San Miguel President Addresses Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County
San Miguel President Maureen Appel
San Miguel School President Maureen Appel addressed the Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County (CBN-MC) on Friday, September 9.
The event, part of a monthly series of networking events hosted by CBN-MC, allowed local business owners and community leaders to hear first-hand about San Miguel’s mission, history and extraordinary impact on underserved students in the Washington region. CBN-MC is an independent, non-profit organization of businesses and professionals working together to support Catholic education in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Before a group of about three dozen audience members, Appel shared her own story as a decades-long Catholic school educator and administrator. She also shared what inspired her to join the San Miguel community: The exceptional students, faculty, staff and board members who convinced her to take the role of school president.
Since 2019, Appel has led San Miguel and its mission of educating deserving young men with a high-quality, tuition-free Lasallian education. This mission to transform lives through education, Appel explained, uplifts not just students but also families and future generations through academic, spiritual and physical growth.
The critical importance of San Miguel’s mission, Appel also told the group, was no more evident than when all schools began to negotiate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. And while other schools struggled to return to in-person instruction for more than a year, San Miguel adapted quickly to offer hybrid in-person and online instruction to keep its population of students engaged, learning and advancing their academic careers in spite of so many public health obstacles.
After the remarks, Appel answered audience questions seeking more information about San Miguel’s history, key institutional partners, the admission process and ways to support the institution.
CBN-MC board of directors member Ana Chapa thanked Appel for her remarks and for leading the important work of San Miguel School. Chapa is familiar with San Miguel’s graduates from years of past work at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School. About 40 San Miguel graduates currently attend Don Bosco in Takoma Park, Maryland.
San Miguel does extraordinary work and produces “students whose tomorrows were changed,” Chapa told the group.