All-Girls' Advantage

As the first all-girls' day school in Massachusetts, we have been educating girls for lives of exceptional leadership and service for nearly 200 years.

From middle school through senior year, Notre Dame Academy nurtures a journey of self-discovery in young women, inspiring hearts, minds, and voices. Every aspect of teaching and learning here is tailored to girls – every class, every program, every team – emboldening girls to take the lead in the classroom, in the lab, on stage, on the field and in their communities.

 

Education builds minds. Spirituality opens hearts. And leadership will develop your voice, so you can speak up and speak out and have a say in the world. As you make your voices heard, you will create a ripple effect, inspiring others, creating change, and carrying God's goodness to every corner of the Earth. Annemarie Lynch Kenneally '80 P'13 '15
President

1% Estimated, girls in the US attend girls’ schools yet...

20% of the women currently serving in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives graduated from an all-girls school

—National Coalition of Girls’ Schools

 

99%

Students at all-girls' schools expect to earn a four-year degree.

and more than 2/3 expect to earn a graduate or professional degree.

—Dr. Richard A. Holmgren, Allegheny College, Steeped in Learning: The Student Experience at All-Girls Schools

 

90% All-women faculty and staff at NDA

educating the hearts, minds and voices, of every girl, so they have the confidence, wisdom and will to lead throughout their lives

All-girls' learning environments empower students to become bold leaders. 

-Goodman Research Group, The Girls’ School Experience: A Survey of Young Alumnae of Single-Sex Schools

NDA Empowers Girls to: 

  • Speak freely and exercise the power of their voices
  • Listen to, collaborate with, and learn from each other
  • Challenge norms and imagine ways to do better
  • Open their hearts, placing service of others ahead of self
  • Lead a life of purpose

 

The more often girls act bravely, the braver they become.

Courage and confidence are learnable skills. We give girls opportunities to try and fail and succeed in a nurturing environment, free from judgement and full of support.

This purposefully develops confidence, empowering girls to speak up and exercise the power of their voice, to challenge norms and pursue any direction their talents lead them. 

Our students learn to innovate and think on their feet – to tout their accomplishments and to know that being strong and being kind are not mutually exclusive – they can be fierce and feminine at the same time.

 

 


When girls are confident, when they feel powerful and secure, they are optimistic and see their peers as allies. Our girls focus their competitive spirit on improving the world and uplifting their NDA sisters and all humanity in the process. They carry forth a mission and contribute to a legacy more than two centuries in the making.

 

 

93%

of girls' school grads say they were offered greater leadership opportunities than peers at coed schools, and 80% have held leadership positions since graduation.

-ICGS, 2023

Notre Dame Academy is a proud member of the International Coalition of Girls' Schools (ICGS). To read their latest research on the power of all-girls' schools, visit these resources: