The Baltimore Farmers’ Market should be open any day now.
A drive up Charles Street is dotted with beautiful white blossoms on the median trees.
And there’s just enough pollen on my car to change its “blackberry pearl” hue to a shade of dark Chartreuse.
It must be spring in Baltimore!
Here at NDP, spring is heralded in many ways.
Gym Meet is the first harbinger of spring, with Spring Break following closely. Then there’s Library Week, Earth Week, lax games, AP exams, Middle Level Field Day…the list of activities goes on and on.
Yet, when you ask the NDP community how they know it is spring, you get more impressionistic answers.
The riot of pink blossoms on the center courtyard tree.
The gurgling of the courtyard fountain.
The smell of mulch wafting in through open classroom windows.
Hope is fundamental to all the springs at NDP. For our youngest students, it brings the anticipation that in a few short months they will become more experienced seventh graders. It allows the junior class to get a taste of being the BWOC ** once the seniors walk through that Gateway one last time at Graduation. And when we look to our Catholic, Christian faith, spring harkens to the promise of rebirth fulfilled at Easter.
Notre Dame embraces spring on so many levels. It is personal to each student, faculty and staff member. Here are just of the ways the NDP community sees spring:
You know it is spring at NDP when:
…girls come to school without sweatpants under their dresses. –Siena Thrasher ’15
…your tan goes from Jergens to natural! –Madeline Johnston ‘18
…there’s concert and recital music in the air! –Sue Ruhl, music teacher
…girls are lugging lacrosse sticks and lacrosse bags all around school. –Anna Thrush ‘19
…seniors proudly advertise their college choices with hoodies and half-zips. –Catherine Sullivan, ML campus minister
…your Monday classes are accompanied by the sound of the lawn mowers and the fragrance of freshly cut grass! –Marianne Reichelt, special assistant to the principal
…my allergies go crazy!! Elizabeth Regler ‘18
…new art goes on the walls! –Anne Walker, Art Department chairperson
…students to sit outside in the courtyard during lunch! –Natalie Pucillo ‘15
…you see the girls enjoying the outdoors in the middle level garden.
–-Mary Beth Shepherd, ML counselor
…you see all smiles!! –Lexi Boyle ‘21
Tom, Peri, science teacher, sums it up:
“When I think of spring I think of ‘new life’ and at NDP every time I walk into a class there is new life – so every day is springtime at NDP!”
**Big Women On Campus