May 28, 2021 Message from the Head of School
Dear Notre Dame Community,
Thank you for all your many efforts to make our 2020-2021 academic year such a safe and successful experience. With great faith and after months of planning, we returned to campus in late August, committed to wearing masks, maintaining social distance in classrooms, faithfully completing our "Daily Check" and respecting the Honor Code at all times -- especially when that required "close contact" identification and the need to quarantine. Those who utilized remote learning options with our livestreaming were equally committed to our core values and their educational experience.
All our resilient students, along with our very dedicated teachers, staff and highly supportive parents, contributed to an extraordinary year with outstanding teaching, capped by our Mother/Daughter Masses and Picnics, Ring Mass, Father/Daughter Walk, Prom, Spirit Day, Class of 2022 Event and Graduation Mass and Ceremonies.
I could not be more proud of our Notre Dame community as I complete my Head of School service at the Academy. It has been a genuine honor to serve you, and I pray that God continues to strengthen all our efforts to teach our students "what they need to know for life." It has been a great blessing in my life to be with you throughout these seven years.
May you and your family have a safe summer. May God continue to bless you. May God continue to bless our Academy of Notre Dame de Namur.
Judith A. Dwyer, Ph.D. Head of School
Spirit Day 2021 - For more photos, visit our SmugMug gallery. Print photos can be purchased by the photographer Jay Gorodetzer here.
Are You on the List?
As you check off your list of things to do before summer vacation begins, there is one more thing we would like you to do before the school year ends – make a gift to The Notre Dame Fund today! Check this updated Donor Roll to be sure that you have supported our most important fundraising initiative at the Academy.
This year, our faculty and staff have gone the extra mile to ensure a safe and nurturing environment for your daughters while maintaining the level of academic excellence that has been part of the Notre Dame legacy since 1856.
Make your gift online here, via Venmo @AcademyofNotreDamedeNamur, by making a stock transfer or by mailing a check. All gifts received by June 30, 2021, will be acknowledged in our Annual Report, which will be published in late summer. Please contact Mimi Koelle with any questions at 610-971-4919 or mkoelle@ndapa.org.
The Advancement Office wishes you and your family a wonderful summer. Thank you for your generous support!
Livestream Links for End-of-Year Ceremonies
See below for links to the livestreams of our end-of-year ceremonies. Please feel free to share these links with family members and friends who are unable to attend in person.
Important Busing Information - June 2 Noon Dismissal
Buses not picking up for the noon dismissal on June 2 (please make alternate arrangements for noon pick-up):
Bags to Mats - Donate Your Shopping Bags!
On April 15 and 16, our Middle School students attended a virtual leadership symposium with our sister school in Canada, The Study, which focused on environmental stewardship and concluded with a call to action for our students to go out in the world and make a positive impact on our planet. Heeding that call to action, the Center for Global Leadership and our Middle School religion teachers will be running a full-year project in 2021-2022 to make reusable sleeping mats out of plastic shopping bags for those experiencing homelessness in the Philadelphia region.
We encourage all students to collect their clean plastic shopping bags and drop them off in Mrs. Moffat's office during the last few weeks of school. Also, we ask that families collect and save any plastic shopping bags over the summer to bring in for the collection in September. Middle School students will be led through the sleep-mat making process next year. Thank you for helping us reduce plastic bag waste and provide a clean and dry sleeping experience for those in need. Click here for a full gallery of Senior Prom photos. Photos by Active Image Media.
Athletics: End-of-Year Update
Congratulations to all our student-athletes that contributed to this unprecedented year of sports. I'd especially like to thank our senior athletes (pictured below) for all they have given to the programs they have been involved in over the years. Congratulations and good luck.
Our Senior Athlete Recognition Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, June 2 at 6 pm in the AW Gym. Seniors athletes and their guests are welcome to attend in person. The Ceremony can also be seen via Livestream - Senior Athlete Recognition Ceremony
Congratulations to the following athletes for receiving All Inter-Ac recognition for this spring:
Golf: 1st Team - Stef Bonini and Heather Styslinger 2nd Team - Catherine Chapman
Lacrosse: 1st Team - Ava Bleckley & Dani Falcone 2nd Team - Katie Onderdonk
Softball: 1st Team - Jada Wade
Women's Choral Global Classroom with San Silvestre
On May 20, students in Mrs. Miller's Women's Chorale class participated in a global classroom with students from the choir at the San Silvestre School, our sister school in Lima, Peru. Each group shared performances of songs with cultural relevance in their country. Notre Dame performed "Make Them Hear You" and San Silvestre sang "A Mi Palomita." The students then engaged in discussion in breakout rooms about how Covid 19 has impacted their musical lives, how song and dance express so much about culture, and about how the music program functions at each school. We also made plans to continue this choral connection next year!
Pick Up the Perfect Gift for Dad for Father's Day!
Don't forget we now carry great Father's Day gifts for Dads and Granddads! He would look great on the ND sidelines and the golf course, too in this Nike dri-fit golf shirt ($60) or the Under Armour UPF 50 1/4 zip ($55) and you can't go wrong with a Nike dri hat ($35).
Remember our online store, with new items too, will be open all summer and orders will be shipped weekly!! Avoid the September rush!
Place your orders all summer long via the Shamrock Shop Online. MEMORIAL DAY - NO CLASSES | May 31 EXAM REVIEW DAY | June 1 CLASS OF 2021 AGAPE DINNER | June 1 SENIOR ATHLETE RECOGNITION CEREMONY | June 2 8TH GRADE GRADUATION | June 3 BACCALAUREATE | June 4 CLASS OF 2021 COMMENCEMENT | June 5
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