Tradition is one word that NDP knows well, and at Christmas time traditions abound. The campus is beautifully decorated, tree trim carols resound, advisories organize gifts for families in need and secret Santas stash secret gifts where you least expect to find them! Eleven years ago music teacher, Jerry Smith, came to NDP after a […]
Read More O Holy Night…When you get right down to it…all learning is exploration. Exploring what was discovered or will be discovered. What happened or will happen. What happens when I combine these numbers this way? Or those chemicals that way? What possibilities will open up to me if I learn this technology? Who will I reach if I […]
Read More Explore More!Earlier this month, NDP’s esteemed musical director, Mr. Alex Dzbinski, travelled to the annual Heritage Music Adjudication in Nashville, Tennessee, accompanied by several of his well-trained and finely tuned student ensembles where they competed against other schools from around the country, including some very elite music academies. Despite the stiff competition, NDP basically swept the […]
Read More At NDP, the Hits Just Keep on Comin’!I don’t know if they keep such accounts, but if they do, then NDP senior, Amanda Abraham, surely must hold the record for the fastest talker on the planet. I should have tape-recorded our interview together. Instead, I arrived armed with only a note pad and pen and became positively giddy trying to keep up […]
Read More One Story: Amanda AbrahamSitting there listening to NDP junior, Siena Thrasher talk about “her life, her passions, and her faith,” I am reminded for all the world of The Little Flower, Therese of Lisieux. For starters, Siena bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Therese. She is a 21st century version of the 19th century saint: pretty, dark-eyed, and […]
Read More One Story: Siena ThrasherFile this one under: “Something for Everyone” or “Learning In and Outside the Classroom” or… “Pick a Club, Any Club.” In an era where cutbacks for even the bare essentials have been made throughout nearly every public school system in the country, any student who attends a school where those very same essentials are protected […]
Read More Pick A Club, Any ClubIt made sense at the time. Interview a group of 6th graders towards the end of the school year and find out how their first year at Notre Dame went. There were several flaws in the plan, however. For one thing, I dropped by to conduct this hard-hitting bit of investigative journalism on a day […]
Read More The Class of 2019: Going Up!Not long ago, Notre Dame alum, Bette Ellis O’Conor (’46) and her husband, Jim, approached NDP with an idea. In keeping with the college preparatory mission of the school, the O’Conors wanted to establish an academic program that would open the girls’ eyes and minds to the interconnectedness of coursework as a way to better […]
Read More Oh! The Humanities!Senior Jamie Watson comes bounding down the hallway towards me, her hair bouncing sideways, left to right and back again, in rhythm with her gait. Only Perky Girl hair bounces like that. Jamie is perky. Jamie has the opposite stride of a runway model; in this case, a good thing. Runway models lead with their […]
Read More One Story: Jamie WatsonYes, this is a post about Maggie Ward, NDP’s drama coach for more than 30 years, but don’t expect something out of Glee. NDP is no William McKinley High School of TV fame (thankfully), and Maggie Ward is neither a Will Schuster-wanna-be, nor a diva in her own right. In fact, the only theatrics she […]
Read More Dame Maggie Ward