Notre Dame Academy (Hingham, Massachusetts)

Notre Dame Academy is a private, all-girls Roman Catholic high school in Hingham, Massachusetts. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.

History

Notre Dame Academy (NDA), sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is the oldest Catholic day academy for girls in New England. Located in Hingham, MA since 1965, it has its roots in two earlier academies: Notre Dame Academy, Boston (Lancaster Street, Berkeley Street, the Fenway, Granby Street) begun in 1853, and Notre Dame Academy, Roxbury, opened in 1854.

Sisters of Notre Dame traveled to the east coast from Cincinnati to found the academies. The Boston Academy began in a simple wooden structure (Lancaster Street) and, within ten years, the flourishing school needed to move to a larger facility. For the next fifty years, the academy radiated a strong religious and intellectual influence from its Berkeley Street campus. As the area became a booming industrial center in the city, it was no longer conducive for the Academy and so the school moved once again. In 1916, the school moved to 400 The Fenway and, by 1919, shared the location with the new Emmanuel College. As the college grew, the Academy moved once again, to Granby Street. The Boston Academy continued to flourish at this site until 1954.

Notre Dame Academy at Washington Street in the Roxbury section of Boston began in 1854 as a day school and boarding school. In 1954, the students from the Granby Street School joined the students at the Roxbury campus and there was one Academy in the city. As the city changed and the needs of the south shore increased, the school relocated to the present Hingham campus. Today, to meet the needs of the current student body, NDA is rebuilding at the Hingham campus and expanding its facilities.

For over 155 years, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and their lay colleagues have provided a college preparatory education to young women, encompassing the spiritual, intellectual, social, and physical development of their students.

Campus

The school is located on a 68-acre (280,000 m²) campus. The academic building consists of a chapel, auditorium, classrooms, science labs, art rooms, music and choral rooms, library, computer labs, the Maribeth Merrigan Multi Media Learning Center, guidance center, gymnasium, cafeteria, offices, and meeting rooms. The campus includes a memorial garden; three athletic fields for soccer, field hockey, softball, and lacrosse; an eight-lane track; and five tennis courts.

Student body

Students come to NDA from over 40 towns across the South Shore and surrounding areas. They travel south from Norwood, Westwood, and Boston. Some travel northeast from the Brockton area and others travel north along the Route 3 corridor from towns such as Plymouth, Kingston, and from Cape Cod. Students come from a variety of public, private and parochial schools.

Academics

Students at Notre Dame Academy follow a rigorous academic program. All classes are college preparatory. Honors and Advanced Placement sections are offered in most subject areas. Notre Dame also provides an Integrated Curriculum experience for its students. This program, initiated in 2003, allows students to learn about a particular topic by integrating all disciplines. Time is set aside for each class to experience presentations by various faculty members and guest speakers on topics that encourage students to think critically, and in an integrated way, about the world around them.

Additional Information

The school mascot is the cougar.

The golf team has won the last 11 straight state championships and has not lost a match in the last 9 years.

The swim team has won 4 consecutive state championships.

The basketball team won the 2009 Division II State Championship for the first time in school history. Margaret Riordan led NDA with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Nellie Kennedy added eight points and eight caroms. Samantha Whitham scored six points (five rebounds) with Jessica Aruda adding five, and Kelsey Reilly four (five rebounds). Overall, NDA won the rebounding battle 29-22. The NDA basketball team defeated Millbury 36-33.

The Notre Dame Academy cheerleaders have been very successful in the past few years. They won two state championships in 2010 and 2011.

NDA has an amazing drama program that puts on three shows a year. In the fall there is a musical, in the winter they compete in a festival, and in the spring they do a straight play.

The Notre Dame Academy is the sister school to BC High. The cheerleaders often come to cheer for the Eagles football and basketball teams in home games.

In 2013, the school won a contest, Koats for Kids, put on by a local radio station, Mix 104.1. Their reward for donating over 2,000 coats was a private performance from Grammy nominated singer and songwriter, Ed Sheeran.

The Notre Dame Academy Track Team were 2013 State Champions in both the winter and spring seasons.

The NDA soccer and volleyball teams won their respective Div. 2 State Championships the fall 2013 season.

The indoor track team won the All State Championships in 2014.

The ice hockey team won their first Division II State Championship at TD Garden in 2016.

Notable alumnae

• Maura Tierney, actress

Notes and references

External links

• School Website

Archdiocese of Boston
Ordinaries	Bishops Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus Benedict Joseph Fenwick John Bernard Fitzpatrick Archbishops John Joseph Williams William Henry O'Connell Richard Cushing Humberto Sousa Medeiros Bernard Francis Law Seán Patrick O'Malley Auxiliary Bishops Joseph Gaudentius Anderson John Anthony Dooher Walter James Edyvean Robert Francis Hennessey Arthur Kennedy Peter John Uglietto
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