While the U.S. Department of Education this year honored Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland with a National Blue Ribbon Schools Award signaling it as one of the best in the nation, students, parents and staff there say they’ve always known the school to be a top-notch center of learning.
“I have always loved McNamara, and I’ve always been proud of my school,” said senior Ahmena Jones. “But it feels real nice to be recognized.”
The U.S. Department of Education’s National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private schools for their academic excellence and where students are performing at very high levels.
Bishop McNamara High School was singled out by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the nation’s “Exemplary High Performing Schools,” and was recognized as “among the top performers” in the state of Maryland.
“This is really exciting,” said Dian Carter, principal of Bishop McNamara High School. “We have worked so hard to maintain a level of excellence, which is a result of the collaboration between faculty, staff and students.”
Carter is in her sixth year as principal of Bishop McNamara. Prior to that, she was an assistant principal there for two years. Over a more than three-decade career in education, Carter also spent nine years as the principal at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Cheverly, Maryland.
“What our test scores reflect and what our students achieve here at Bishop McNamara is because of the efforts of our teachers in the classroom, and the desire of our students to succeed,” Carter said.
That sentiment was echoed by 11th-grader Corey Schmick. “McNamara is such a family – we all work together well and that is how we got here today” celebrating the Blue Ribbon Award, he said.
Senior Evan Simmons also stressed that “it is the people who make McNamara.”
“We all come together to make this school the best it can be,” he said.
A total of 356 schools were honored nationwide this year, with only 40 non-public schools honored. Of the 40 non-public schools nationwide, 78 percent of them were Catholic.
This is the first Blue Ribbon Schools Award for Bishop McNamara, making it one of only 10 Maryland schools to receive the honor this year. Bishop McNamara’s designation marks the 51st time that a Catholic school in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has been singled out for this prestigious honor.
“This is huge for our students. This is huge for our faculty,” said Dr. John Barnhardt, president and CEO of Bishop McNamara. “Everyone wants a Blue Ribbon Award – they are especially hard to get on the high school level.”
Only 18 percent of the 356 schools that were honored this year are high schools. McNamara was one of only seven Catholic high schools nationwide to receive the designation, and the only high school – public or non-public – in the state of Maryland to be so honored.
“It’s a beautiful moment for all of us,” Kendall Isadore, the assistant director of admissions at Bishop McNamara, said of the Blue Ribbon designation.
She noted that the school has an enrollment this year of 900 students. Students come from throughout Maryland and as far away as Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the Eastern Shore.
“We are very lucky to be a school that is actually over-enrolled,” said school principal Carter. “That is because parents recognize we are a very competitive place.”
One hundred percent of McNamara’s graduating senior class gets accepted to college, and 97 percent of those students do indeed go on to higher education.
“We ensure that everything our students learn from ninth through 12th grade prepares them for college,” Dr. Barnhardt noted.
Next year’s freshman class already has a waiting list of students eager to attend the school. That waiting list, Dr. Barnhardt said, proves that “there is a huge need for high-quality high school seats.”
The school boasts a more than 95 percent attrition rate – that is, the number of freshmen who return for their sophomore and subsequent years of education at the school.
“The academic achievement here is amazing, and I am always happy to represent McNamara,” said senior Kennedy Ben. “You will never be alone here. Whether it’s sports, arts, academics, you name it, there is something for everyone here.”
Bishop McNamara High School this year celebrates its 60th anniversary. It opened in 1964 as an all-boys’ school administered and staffed by the Congregation of Holy Cross. In 1991, La Reine High School, an all-girls’ school sponsored by the Bernardine Franciscan sisters located in nearby Suitland, Maryland, closed due to low enrollment.
The following year, the formerly all-boys Bishop McNamara High School opened its doors to female students, becoming a coeducational high school.
In March 2023, Bishop McNamara High School opened its La Reine Science and Innovation Center. The 20,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility is named after La Reine High School.
School parent Evie Adams Simmons, the mother of a McNamara graduate and a current senior at the school, is also an alumnus of the now-closed La Reine High School.
“I always knew good things were happening here. I also knew that when it came time for my kids to go to high school, there was no other choice for me but Bishop McNamara,” she said. “This is a great community. It is just a great place where great things happen.”
Many McNamara and La Reine graduates send their children to McNamara, Dr. Barnhardt said. He also noted that “42 percent of our staff are either alumni of the school or a parent or sibling or somehow otherwise related to an alumni of the school.”
“We have a really cohesive faculty – they are educators who are really grounded in our Catholic values, who are dedicated to our Holy Cross mission, and who truly care about our students,” Dr. Barnhardt said.
He pointed out that more than 80 percent of the student body are not Catholic.
“Many of our students do not necessarily share our faith, but they do share our mission,” Dr. Barnhardt said. “That is because we educate hearts and minds.”
Each day at the school begins with prayer. On the day after winning the Blue Ribbon Award, Carter, speaking over the school’s public address system, reminded the students that “we are only who we are because of the love and protection of God.”
“It’s nice to know that the whole country now knows what we have always known – Bishop McNamara is a school of excellence,” said Kelly Branaman, the secretary for Catholic schools and the superintendent of schools for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. “Whenever I visit here, I am inspired by the students and the staff and the gifts they bring and share with this school.”
Pointing out that she gets a good education at Bishop McNamara, 11th-grader Sophia Delarosa said that the Blue Ribbon Award is “the icing on the cake and the cherry on top” of her experience there.
“This award inspires us to uphold the high standard of McNamara,” she added.
The school said a formal celebration of its Blue Ribbon Award will be held in the next few weeks.
