Snow Day

Ah! The snow day. Something every school-age child prays for. So far this academic year, winter has not disappointed. And it is only December. As of this writing, we are into Day 2 of school closures. Teachers and staff enjoy the day by indulging in 10 extra minutes of sleep and a second cup of […]

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Stone Soup and Other Tales of Advent

It is December, and the noise level is deafening. Not even a major snowstorm could muffle the holiday clamor. Everywhere, Christmas has been cranked up and marked down, blared and blasted, misappropriated and misunderstood. Hark! The herald… If somewhere an angel sings, it is impossible to hear above the din. These are the darkest days of the […]

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Mathlish

“The universe cannot be read until we have learned the language… in which it is written. And it is written in mathematical language.” Galileo  “They’re a special breed!” NDP Director of Communications, Cami Colarossi, responded with her own admiration to my observation about the triumvirate of middle school math teachers I had just come from […]

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Déjà Vu All Over Again

June 2013: School is out. Camp is in. There were at least three camps in full swing at Notre Dame this summer: Sports Camp for prospective middle-schoolers, Laptop Camp for incoming freshman and Camp Umoja, a full out day camp for children from Baltimore City’s inner city neighborhoods. The Umoja campers ranged in age from […]

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One Story: Sydney Tommins

NDP senior, Sydney Tommins is delightfully and blissfully ordinary, which is meant to be taken as the highest of praise. In an era where teenagers are depicted – at least by the mass media – as overly experienced and world weary, jaded and full of sullen ennui, it is heartwarming to meet someone like Sydney […]

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The Class of 2019: Going Up!

It 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 […]

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Oh! The Humanities!

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 […]

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One Story: Jamie Watson

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 […]

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