BATAVIA
Private high school has bright outlook
BATAVIA — Notre Dame High School, more than 50 years after it graduated its first class, is enjoying success and prestige after decades of encouraging ups and dismal downs.
School officials — including Principal Joseph D. Scanlan, a retired public school administrator now entering his fifth year at the private school — confirm that the outlook is rosier than it has been in recent years. A new tuition increase was limited to 2 percent.
Enrollment in September should reach 190 with 59 incoming freshman, the highest in recent years. Also unusual is the transfer from public schools of 10 upperclassmen.
The Class of 2008 earned scholarships of nearly $3 million, also a new high for the school.
For the fourth year, Business First has recognized Notre Dame as fourth among the Top 10 private schools in Western New York, and second among 25 public and private schools in Western New York.
The school opened in 1951 and became independent of Diocese of Buffalo control in 1991, when enrollment had dipped to 99 and the school was on the verge of closing.
Today the school draws from 14 school districts in five counties. Its emphasis on family values, small classes and proven academic excellence may have prompted non-Catholics to make up 20 percent of the school’s population.
The school has three administrators and, for years, an all-lay faculty of 20. It has a reputation of excellence in sports. Notre Dame teams, “The Fighting Irish,” consistently have won state, regional and Section V honors in several sports.
Scanlan said challenges facing the school include increasing enrollment and finding additional endowments, largely for scholarships.
The school also has hired a new development director — Amy Johnson. She is moving from Grand Island to Batavia, following jobs with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Canisius College.
The position had been vacant for several years.
