News Around School

In-Person Retreats Resume!

On Friday, September 21st, Notre Dame’s faculty and staff enjoyed a special retreat, hosted by Sr. Mary Dolan, SU, our Facilitator for Mission, and by Tara Crimmins from the theology department. After a hearty bagel breakfast, faculty and staff learned more about Ignatian Spirituality. Sr. Mary recounted the story of St. Ignatius, the pilgrim, visiting The Shrine of Our Lady of Arantzazu in Oñati, Spain.

Arantzazu means, “You, Here?” The beautiful statue of Arantzazu was found among the thorn bushes. It was a surprise encounter for Ignatius, and after spending a night in prayer before this statue of Our Lady, he received a life changing grace for which he was grateful for his entire life.

Sr. Mary asked us to remember times in our own lives where we were surprised by the unexpected. Often, surprises are not exactly what we may have chosen for ourselves, but we learn along our own human journeys that God is always with us, even in difficult moments, just like Ignatius found the statue hidden among thorn bushes. God’s unique, unconditional love for each one of us is always with us, no matter the circumstances of our lives. God is with us even as the global pandemic, and all the consequences of that, continue. Are we able to savor a sense of gratitude for God’s presence in our lives, even during these extraordinarily difficult times?

After time for personal reflection and group sharing, the faculty reconvened in the Dolan Center and Sr. Mary traced the personal history of our school’s founder, Anne de Xainctonge, and her close connection to the Jesuits of her time. Anne risked personal comfort and even a break in familial relationships to follow her vocation to educate girls as the Jesuits were educating boys. Her humane and open-minded approach to education lives on at Notre Dame today. With gratitude to Sr. Mary for leading our retreat, faculty and staff ended the afternoon in prayer and walked out to an exceptionally sunny early fall day in the West Village, ready for the busy weeks ahead of teaching and serving the school!

Led by Theology Teacher Kevin McDonald and senior leaders, in-person student retreats have also returned Chez Nous. Our ninth graders thoroughly enjoyed their first high school retreat on October 7th. Mr. McDonald introduced our newest students to the concept of a retreat and the theme of Friendship— with one another, with oneself, and with God. The day opened with prayer and a blessing on the class. Students gathered in small discussion groups throughout the day, participated in a Trust Walk, and wrote letters to themselves to be stored and then delivered to them at the end of senior year. The day ended with a closing prayer from Mr. McDonald: Lord, let this time of being with You, with ourselves, and with one another bring new life to our hearts and spirits. Help us become more aware of what we need to let go of and what we need to embrace. May we come to a deep appreciation of the work You created us to be. We offer this prayer in Your name. Amen

DEIG Work at Notre Dame

Christina Johnson ’24, and Sadie Transom ’23

Christina Johnson ’24, Nicole Wakabayashi, and Mahlah Abudu ’24

Notre Dame has long been proud of its diverse student population, a true “rich, cultural, racial, and ethnic mosaic,” as our mission statement celebrates. But we also, of course, recognize the need to do more than just attract, recruit, and retain a diverse mix of students. Our identity as a Catholic school, especially, requires us to do the work required to make sure every member of our school community feels a deep sense of belonging here. We are pleased to announce our newly coined emphasis on DEIG programming, planning, and education: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and the Gospel.

This work begins at the very top of our school, with our Board of Trustees, who have now engaged in over 10 hours of focused diversity training and strategic planning, under the guidance of Martha Haakmat, who specializes in leadership coaching and support for DEI strategic planning for schools and other organizations. In its fall meeting, our Trustees focused on Envisioning Strategic DEI and Anti-Racism and establishing the frameworks for action plans and goals for the year ahead. The Notre Dame Board has established a DEIG Task Force, consisting of members of each Board committee, to work in a sustained way on issues of race, diversity, and justice at our school.

DEIG training continues with our faculty, staff, students, and families, as well, with the help of consultant Dr. Sandra Chapman, who is working directly with our student peer leadership group, Anne’s Leaders, named, of course, after our iconic founder, Anne de Xainctonge. At our October faculty professional development session with “Dr. Chap,” we discussed the need to have Courageous Conversations; the complexity of intersectionality; the damage caused by Stereotype Threat; and how to counter it with the four Anti-Bias Domains of identity, diversity, justice, and action.

All of our work, woven into all we do at the school, is rooted in our Gospel values and our commitment to provide a “nurturing environment that encourages each student to be open to personal and intellectual growth.” We will continue to keep our entire community updated on our efforts and progress.

Karina Vargas, Dr. Sandra Chapman, Sr. Virginia O’Brien, S.U., and Dashea Hickson

Fall Sports Round-Up

Our senior players tell it best when it comes to the fall sports update, which they provided near the end of the season. We are happy that sports are fully back in session this year.

Cross Country

Notre Dame’s Cross-Country team is only halfway through their season and already off to a great start. The freshman team placed 3rd overall against competitors from all across the east coast at the Manhattan invitational. The Varsity 7 have been working in pairs throughout the season to help push each other in races and in practices. All this work resulted in all 7 runners being able to place in the top quarter of the past few races as well as beating their personal records from last season. Meanwhile, some other members of the team took the $365 collected during a Notre Dame tag day to the Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research! The girls had a great time running the 5k, knowing it was for a good cause. This bodes well for the reigning New York City Sectional champions as we will look to defend this title in just three weeks! — Helena Stuhr ’22 and Annika Hegde ’22

Soccer

Notre Dame Soccer is a community that looks different every year as ninth graders try out, sophomores become captains for JV, juniors move up to Varsity, and seniors leave. This year we are in Tier 2, but other years we have been in Tier 1, noting the impact of the team’s dynamic, coaching situation and skillset on a year-to-year basis. We currently hold second place in our division, under the coaching and mentorship of JP Roncoli. Olivia Richards (’22) and I are co-captains of the Varsity team, and we’ve worked to build a team that is not only passionate about the sport, but willing to work hard to reach both shortterm and long-term goals. Our biggest competitors include St. John’s and Monsignor McClancy. The week of October 17th is our last week of regularly scheduled games, with our senior game taking place on Saturday, October 23rd at Randall’s and playoffs in the weeks to come. Wish us luck! — Kat Chang ’22

Volleyball

The Volleyball teams started on a high this year with both Varsity and JV winning their first games of the season. Since then, both teams have faced losses but haven’t accepted defeat. Due to COVID, spectators have not been permitted at the games. We have kept our own positive energy and enthusiasm by cheering and encouraging one another on and off the court. Both teams’ players are extremely committed and are working hard every week in practice to improve their skills. With their positive attitude and commitment, the teams hope to make it to the playoffs. Team spirit has made it a fun and enjoyable season for all the players.

Mindfulness Wednesdays in the Chapel

The first Wednesday of each month, Lauren Cimera, Notre Dame’s Director of Counseling, has been hosting in person 15-minute meditations in the chapel to start our day. It’s been so helpful this year, in particular, to start with a brief check in to see how everyone is doing and feeling. Students and faculty are invited to participate.

Encore asked Lauren about how she got interested in mindfulness and why it has been so important to share with our school community.

“I learned about mindfulness in college, but never actually practiced it. It was only 5 or 6 years ago when I got my Apple watch, and one day it prompted me to “ breathe.” I remember it was a hectic day and then I got the alert and thought, I really do need to breathe! I began doing that every time my watch prompted me and felt like it was a reset. I began doing a one-minute breathing exercise in my classes at ND with the students and playing some relaxing sounds in the background so they could get a “mental” break. I used the same technique with some of the students who came into my office because they were upset. (THEY LOVED IT!) Sometimes when I would forget to do it, they would ask me if we could pause to breathe.

When the pandemic hit, the counselors began to deal with so much more anxiety and stress among students and faculty; and for self-care purposes I began using the Calm app to do guided meditations. I realized how helpful this was for me and felt like our community could benefit. The one thing I always say about mindfulness is it is research based and proven effective for reducing stress and anxiety, but it takes practice and doing it more than once!

I also felt that I needed some extra training in mindfulness and stress management to help my students through the pandemic. I enrolled in the American School Counselor Association, “Anxiety and Stress Management” course and became an Anxiety and Stress Management specialist.” We are so grateful for Ms. Cimera’s initiative and the good care she takes of us Chez Nous.

Club Fair Returns

On September 23, 2021 ND students and club moderators went all out for our first in-person Club Fair since the pandemic. Crowding was prevented by assigning club locations to various rooms throughout the building, rather than all in the Commons at the same time. Our new 9th and 10th graders, in particular, came out in full force to sign up for extracurricular activities that ran the gamut from Young Feminists to the Foodie Club, and much more. Last year’s Club Fair was held by Zoom, with all club meetings also online. We are thrilled to offer in-person clubs for the 2021-22 school year!

LITTLE ISLAND COMMUNITY TIME

The neighborhood of Notre Dame is the gift that keeps on giving. With the opening of Little Island, an outdoor public park and event space in Hudson River Park, just steps from our school, we had the perfect spot for our students to decompress during the busy return to in-person classes. Each grade level took time during the last weeks of September and the first weeks of October to spend time in the park, enjoy a picnic lunch, and mingle with classmates and teachers. Park founder Barry Diller puts it this way, “What was in my mind was to build something for the people of New York and for anyone who visits—a space that on first sight was dazzling, and upon use made people happy.” Notre Dame students couldn’t agree more!