To better serve the community the parishes of St. Matthew’s in Ridgefield, St. Michael’s in Palisades Park and St. Nicholas’ in Palisades Park it was decided to pool their resources. A new entity was created in 1991, Notre Dame Interparochial School.
Originally Notre Dame had two campuses; these were the Primary Division located in Ridgefield and the Elementary Division located in Palisades Park. After a study conducted by the Archdiocese of Newark it was deemed no longer feasible to operate two campuses.
Therefore, as of 2007-2008 school year Notre Dame now occupies one campus located in Palisades Park. This one site allows children to begin their education at Notre Dame as 3 year-olds and continue until graduation from eighth grade.
There are numerous advantages to having students located on a single campus. Children of all ages are able to interact which promotes a strong feeling of community. Siblings are all located in one building. This gives parents peace of mind because their children are together in a safe and nurturing environment. The final advantage is that the staff has more opportunity to become aware of each child’s needs as he/she progresses through the grades. This allows a better implementation of the curriculum. On November 18, 2011 the Archdiocese of Newark granted Notre Dame, Academy status.
The title of Academy brings to Notre Dame the recognition it deserves for being an outstanding school community which continues to achieve academic excellence. In 2014 Notre Dame Academy became a peaceable school, adopting a peace-centered curriculum that teaches students how to resolve conflicts, anger management skills, and peer mediation.
Notre Dame Academy serves a multi-cultural Catholic and Non-Catholic population. Notre Dame embraces cultural diversity in an atmosphere of understanding and respect. Enrollment has continued to grow year after year as our reputation as an Academy that sets up our scholars for future success has grown.