Student Life
We Help Students Reach Their Full Potential
Notre Dame Academy is a Christ-centered community with high educational standards taught by well-trained, highly educated and dedicated teachers. We embrace forward thinking and offer an education that empowers your child to reach their highest potential. Our unique learning opportunities allow children to reach their full potential by enriching the academic experience with accelerated classes, the arts, and our social emotional learning program.
Innovative Education
NDA offers a broad and exceptionally rich curriculum. We meet or exceed all curricular requirements as determined by the Minnesota Department of Education, the Office for the Mission of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, and our accreditation association, MNSAA.
As our students graduate from 8th Grade, many of our graduates enter one or more honors courses in the local Catholic and public high schools. We also receive feedback from these schools that our students are respectful, friendly and well prepared for high school.
Reaching All Learners
Notre Dame Academy provides advanced level classes for students who need to be challenged further through flexible learning opportunities, differentiation, and individualization of some instructional areas.
Additional support is also available for students through our Student Assistance Team and special education services. Notre Dame Academy does its best to meet the needs of students with Learning Accommodation Plans and Individualized Education Plans.
Diverse Community
NDA provides a welcoming atmosphere for all students and families who come to our regional school from more than a dozen different school districts. Our school community is made up of a diverse mix of families with a handful of native languages spoken at home.
In a typical year, 25% of our student body comes from a diverse background and about 75% of our students are Catholic. We invite families from all religions to learn more and love sharing our Catholic traditions. Our school community includes families from all socioeconomic backgrounds.
Sports
Notre Dame Academy participates in a local sports league for private schools called the South Side Youth Organization (SSYO). Sports offerings vary for grades 4 – 8 and typically include soccer, volleyball, and basketball. During the spring, Notre Dame Academy offers a Run Club.
Our sports program is under the direction of the school Athletic Director and coached by volunteers (parents, teachers and other community members) providing another way for students and their families to work as a team and build school spirit.
Middle School Teams
Notre Dame Academy has a middle school Team (House) system. We have four teams: St. Sebastian, St. George, St Scholastica, St Francis. Each team has a mix of 6th, 7th and 8th grade students. Each fall the incoming 6th graders are randomly assigned a team. The students stay in their team with the same Advisor for all three years of middle school.
The purpose of teams is to build community, support one another, and get to know students from other grades. The teams create a smaller community within our larger middle school.
The teams are a home base for students in the mornings. The teams participate in friendly competitions as well as receive incentive points from various activities and demonstration of positive choices. The teams vie for the NDA Cup each trimester with one team winning the Cup for the school year at which time their team name is engraved on the Cup.
With our NDA middle school team system, Together Everyone Accomplishes More.
Academic Enrichment Programs
Every child who attends Notre Dame Academy has multiple opportunities to participate in a variety of educational activities that will enrich their learning experience, including optional before school activities, in-school presentations, and field trips. At NDA, students will have the advantage of a great foundation for learning and will often feel that the school is like a home away from home.
Here are a few of our academic activities, teams and speakers:
- Learning Expo
- Spelling Bee
- Quiz Bowl
- Chess Club
- Fly Tying Club
- Advanced Lit Debates
- History Comes to Life
- Student Council
Students looking to participate at Mass may do so in a variety of ways. We welcome our older students the opportunity to serve at Mass, lector, cantor and even play an instrument.
Buddy Program
Our Buddy Program is a highlight for our oldest and youngest students. Kindergartners are buddies with our 8th Grade students and our Kinderstart students (oldest preschoolers) pair up with 7th Graders. The pairs participate in reading activities, field trips and may sit together at special events. The Kindergarteners attend Mass with the 8th Graders and the bond our students build throughout the year is incredible!
Field Trips
Classes take field trips to activities and events that enhance our curriculum. A few recent examples include plays, museums, environmental camp, and the 8th Grade pilgrimage.
Lions Lair
We provide a before and/or after school care option for all of our students. The K-8 student program is called Lions Lair. Hours are from 7:30-8:40 a.m. and from 3:55-6:00 p.m. Snacks are provided after school. Students may work on homework, play board games, build Legos, enjoy time in the gym, and go outside when the weather permits. You may view our registration form with cost information on our Lions Lair page.
K-8 Bus
Busing is available to most of our K-8 students. Families living within the Hopkins School District are provided busing through Hopkins. For those living outside of the Hopkins School District, we offer busing through an independent bus company depending on your location. Registration for both of these bus routes happens every summer.
Hopkins School District
We are located in the Hopkins School District. Our Hopkins services include Special Education teachers, our school nurse, Title I services, and a Middle School Counselor. You will see these team members listed on our staff page. We are grateful for the support they provide on our campus.
Wellness at NDA
We are committed to fostering spiritual, intellectual, moral, and physical excellence in our students. The Wellness Committee fulfills this commitment by engaging teachers, food service professionals, administrators, students, and the school community in developing a focus on wellness surrounding food, health, and physical education. We define wellness as a healthy balance of mind, body and spirit that results in an overall feeling of wellbeing. We strive to improve the overall health and wellness of the NDA community by providing information, resources, activities, and services that enhance learning and contribute to the development of lifelong wellness practices. All are welcome to participate on our Wellness Committee to help us develop policies, goals and plan activities.
“Our family has been incredibly happy with the teachers and staff at NDA. Every year we continue to be impressed by the care and effort each teacher gives our children. The addition of a dedicated resource teacher has been invaluable to our elementary-aged son, who has struggled with math. He now has the opportunity to learn at his own pace and find the fun in math, setting him up for a lifetime of positive feelings about learning.“
– Current Parent