Innovation Wing & Scholarships Focus of Notre Dame Prep Record-Breaking Capital Campaign
September 24, 2019 (Towson, MD)—Notre Dame Preparatory School (NDP) has publicly announced a record-breaking $10,000,000 initiative that is raising funds to build the school’s new Innovation Wing and grow much-needed scholarship support. The Limitless: Redefining Possibilities, Unleashing Potential campaign is the largest in school history and has already secured unprecedented support from community members. Equally impressive is that 60% of campaign donors have provided their first gift to an NDP capital effort through Limitless.
NDP has surpassed its initial $8,000,000 goal thanks to the support of 200+ individuals and families and is working toward a vision of raising $10,000,000, which would fund the Innovation Wing construction and increase scholarships.
With a public announcement on September 26, 2019, all community members are invited to participate. To help motivate the community, it was announced at the time of the campaign’s public launch that three families – Jane and Jody Satterfield, Lisa and Bill Stromberg, and Scott and Susan Wilfong – have reinvested in Limitless and are joining to provide a 1:1 challenge match. For every dollar raised, NDP will receive one additional dollar.
“The Limitless campaign is about possibilities and potential—specifically educating young women so they can tap into their passions and achieve their personal potential,” says Sister Patricia McCarron, SSND, Ph.D., headmistress. “Inspiring them in this effort is NDP’s exemplary faculty who will maximize our new Innovation Wing in creative ways to provide our students with a transformative education.”
For nearly 150 years, Notre Dame Preparatory School has remained rooted in the tradition of outstanding liberal arts education while being responsive to the educational needs of the times. A comprehensive STEAM program, the Bette Ellis O’Conor Humanities Program, 26 Advanced Placement courses, a robust internship program, vibrant extra-curricular offerings, and a dual focus on spirituality and service complement NDP’s curriculum. They also cement NDP’s success as a National Blue Ribbon School for excellence, a Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland Emerging Leader, and a Baltimore Sun Top Workplace since 2011.
STEAM at NDP creates awareness, sparks interests, and builds confidence in girls for STEAM subjects. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, STEAM careers are on the rise, yet women are generally underrepresented in these fields. With the Innovation Wing, Notre Dame Prep leverages its already-strong STEAM and liberal arts curricula and provides a dedicated space for interdisciplinary and specialized STEAM studies. The new 23,500-square-foot Innovation Wing will:
- Provide the Bette Ellis O’Conor Humanities Program with two new classrooms and the space and flexibility needed to co-locate the Upper Level English, Religion, and Social Studies Departments.
- House additional Upper Level STEAM classrooms, including the two-story Fabrication Lab, a classroom dedicated to architecture and design, a digital media lab, a medical suite, and an art gallery for the display of students’ work.
- Provide new art and design classrooms, a classroom dedicated to cybersecurity and computer science, a second gallery, and a large gathering space.
- Create the largest enclosed courtyard on campus.
“As a physician currently practicing Ob-Gyn, I would have loved to learn more about medicine in this Innovation Wing!” says Lilly Mihm Hunter, MD ’90, P’26, P’23, Ob-Gyn and Limitless co-chair. “This state-of-the-art, hands-on learning space will…offer today’s NDP students the best preparation for a STEAM focus in college and for these evolving professions of tomorrow.”
In addition to funding bricks and mortar, Limitless is providing more than $2,000,000 to strengthen NDP’s ability to provide scholarships to students with demonstrated financial need who desire an NDP education. NDP received financial aid applications from more than 50 percent of 2019-20 accepted applicants. At present, more than 40 percent of NDP high school students receive some type of financial aid.
“As a father of two graduates and the grandfather of a current student, I have witnessed firsthand the school’s commitment to its students and to its mission of academics, spirituality, and service,” says Scott Wilfong P’95, P’00, retired president & CEO of SunTrust Mid-Atlantic and Limitless co-chair. “NDP must keep tuition competitive and scholarships available, and support of Limitless through endowed scholarships and the annual fund will help with both of these directives.”
Limitless: Redefining Possibilities, Unleashing Potential is NDP’s fifth capital campaign effort, following campaigns in 1992, 1999, 2005, and 2012.
