Alumni

Faith in Action: A Year of Mission at Notre Dame High School

At Notre Dame High School, the Holy Cross mission isn't something students encounter only in the classroom — it's woven into every dimension of school life, from morning prayer to service placements across Connecticut and beyond. This year's Campus Ministry report offers a remarkable picture of a community living its faith with depth and intention.

Meeting Students Where They Are

Notre Dame's approach to faith formation begins, appropriately, with welcome. The school's religious studies curriculum has been redesigned to open with an encounter rooted in the Holy Cross spirit of André — meeting young people exactly where they are, rather than where we expect them to be. At the same time, the school has taken the significant step of integrating Holy Cross charism standards across every academic department, from science and mathematics to English and the humanities. Faith and learning, at Notre Dame, are not separate endeavors.

A Community at Prayer

Perhaps no single number tells the story of this year's spiritual renewal more powerfully than this: daily morning prayer, which drew roughly ten students in recent years, now draws standing-room-only crowds of more than 80 young people each day. That growth didn't happen by accident — it is the fruit of programs, relationships, and a culture that invites students into something real.

That culture was visible across the liturgical calendar. On Ash Wednesday, 257 students and faculty received ashes — the highest number ever recorded at the school. Over the course of the year, 60 students were confirmed in partnership with Father Michael Dolan of McGivney Parish, six students celebrated First Communion at the school, and 142 confessions were heard. Three students are on the path to baptism in Christian communities. Archbishop Coyne presided at the Holy Cross Heritage Mass this spring — his first visit to Notre Dame — joined by Father Dolan and Deacon Jerry Schmidt.

BRO & SOL: Retreat as Community

When Notre Dame announced its historic transition to coeducation, students asked two immediate questions about BRO — the school's beloved monthly retreat program for young men: Would it continue? And could female students have something similar?

The answer to both was yes. BRO (Brothers Reaching Others) remains a cornerstone of the school's retreat ministry, while SOL (Sharing Our Lives) was developed in parallel, meeting during the community period during the school day. SOL regularly draws 24 to 30 young women per session. At Christmas and Easter, the two programs join together — 50 students gathered for a combined Christmas session, and a joint Easter gathering.

The reach of BRO has extended well beyond West Haven: the program has been adopted by a Holy Cross school in Uganda, a connection that surfaced at a recent Holy Cross Institute webinar and speaks to the universal resonance of Notre Dame's model.

Service That Spans the State and the Nation

Through the CSMC — the Service and Mission Club established in 1947 and named in honor of Brother Rondoris — more than 280 community service placements have been made over the past four years across Connecticut and nationally. Students have served alongside organizations of every kind, guided by a speaker series that has brought voices from the Holy Cross Institute, veterans' services, and local parishes into conversation with Notre Dame's young leaders.

Notre Dame's BRO leaders made their second consecutive pilgrimage to St. Joseph's Oratory and Collège Notre-Dame in Montréal this year — a journey that bore unexpected fruit: Collège Notre-Dame has now joined the Holy Cross Institute Convocation and the Holy Cross Student Leaders Conference in Indiana for the first time, a connection forged through Notre Dame's students.

Faculty Rooted in Mission

The school's mission is sustained by faculty who carry it forward every day. This year, a total of 22 faculty and staff members have attended the Holy Cross Institute Convocation, and seven completed the Holy Cross Charism Initiative certification program.  Additionally, faculty serve as Eucharistic ministers at school Masses — a quiet, powerful testimony to a community of educators who are also people of faith.

Notre Dame High School has always believed that education of the whole person — mind, heart, and spirit — is not an aspiration but a responsibility. The numbers and stories of this year make clear that belief is very much alive, and growing.