Founded in the heart of Baltimore and since 1960 nestled in Towson, Maryland, Notre Dame Preparatory School has stood as the standard of excellence in Catholic education for 150 years. Established in 1873 with a mission to empower young women—academically, spiritually, and morally—NDP seamlessly weaves academic excellence, faith formation, and the pursuit of social justice into the student experience every day, with Catholic Schools Week being a time for deeper exploration into our faith and how it intersects with our education.
Catholic Schools Week is a nationwide initiative that has been celebrated since 1974. The week is dedicated to recognizing the unique and invaluable role that Catholic schools play in providing a high-quality education rooted in faith, morals, and social service. Throughout the week, schools of all sizes, locations, grades, and populations engage in activities and events that highlight the distinctive mission and spirit of Catholic education.
This special week typically revolves around five key themes: Celebrating Your Community, Celebrating Students, Celebrating Global Involvement, Celebrating Vocations, and Celebrating Faculty, Staff, and Volunteers. Each theme encourages schools, including Notre Dame Prep, to delve into different aspects of their mission and showcase the direct impact of Catholic education on their unique community as well as the society as a whole.
Celebrating Community: Community is the heart of NDP. Inspired by the School Sisters’ of Notre Dame charism of unity, NDP seeks to cultivate relationships through prayer, beloved traditions, and innovative programming. The combination of honoring the past while looking towards the future brings together students, parents, educators, and alumnae. A few of our favorite examples include daily student birthday announcements, routine personal exchanges with the School Sister of Notre Dame, multi-cultural celebrations, and community partnership activities such as Camp Umoja that emphasize the importance of compassion for our neighbors.
Celebrating Students: Celebrating and empowering women is at the heart of the NDP experience. Recognizing the uniqueness of each student, NDP uses Catholic Schools Week as another opportunity to display the achievements and talents of its diverse student body. Be it academic excellence or extracurricular accomplishments, athletic prowess, or artistic achievement, the school celebrates the holistic development and God-given talents of all.
Celebrating Global Involvement: The young women at Notre Dame Prep are taught the value of living as responsible global citizens. Thought-provoking classes, open discussions, and exploration of contemporary global issues expose students to our world’s modern problems. NDP’s curriculum is designed to broaden the minds of our girls and foster in our students a readiness to serve people of various backgrounds within our nation and elsewhere. Through service-learning and a mission to educate on a global level, NDP models responsible stewardship to transform for the better, the country, and the world in which we live. Of note, for more than 30 years during Catholic Schools Week, NDP has hosted Pasta for the Philippines, a lunch fundraiser to support the St. Louis School in Tuguegarao (Northern Luzon) Philippines.
Celebrating Vocations: Founded by and rooted in the spirit of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, NDP places a strong emphasis on the spiritual development of its students. Catholic Schools Week serves as a time to explore and celebrate vocations, encouraging students to consider how their God-given talents and unique potential can transform the world in positive ways.
Celebrating Faculty, Staff, and Volunteers: The dedicated educators, staff, and volunteers at Notre Dame Prep play an integral role in shaping the lives of our students. During Catholic Schools Week, we use this opportunity to express gratitude for their unwavering commitment to providing a faith-filled education. Without their support, Notre Dame Prep would not be the vibrant, loving, exciting community it has been for the last 150 years! As part of the sesquicentennial anniversary, we are celebrating past and current teachers at our Catholic Schools Week liturgy on Friday, February 2.
Unique from other communities, Notre Dame Preparatory School is fortunate to take part in Catholic Schools Week and honor it as a time for reflection, celebration, and appreciation of the rich tradition of Catholic education. Here at Notre Dame Prep, this time holds special significance as our community comes together to appreciate the past and future commitment to fostering academic excellence, spiritual growth, and social justice in the world.
