Kelly Patterson, a humanities and language A teacher in Notre Dame’s middle division, goes over an assignment with one of her students. The Notre Dame Annual Fund helps support continuing professional development for teachers in all three school divisions.PONTIAC, Mich. — Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy announced today that it has raised a record $467,222 in unrestricted gifts when its 2014 Notre Dame Annual Fund closed on June 30.
The fund total, which is comprised of gifts from nearly 1,000 alumni, parents, faculty and other friends of the school, represents a 9.3% increase over 2013 and is the highest amount in school history.
"The dollars raised will support today's Notre Dame students in the form of classroom enhancements, extracurricular activities and financial aid," said Gregory Simon, director of the Notre Dame Annual Fund. "In addition, it will be applied to continuing teacher development and allow us to more fully support our areas of greatest need."
Simon noted that the number of gifts from alumni also set a record with a 2.5% increase over last year's number, which itself was substantially higher than in any previous annual fund period at NDPMA.
For Notre Dame alum Joseph Sobota ('95), a high-ranking administration official in the City of Pontiac, quite clearly he appreciates his Notre Dame and Catholic experience. He is a product of Catholic education from preschool through undergraduate school and says he is fortunate that his parents sacrificed to send him to parochial schools and to Notre Dame.
Sobota stresses, however, that it's important for those who benefited from a Notre Dame education to give back.
"My motivation for contributing to Notre Dame Prep," he says, "is to ensure that an exceptional Catholic and Marist education will still be possible for others well into the future.”
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.