Meet Mr. Bailey!

As a child Mr. Bailey grew up in Maryland where he attended Loyola Blakefield. Mr. Bailey has a 7th grade daughter at Maryvale, a sister who went to Mercy, he loves the color yellow, his favorite food is pizza and he has a cat named Altarbell! His favorite book is The Lord of the Rings trilogy. His favorite movie is an older sci-fi movie called Donnie Darko. He loves any songs by the band Creed! He likes the forest and the beach and his favorite place in the world is the Highlands of Scotland. In his free time he enjoys playing badminton, watching professional wrestling and playing video games. He’s a very skilled Mario kart player too. He has recently started working with the Special Olympics of Maryland. They provide opportunities for developmentally delayed or neurodivergent individuals to play competitive sports. It brings him a great deal of joy. 

He chose to become a teacher because he was sort of a lonely kid in high school who had trouble making friends. But he had some amazing teachers who helped him feel loved and welcomed, and decided that he wanted to grow up and have the same impact on other children. As a kid he enjoyed playing soccer and baseball. He then got his bachelor’s degree in English from Goucher College, and then his graduate degree from Loyola University. 

Before Maryvale he had lots of teaching experience including teaching at Saint Ursula School for 5 years, and then at Loyola Blakefield for 11 years. Mr. Bailey teaches 7th and 9th grade English here. His teaching philosophy is that learning how to write is really about learning how to think. Learning how to read is really about learning how to understand the perspectives of others. He believes both skills make better and more compassionate people. He also incorporates his belief that we live in a world where everyone assumes the worst about everyone else. He’s trying hard to teach us all to “presuppose good will,” which means assuming that everyone’s doing the best they can every day, even if their “best” isn’t what you’d hope for. When you retrain yourself to trust everyone and think the best of everyone, it makes your days far less angry and stressful. Rise above rather than sink below.

Welcome to Maryvale Mr. Bailey!