Sister Patricia McCarron has been a school sister at Notre Dame Preparatory School (NDP) for 35 years, serving as a math teacher, junior varsity basketball coach and head of school since 2005. Now, she’s moving up in the world of Catholic education. McCarron was announced to be taking on the role of superintendent of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore on Thursday, Feb. 20. Archbishop William E. Lori appointed her to the position.
As superintendent, McCarron will be overseeing 54 Catholic schools across Maryland in Baltimore, Frederick County, Howard County and several other counties. She will assume her new position in August, following the end of the school year at NDP.
McCarron was chosen after a five-month search conducted by Catholic Recruiter Associates.
“She has spent her life really fostering excellence,” says Dr. Grasmick, the presidential scholar at Towson University and former Maryland public school superintendent who chaired the search for a new superintendent, in a news release. “She presents herself as a person who is absolutely dedicated to the success of students, and she brings tremendous experience in leading principals and teachers. We are very fortunate to have someone with the myriad of credentials and talents she possesses.”
Some of her biggest accomplishments as head of NDP include achieving record enrollment numbers for this school year, reaching nearly 850 students. NDP received the National Blue Ribbon of Excellence Award twice during her time as head of school. These achievements, along with her involvement in fundraising and taking on leadership positions in the Catholic community, were cited as reasons for her appointment as superintendent.
McCarron will be succeeding Dr. Donna Hargens, who plans to retire at the end of the 2024-2025 school year after serving as superintendent for seven years, leading the school system through the COVID-19 pandemic and opening the Mother Mary Lange Catholic School, the first new Catholic School in Baltimore in 60 years.
“I am humbled and honored to be named to this position,” McCarron says, when reached Friday. “As a School Sister of Notre Dame, I am passionate about Catholic education, which is my ministry and my vocation. I am excited to be part of a school system that provides a Christ-centered education that is academically excellent and that empowers students to reach their full God-given potential.”
