NDA History

Notre Dame Academy exists today because two young lay teachers in Coesfeld, Germany made the teaching of youth their legacy. The Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame now numbers almost 2,400 in 15 provinces around the world. Boarding schools and high schools for girls are still a strong part of the Notre Dame tradition.

For one hundred and five years, Notre Dame Academy’s doors have been opened to young women of the Toledo area as well as southeast Michigan, guiding them in acquiring the education, spiritual formation and skills to be women of vision and integirty in their families, workplaces and communities.

First established in an imposing gray stone building at 1111 West Bancroft St. in Toledo in 1904, Notre Dame Academy outgrew this facility as the twentieth century passed the halfway mark. Increased enrollment, curriculum updates and program advances to meet the changing needs of young women required additional space and upgraded facilities.

In late February 1959, Notre Dame Academy began anew with the ground breaking of the current facility at 3535 West Sylvania Avenue. The original statue of Mary that graced the Bancroft St. campus was relocated to the new campus, a beautiful reminder of our school patroness and intercessor for all the needs of our students, families, faculty and staff. Utilizing the best of modern design, the new building achieved a happy blend of utility and beauty. Solar glass walls presented a dramatic façade to the five-building high school which graces a wonderfully wooded campus. Natural brick, glass, steel and reinforced concrete combined to create five integrated, contemporary buildings. The present site was dedicated September 8, 1960. Ever mindful of the honored tradition of its heritage, the new Notre Dame Academy, through its advanced educational architecture and facilities, brought new opportunities for intellectual and spiritual growth. It was written when the current facility was completed, “In stone and glass and steel, in grateful prayer, the flame of learning will continue to glow.”

Since that time, our enrollment has more than doubled; yet each new year sees the Academy endeavoring to maintain the same spirit of its more than 100 years of guidance and education of young women.

In order to enhance worship opportunities, the construction of a new chapel in a more peaceful location of the campus began in July 1979. In December of 1980, Bishop John A. Donovan consecrated the chapel and altar under the patronage of Our Lady of Good Counsel, which completed the dream that began seventeen months earlier. The space vacated by the former chapel provided a spacious room for class meetings and other gatherings.

Renovation of the former Aspirant’s residence, renamed “Wendy's Wing,” was started and completed in 1988 and is located on the first foor of the east wing of Notre Dame Academy. In the Fall of 2007, Wendy’s Wing became the home of the new Notre Dame Junior Academy for 7th and 8th grade young women.

Thanks to a successful $5.5 million capital campaign, the first in Notre Dame Academy’s history, construction of a new gymnasium, fitness center, locker rooms and athletic offices was completed in December, 2002. The original auditorium, renamed the Ave Maria Performing Arts Center, was renovated to include new seating, state-of-the-art light and sound systems, and a lobby/gathering space. The spacious hallway connecting the new athletic facility and auditorium was named in honor of Sr. Mary Carol Gregory, SND (Sr. Mary Kevan), teacher, Principal and President at Notre Dame Academy for 42 years.