History of the Academy of Notre Dame
The history of the Academy of Notre Dame, Tyngsboro, is one told against the backdrop of a nation’s—and a region’s—changing socio-economic needs and the Academy’s response to its academic challenges. It is a history of striving toward excellence that has shaped the current institution’s ongoing commitment to offer a unique and irreplaceable educational option to over 33 communities in the Merrimack Valley Region.
The Academy of Notre Dame began in 1854 in Lowell, Massachusetts, founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. It was first located on Adams Street, adjacent to St. Patrick’s Parish during a time when poverty ravaged the area…and was a common state of affairs. While education was still considered by most to be a luxury, the Sisters rallied and were determined that poverty would not be a deterrent to every child receiving an education that prepared them for the rigors of an often harsh life—and as a means to surpass it.
Hearing their plea, Father Timothy O’Brien, of St. Patrick’s Parish in Lowell, invited Sister Desiree, SND and several other Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to assist in the parish. There the Sisters eagerly began constructing a program that has become so rooted in the areas historical tradition, that it is sometimes hard to decide who, indeed, “invented” education in the community. The long-neglected educational needs of the girls of the area, coupled with the dire need for that era’s version of “day-care,” prompted the Sisters to step in and provide adequate daily care to the children of mill workers. The demand so grew, that in 1854 in the thick of the Industrial Revolution in the United States and in New England—and also in response to pleas from the parents of means who were struggling to find an environment that provided quality education for their children-- Sr. Desiree, SND opened a boarding school in Lowell, the Academy of Notre Dame.
By the turn of the century, the number of day and boarding students had grown significantly. The facilities became overcrowded as the business district of Lowell crept increasingly closer to the Adams Street School. In 1907, when the overcrowding finally reached critical proportions, two hundred fifty acres were purchased from the Nance O’Neil estate through the efforts of generous benefactors. In 1926 ground was broken for the new home of the Academy in its rural setting.
In 1927, the Tyngsboro facility was completed and the Academy moved to the new location. Built in an impressive English Collegiate Gothic style, it contained a four-story brick building, which would house classrooms, the chapel and the gymnasium, in addition to serving as the residence for boarding students and the religious faculty.
The gradual phasing out of boarding students in the 1960s, and the move of the Sisters to nearby houses in the late 1980s, enabled the school to enlarge its facilities. A new chapel and auditorium were built onto the existing building. The Blanche Walsh Gymnasium, computer facilities for both schools, an expanded middle-years program with grades 6, 7 and 8, music rooms for the elementary school and new science labs and classrooms for the high school were added. In 1998, the Kathryn Lawrence McGuiggan, SND Athletic Facility was also added to the campus.
As the needs of society and the students have changed, so has the curriculum of the Academy. Since the late 1930s the Academy has continued to offer a college preparatory program. Throughout all of the curricular changes made to provide students with the skills necessary to meet the demands of a changing world, the original objective of the Academy of Notre Dame, as expressed by St. Julie Billiart, to promote spiritual, intellectual, and physical development of a child has not changed. As members of a strong spiritual community, students are encouraged to recognize their unique gifts and to utilize their talents to improve the quality of their own lives and the lives of others. “Service” has always been an important part of the school’s credo. Since its founding in 1854, the Academy of Notre Dame has been, and will remain, committed to the goals of educating and preparing young people to accept responsibility for Christian citizenship and leadership.
While many changes have been made to adapt to the changing times, the school retains its original objectives to promote a sense of Christian community and leadership for its young women in an atmosphere of academic and spiritual excellence. For over 150 years, the Academy of Notre Dame has been committed to its motto, “Ad Altiora” - Toward Higher Things.
It is a call to standards that will be adhered to as long as the walls of the beloved Academy are standing and the enlightened vision of the Sisters of Notre Dame serves its community.
