By NDLC Director Sister Evelyn Breslin, SSND
On October 15, 1854, two School Sisters of Notre Dame arrived in Rochester, NY, with one candidate. They came to teach 176 girls at the first parochial school in Rochester, the former St. Joseph’s School.
Their teaching ministry spread rapidly to other German parish schools: Sts. Peter and Paul School (1855), St. Boniface School (1866), Holy Family School (1867), Holy Redeemer School (1867), St, Michael’s School (1874), St. Joseph’s Commercial School (1904), and Holy Ghost School (1918). Three new missions were added in 1962: St. Margaret Mary School, St. Philip Neri School, and Bishop Kearney High School.
When Rochester NY Diocesan schools closed more than 100 years later, the SSNDs were determined to continue their mission there.
The results of a survey the Sisters conducted at area churches and agencies unveiled a need for tutoring in reading and mathematics for children and adults as well. After much research, planning, and hard work, the Notre Dame Learning Center became a reality.
Notre Dame Learning Center was approved as a sponsored ministry of the School Sisters of Notre Dame and opened in March 2004, at the Charles Settlement House. Sister Lorraine Burns, joined by Sister Mary Lou Brien, and later Sister Mary Smith, began tutoring children in reading and mathematics. The Center grew, and by 2006, there were 55 children receiving tutoring services from 60 volunteer tutors.
While the Covid pandemic brought our building to a close, it did not stop us from providing tutoring to our children. Instead of meeting at the Center, our summer program saw us delivering boxes of nature-themed activities to keep young minds busy. As the school season approached and it was obvious that we still would not be meeting in person, we moved our tutoring online. We provided Chrome books to several students who did not have computers at home. They and their tutors worked out the difficulties of this new method of learning and teaching.
These days, the Notre Dame Learning Center continues to operate at the Parkway site in the Charles Settlement House and at its satellite site located at Bishop Kearney. We tutor children in grades one through eight in reading, mathematics, and language arts.
As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary, we gratefully acknowledge the friends and loyal supporters during these 20 years.
Who can forget:
- the volunteers who gave their time and energy
- the members of the Board of Trustees who served as advisors
- the loyal supporters who established fund raising activities, especially the spaghetti dinners, Thanks for Giving raffle, and golf tournaments
- the support of friends
- and, of course, the more than 2,000 children who have benefitted from NDLC services.
We are proud of all that has been and proud to look forward to what will be!
Click the image to watch our video gallery of anniversary photos!
