks back to her time in Sister Karen’s fourth-grade class, she recalls being assigned to write an autobiography. In it, she said she wanted to be a School Sister of Notre Dame when she grew up, like the sisters who taught her. 

“As I grew older, that really was not on the forefront of my mind or my heart, but my relationship with God was always at the center,” she said. “So, God continued to invite me through prayer, through the voices of others, through my Catholic education, to enter religious life. And God gave me the grace from my heart to hear that invitation and to respond.”

She took vows as a School Sister of Notre Dame 35 years ago and has been going strong since. Many of the sisters have inspired her, especially School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Feeley, who was president of what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University while Sister Patricia was a student there. “Sister Kathleen was a model leader for me, an inspiration to me as a young college woman and has continued to be a tremendous support,” she said.

She took those lessons to heart and has been an unabashed cheerleader for all-girls education. In an interview with the Catholic Review in February 2025 as she prepared to step down from her role at Notre Dame Prep, she noted that research shows that girls who attend single-sex schools feel more empowered and engaged in their communities and are more likely to hold leadership roles.

Her favorite part of her life’s work has been seeing God’s grace work in the lives of those around her, she said. 

“It’s the most wonderful experience to see a young child have a light bulb go off  – especially when they’ve been struggling with something and you just see that light bulb go off and you know that they learned it. Or to walk in a classroom and see the energy and feel the energy racing in the classroom of an exemplary teacher who is so passionate about her students and her content area, or his students and content area. That teacher brings to life the content for the students.”

It is also uplifting when parents come together to support the school in whatever way they can, or to see a student racing down the hall to help another student or faculty member in need and to be part of communities where God is at the center of those communities, she said.

Catholic schools and their communities strive to live out each day a mission to provide a Christ-centered education that is academically excellent. That must include spiritual and character development, built on respect, Sister Patricia said. “Treating each other with dignity, serving others and using the gifts that God has given to each person to make the world a better place, and celebrating and appreciating those gifts and that environment makes all the difference and enhances the academic excellence of the institutions.”

Technology changes the equation in schools, but not the substance of what needs to be taught. 

“Much like the advent of the Internet, AI presents many challenges and risks and also many opportunities as well,” Sister Patricia said. “We want our Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore to prepare the students to use every available tool that supports their learning in an ethical manner, in a moral manner. As with other teaching tools, they’re never a substitute for the teacher, and they’re never a substitute for independent critical thinking. 

“Our Holy Father, Pope Leo, has long been on the forefront of addressing the moral responsibilities surrounding the use of AI, and this will be a critical area of focus for all of us and for us in Catholic schools as we look to support our schools and provide consistent guidance on how AI can be used both in the classroom and independently by students to ensure they are comfortable and can adapt with this new area of technology (and) that they are prepared to excel at the highest levels and that most especially they are prepared to use it in an ethical and moral manner in their career fields in the future and in their present day-to-day life,” she said.

She said she is honored and humbled by her selection by Archbishop Lori as the new schools superintendent. She wants to immediately start building and fostering relationships with the schools, students, teachers, school leaders and families. 

“I know many of them from the length of time that I’ve served in the Archdiocese of Baltimore,” she said, adding that she hopes to learn how the Department of Catholic Schools can best support them to continue and enhance the good work they are already doing.

She wants to help the schools grow – in the number of students and the strength of the programs. This will allow the schools to continue to be on the cutting edge of education to prepare students for their future. 

She also hopes to address financial accessibility so that the quality education Catholic schools offer is available to as many students as possible.

“Most especially, we want to help our students continue to deepen their faith life and continue to put Christ at the center of their lives. Our theme this year in the Archdiocese of Baltimore is ‘Pilgrims of Hope,’ so we really want to be credible witnesses of what it means to be a pilgrim of hope, a disciple of Jesus Christ,” Sister Patricia said. “We want our young people – and all of us – to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with our God.”

Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org.

Also see

Purple Sheep Project going strong after 12 years, emphasizing joy of giving

‘Children need you, they need your presence,’ Sister of Life tells educators at convention

Archdiocese of Baltimore Catholic schools name new associate superintendent

Chesterton Academy students from across U.S. make pilgrimage to Rome

Family members of Cardinal Shehan share memories of beloved uncle

Childhood classmates from the United States reunite with Pope Leo

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