Groundbreaking of Mother Mary Lange School
For Immediate Release Monday, October 21, 2019
Mother Mary Lange Elementary to Offer State-of-the Art Educational Facilities and Programs for over 500 City PreK3-8 Students
(Baltimore, MD) — Representing a $24 million investment in the future of Baltimore City youth, Archbishop William E. Lori, with community leaders and city and state officials, will break ground on the future Mother Mary Lange Catholic School – the first new school to be built by the Archdiocese of Baltimore in nearly 60 years. The groundbreaking will take place on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Slated to open in the fall of 2021, the new 65,000 square feet educational complex will occupy two currently-vacant lots at 732 W. Lexington and 763 Dr. Benjamin Quarles Place in downtown Baltimore.
“Providing our youth quality education and pathways to success is at the core of our mission,” said Archbishop William E. Lori. “This significant investment by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and our partners represents our unqualified commitment to the City, and most especially, to the families and communities that deserve a safe, nurturing, state-of-the-art environment to gather, to learn and mature, to celebrate and make possible a better future for themselves and for us all.”
The creation of the 21st Century facility will be the new home for students currently attending Saints James & John and Holy Angels Catholic schools, representing 400-plus students living in 40 zip codes throughout the city. Enrollment is expected to total 520 within its fourth year of operation. It is anticipated that 80-90% of the mostly non-Catholic student population will qualify for tuition assistance from the Archdiocese, which will make available over $1 million for tuition grants and assistance through the Archdiocese’s Partners In Excellence Scholarship Program. This tuition assistance will be complemented by additional aid from private scholarship funds, the State of Maryland’s BOOST program, and Catholic Community Foundation tuition assistance endowments.
“For over two centuries the Catholic Church has been invigorating our City and State with resources and services essential to enhanced quality of life,” said Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young. “Now with the creation of this 21st Century educational center of excellence, the Archdiocese continues this legacy, enabling a new generation to benefit from its commitment to providing quality education. We could not be more grateful to the Archdiocese of Baltimore for their investment, commitment and partnership in making possible this new era of opportunity for our young people, their families and in fact, our entire community.”
The state-of-the-art educational facility will include:
STEM Suite (Science Lab, makerspace and robotics)
Digital Media Center (Library and Digital Media Studio)
Art and Music rooms
Health Suite
Regulation size gymnasium with performance stage
Chapel
Full-service kitchen and dining facility
7 on 7 Soccer/lacrosse field and exercise circuit
State of the Art Security Systems
The professional staff of Mother Mary Lange School will include 35 teachers, teacher-aids and administrators, and will include a full-time counselor, as well as access to medical and dental care professionals and a speech and language clinician.
The Department of Catholic Schools is currently in discussions with university, corporate, philanthropic, and nonprofit partners to ensure that Mother Mary Lange students receive superior education and wrap-around support services.
During construction, the general contractor, Whiting-Turner, will provide low-income city residents opportunities for pre-apprenticeship training programs. In addition, the Archdiocese will ensure that the lead contracting firm invites a broad range of minority and women business owners to bid on the wide range of subcontracting services entailed with the construction and operation of the new school.