When seventh-grader Zhyan Noble came to Notre Dame Preparatory School, she was nervous. “I didn’t really know anyone but I knew I wanted to do something with singing,” she explains. So far, she has been able to take part in school musicals and concerts. She also loves the Big Sister/Little Sister program, which allows new students to develop close one-one-one friendships with older girls who can “show them the ropes.” Zhyan is grateful to two “Bigs” who showed her around, and is still close with her “Little” to this day. “I’ve had lots of opportunities to make new friends and be open to new friendships,” she explains.
Notre Dame Preparatory (NDP) is a Catholic, independent, college preparatory school for girls in grades 6 through 12, whose mission is to inspire students to pursue academic excellence, spiritual growth and the practice of justice.
Eighth-grader Ava Eidenberg agrees that the friendships you form help make NDP such a special place. For her, taking part in the many clubs allowed her to get to know more students and develop additional skills. “Taking part in student government gave me leadership skills and I enjoyed getting to know other girls while planning events like ‘girls night out,’” she adds. “If you have your mind set to something, you can do it here.”
Eighth-grader Brigitte Gendron discovered a real love of the arts at NDP. She described her Art Capstone project through the Innovate & Design Time (IDT), which she explains focuses on what famous women brought to the world, so her work centers around “what we (as women) will bring to the table and what we’ll bring to the world.”
But she was just as excited talking about the monthly projects through the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) program. “We tested our engineering skills through ‘Tower of Power’ where we built structures made of marshmallows and raw spaghetti,” she explains. “It was also fun to figure out ways to separate salt and pepper using different items” adds Ava excitedly. “After trying a bunch of different items, in the end we had to use static from a balloon!”
Seventh-grader Finley Jones credits her time at NDP to introducing her to new subjects to test her interests. “I like forensic shows on TV, so I took a forensics class,” she says. “I was also able to try coding and found out I liked it.” She also notes that she’s been able to create strong bonds with friends through playing soccer, lacrosse, basketball and swimming, which she feels allows her to be a better teammate. She’s enjoyed the variety she’s found at NDP. “Everyone has different talents that bring us together,” she adds.
Ava agrees that even by the end of eighth grade the students feel like they’ve known each other forever thanks to all the opportunities at NDP; whether it’s through classes, clubs, programs or sports. She notes “we’re all sisters even if we don’t know it yet.”
Notre Dame Preparatory School is a Catholic, independent college prep school for girls, educating just over 830 girls in grades 6 through 12. For more information about NPD, please visit www.notredameprep.com.
