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January 15, 2026By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press
WORCESTER – A milestone brought people “back to school,” where they enjoyed reunions, reminisced and expressed gratitude.
It was the opening of Notre Dame Academy’s 75th anniversary Saturday with a Mass and reception.
“We remember with deep gratitude the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur,” who started the academy, Marilyn Tencza, head of school, said in an introduction. She said the sisters brought to Worcester the vision of their foundress, St. Julie Billiart, who “dreamed of a world where young women could grow in knowledge, courage and faith.”'
Ms. Tencza, retiring at the end of this school year and being succeeded by Linda Anderson, expressed hope that “this Mass remind us of God’s presence among us, the gift of education and the power of a community shaped by faith.”
In his homily Father Jonathan J. Slavinskas, school chaplain and pastor of Our Lady of Providence Parish, spoke of the school existing for 75 years to form people who know who they truly are – not simply a GPA or a resume, but a beloved person. That’s the identity God the Father proclaimed for Jesus when he was baptized, before he even performed a miracle, Father Slavinskas noted.
As Jesus was sent – not into comfort, but into service and love – so too the Sisters of Notre Dame are not people who will rise above others, but ones who will stand with others, advocating for justice, Father Slavinskas said.
The school’s 75th anniversary is not just to celebrate history but to renew the identity of being beloved, and to go out and be light, living love in a world that needs it, he said.
“One of the things the school has been excellent in” is its Love in Action service program, said Sister Ann Morrison, principal from 1976-2017. Sometimes alumnae tell her their memories of it, and “they also continue to live it,” such as by helping a former fellow classmate in need.
Sister Barbara Collins, a retired Sister of Notre Dame who worked in the academy’s religion department for 30 years altogether, said the Love in Action program influenced students’ future careers. And the Oxfam banquet she organized until last fall gave participants a taste of food inequities in first, second and third world countries.
“We’re very proud of the sisters who have worked here, the staff, and the students that have attended and carried on the tradition, and that the students in the future will continue the tradition – the academic excellence and the service orientation,” commented Sister Ginny Scally, a member of the academy’s board and the Sisters of Notre Dame East-West Province Leadership Team.
“We’re always delighted at the longevity of our [sisters’] ministries,” said Sister Maria Delaney, another member of the leadership team and a former member of the school’s board. “And the creation of a Catholic girls’ high school that holds a community of believers is something that we really cherish.”
Students – present and past – cherish the school too.
“It’s like, really special to be graduating this year … on the 75th anniversary,” enthused Abigail Ives. “The Mass was really nice today … the whole community of people here … this kind of meant ‘home’ to them.”
“It was just really nice to see the alumnae here,” added her twin and classmate Charlotte Ives. She said she saw a former student she looked up to, who was a senior when she was a freshman.
“I think another reason it’s so special we’re graduating this year is our grandma went here,” Charlotte added. Their grandmother, Patricia (Ferguson) Sprunger, Class of 1964, likes to tell stories of her own Notre Dame days and their aunt, Christi (Sprunger) Lipka, Class of 1990.
The school is a family affair for others too. Stephanie (Lewis) Weinfurt said she was in the Class of 1995 and her mother, Cathy (Connolly) Lewis, the Class of 1971.
“We have a text group called the herd,” she said of herself and friends from her student days, when they communicated by “telephone at our parents’ house.”
“We’ve never lost touch,” she continued. “Notre Dame friendships – they don’t go away.” She said her mother also kept her Notre Dame friends up until her death.
Saturday’s gathering turned out to be a reunion of big sisters and little sisters, Mrs. Weinfurt added. She saw her fellow “little sister” and their “big sister” from her freshman year, and her “little sister” – the school nurse – from her senior year. Freshmen – sometimes more than one of them – were paired with a senior, who was called their “big sister” for the year, she explained. Sometimes seniors had a new staff member as their “little sister,” as she did.
“The friends that I made then are still my friends today,” Mary Elizabeth Maloney, Class of 1962, said of women she knew when they were students at Notre Dame Academy. “Life-long friendships, besides a great education. So, I’m very thankful for both. … It continued my deep faith that my mother instilled in me.” Ms. Maloney said she has been an extraordinary minister of holy Communion for her parish, Christ the King in Worcester, for 35 years.
She still serves Notre Dame Academy too. She was director of alumnae relations from 1983-1997, and returned five years ago as the major gifts officer, she said. And her daughter, Sarah (Maloney) Dowden, graduated from there in 1995.
Editor’s note: For updates about the academy’s other activities this 75th year, see nda-worc.org.
History: Girls’ school started with a bishop’s invitation
The bishop was considering making a Worcester mansion his residence, but invited religious sisters to start a girls’ school there instead.
He would later visit the school unannounced, bothering staff and delighting students, and even remembered the girls on Valentine’s Day.
These are some of the stories told about Notre Dame Academy, which began its 75th anniversary celebrations Saturday.
Shortly after being named first bishop of the new Diocese of Worcester in 1950, Bishop John J. Wright made a $500 deposit on 14 acres, according to a Spring 2001 Notre Dame Academy newsletter. It says the information published there was excerpted from a history by Frances O’Keefe, once a member of the school’s English department. The property, Ellis Estate, was named after one of its owners, Theodore Ellis, publisher of The Worcester Telegram.
On the land was the Knollwood mansion, “an eclectic version of 17th and 18th century French architecture,” which Lyman Gordon began constructing in 1914 and Lucius J. Knowles completed for his family residence.
Later, Bishop Wright intended to live there, but decided the mansion was too large and grand, the newsletter says. He asked the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who already ran schools in Worcester, to consider starting one there.
Their Ascension High School for girls could no longer accommodate all the applicants, according to a Jan. 7, 1951 Worcester Sunday Telegram article. It says the bishop announced Jan. 6 that arrangements had been made for the sisters to purchase the Knollwood manor house and surrounding property.
“The Sisters of Notre Dame owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Bishop Wright” for inviting them to start the academy there, Sister Ann Morrison told The Catholic Free Press. “He wanted a school on the west side of the city.”
Sister Ann, who came to the school as a math teacher in 1973 and was the sixth and last Sister of Notre Dame to be principal (1976-2017), said she never knew Bishop Wright. But Sister Justina Daley, principal before her, advised her to “stay in touch with the diocese … appreciate the spiritual support” it offers to this independent school.
An August 31, 1951 Catholic Free Press article says Sister Marion Cecilia had been named superior of Notre Dame Academy. The article named four sisters as her faculty and four sisters teaching at Our Lady of the Angels School in Worcester, who would also live at the academy.
In September 1951 Bishop Wright celebrated a Mass that officially opened Notre Dame Academy to 27 freshmen and seven seventh graders, the newsletter says. (Classes were added each year.)
That year a “beautiful wood-panelled room off the foyer” was the chapel, the master bedroom was the freshman classroom, a north wing bedroom the seventh-graders’ classroom, and a round sitting room the music room.
“The sisters occupied the south wing, the former servants’ quarters, and the entire top floor, including the attic,” the newsletter says.
Bishop Wright came for formal occasions and “made innumerable casual drop-ins,” according to the newsletter.
“His spontaneous visits occasionally caused some consternation among the teaching staff,” it recounts. “His visits always resulted in an assembly at which he would ask, ‘Have you been good?’ With more fervor, perhaps, than truth, there would be a resounding, ‘Yes!’, whereupon the bishop would give the students the rest of the day off.”
On March 11, 1955 The Catholic Free Press published a photo of Bishop Wright blessing the cornerstone of the school’s new building, built to accommodate 400 students. It is still the main academic building. Enrollment this year is 249, said Sherri G. Pitcher, director of marketing and communications.
In June 1955 Bishop Wright presented diplomas to members of the first graduating class and the sisters gave them each a memory book with pictures of the first four years, The Catholic Free Press reported.
Grades 7 and 8 were discontinued in 1961. But the Saint Julie Division, which now includes grades seven and eight, started up around a decade ago, Mrs. Pitcher said.
She said that in 1990 the school opened an athletic complex and, in 1993, a new library and media center honoring Sister Justina Daley, in the former gym in the main academic building.
“In 2009, the Academy completed the expansion of the academic building, including the construction of a new music room, art gallery, and student center,” the website nda-worc.org/about/mission says. Classrooms and science laboratories were updated too. In 2011 the Heritage Chapel opened in the main academic building. The old mansion’s carriage house, renovated in 2014 and now called The Gage House, is a World Language and Communication Center.
Bishop Wright had celebrated the first Mass for Notre Dame Academy, and in August 2023 Bishop McManus celebrated the closing Mass for the chapel in the manor house which had become the initial school and the convent, noted Sister Ann Morrison. She said she gave a brief speech, saying the good we have done can never pass away. She noted that the manor is on the National Register of Historic Places.
“I think we have a responsibility to continue … the mission of the sisters” and preserve the history of the manor house and property, she said.