Notre Dame Academy celebrates quarter century of Catholic education

GREEN BAY — Carrying on the proud traditions of its predecessors, this school year, Notre Dame de la Baie Academy is marking a quarter century of Catholic education.

Junior Keeli Otto admires story boards featuring St. Joseph Academy, St. Norbert High School and Abbot Pennings High School. In 1990, St. Joseph, Pennings and Premontre High School merged to become Notre Dame Academy. St. Norbert High School (1898-1959) preceded Pennings in De Pere. (Rick Evans | For The Compass)

Junior Keeli Otto admires story boards featuring St. Joseph Academy, St. Norbert High School and Abbot Pennings High School. In 1990, St. Joseph, Pennings and Premontre High School merged to become Notre Dame Academy. St. Norbert High School (1898-1959) preceded Pennings in De Pere. (Rick Evans | For The Compass)

On Aug. 23, 1990, Notre Dame opened at the former Our Lady of Premontre High School site. The new school was formed, primarily due to financial reasons, as a merger of Premontre, all-boys Abbot Pennings High School, De Pere, and all-girls St. Joseph Academy, Green Bay.

“Every year it’s gotten better,” said Harry Geiser, longtime math teacher at Notre Dame. “A lot of work goes into that. I’m proud of my part in that and am thankful for the work of so many people to make this school what it is today.”

One measure of success is the preparation of Notre Dame students for higher education, said Geiser.

“If you go around the country and talk to college admission people, they like our students,” he said. “They are well prepared; they do well; they set a good example; they know how to study. Marquette (University) told me once that they would take our whole class if we could send them there.”

Decision was met with mixed feelings

The vision of one successful Green Bay/De Pere area Catholic high school was not shared by many people 25 years ago. In November of 1989, when then Bishop Adam Maida, along with the Norbertines (who operated Premontre and Pennings) and Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (who operated St. Joseph Academy), announced the closings of the three schools to form one, many students, parents, faculty, staff and supporters responded with anger, frustration and sadness.

“People were fearful of the unknown,” said Diane Liebmann, who was invited to serve on the Notre Dame board of education by Norbertine Abbot Benjamin Mackin. “You had families with long traditions that they thought would be lost.”

Her own family was among those with a history at the schools. Liebmann’s husband, Bert, is a Premontre graduate. When the merger was announced, their son, Bret, was a senior, and son, Matt, a sophomore at Pennings. Liebmann’s perspective as an outsider helped her see the necessity of moving forward with one school.

“I’m originally from Massachusetts,” she explained. “I did not go to Catholic schools. I did go to a Catholic women’s college run by the Carondolet Sisters of St. Louis. Bert and his family had all gone to the preexisting schools. They all loved the schools. They had wonderful relationships with teachers and the priests. It was selfish motivation on my part. I knew how much Bert had loved it. I wanted Matt to have that wonderful experience.”

Norbertine Fr. Dane Radecki, who was principal at Premontre High School, was named the first principal at Notre Dame. He recalls carrying two briefcases — one for Pemontre and one for Notre Dame — during the months of transition.

New school name

Among the early decisions was the name of the new school. St. Michael’s Academy was the other name that received strong consideration.

“The Norbertine priory was called St. Michael’s priory,” said Fr. Radecki, a Premontre graduate who taught math at the school from 1972 to 1974. “There were parents, students and alums from all three schools involved in the naming process. Since the building had been dedicated to Mary, Our Lady of Premontre, and if you look at the Mason Street side, you see the statue of Mary there. Notre Dame in French is ‘our lady.’ It was also a connection with the sisters, the Norbertine community, Maryhill Drive. People started to see the synergy around the Marian connections and that’s where the name originated. Also, you would never doubt that it’s a Catholic school with the name Notre Dame.”

The Tritons nickname for the athletic teams was selected by a group of students. No names from the predecessor schools could be used and they sought a nickname not used by another high school in the state.

“One of the biggest challenges was that we didn’t know how many students to plan for that first year,” said Fr. Radecki. “We didn’t know how many faculty. We only had six months to do this. We (faculty, administration and staff) were all let go. We had to start over. If we chose a really outstanding faculty, that was going to be the biggest reason we were going to retain as many students as possible. As upset as students and parents were, I believed that if they saw a very strong faculty, they would want their son or daughter in our school. That’s why we ended up with more than 100 more students than what we had planned.”

Notre Dame welcomed more than 850 students in 1990. The combined enrollment of the three high schools in 1989 was 963 students.

“We didn’t have the addition and we had more students than we do right now,” said Geiser. “It was crowded.”

Premontre had experienced change in the years leading up to the merger. The school became co-ed for the 1988-1989 school year. In 1989-1990, Premontre also housed NEW Lutheran High School.

“It was interesting with the Lutheran High School,” said Geiser. “They were a school within a school. They had their own timeline, their own lunch period. We bumped into each other in the halls. I was so proud of our student body at the time. They got along and many of them became friends and appreciated the other religion.”

Diplomas from all four schools

Fr. Radecki asked the boards of the three predecessor schools for permission to grant diplomas from those schools for up to two years. The class of 1991 included graduates from all four. A small group of transfer students became the first official graduates of Notre Dame Academy.

“They were all very happy to receive their diplomas,” said Fr. Radecki. “We invited administrators from the predecessor schools. We tried to be very sensitive to the seniors. When it came to the next year, I sat down with the junior class, now seniors. They wanted none of that. They wanted to be the first full class to graduate from Notre Dame. That was a signal that something good was happening.”

Liebmann, chair of the board, was invited to present diplomas in 1992.

“For me, it was a fantastic moment,” she said. “The kids recognized that it was a different situation and it was working. For me, that was a thrill.”

Fr. Radecki first president

Notre Dame reorganized its leadership in 1993. Fr. Radecki became the school’s first president, a position he served through 1995. Ten years later, he returned for a second stint as president. “I really look at that as a gift, the five years I was president,” he said. “I was able to see a place that had its own identity, maturity. There were still things to be done, but it helped bring some peace to me.

“When you look at the students who come out of the school, they are phenomenal is so many ways,” he added. “I am always amazed at how much scholarship money is awarded to the senior class. It’s amazing when you create an environment of expectations and high standards, behavior expectations, and motivation for learning, it feeds itself.”

Geiser, who began teaching at Premontre in 1966, marked his own milestone this year.

“I’ve surpassed my years at Premontre,” he explained. “I’ve now been at Notre Dame longer.”

Geiser, whose son, Greg, joined the Notre Dame social studies department in 2013, plans to teach “as long as I can make a difference.”

“I like coming to the classroom every day,” he said. “I like seeing a new group of kids every year. You never know what they are going to come up with each day. You have to react. They are always coming up with new ideas.”

Liebmann served as a corporate board member at Notre Dame and on the Catholic high school foundation board following her service on the board of education. She is no longer directly involved with the school, but will always feel a connection.

“When I drive by, I think, ‘Look at this school today,’” she said. “It’s about the kids. I kept saying that back when it started. It’s all about the kids. That’s what motivated me.”

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