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RIDGELY - Senator Chris Van Hollen (D), toured Benedictine in Ridgely, MD on Fri., Feb. 27, 2026, during which time he met Tamara Hicks, mother of student Skylar. Hicks shared that her family recently moved to Baltimore from Charlotte, NC, specifically to allow her daughter to attend Benedictine School. “The services were just not in the South,” Hicks told Senator VanHollen, and the move north is “the best thing I could do for my daughter.”
Senator Van Hollen said that he “wanted to come to Benedictine,” to see how the $1.8 Million in FY 2024 Congressional Directed Spending that he and then Senator Ben Cardin (D) secured for the school is having a positive impact on the good works in serving some of the most vulnerable Marylanders. The funding will be used to support the construction of new student residences.
Benedictine is a private, nonprofit school serving students with “mild to severe intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities, and autism” from across Maryland, in addition to providing support for adults with developmental disabilities. The school serves about 50 students, and the adult programs serve between 80 and 90 people, according to Scott Evans, Executive Director.
The Senator was introduced to students and staff in one of the classrooms on campus and toured the DeSales Hall, a current residential suite. Evans explained that the residential halls have served the students over six decades, and the new facility will provide more accessibility and quality of living space.
Evans shared with Senator Van Hollen that the location of the new facility, expected to open in early fall 2026, is on the site of the convent that housed the sisters before they moved off campus. Caroline Bauerle, Chief Advancement Officer for Benedictine Advancement Office, said of the sisters, “they would be beyond thrilled” that the convent site is being used to provide students with modern housing.
Seeing the impact of the federal funding is the reason Senator Van Hollen visited the Eastern Shore. He said that Senator Cardin and he, “heard about the need here at the Benedictine School, and really glad, especially now that I’m here to see it firsthand, that we were able to provide those funds.”
Evans said that the funding support, part of a total $7.3 Million Maryland funding and private donations, will help bring a place for students that seems more like home.
The fact that the three-wing residential facility is on the same footprint as the convent means to Bauerle that, “the sisters are still here, watching over us.”
