CULTIVATING CURIOSITY, CREATING YOUNG SCIENTISTS

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December 2, 2025

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

How Notre Dame Prep’s mission-aligned PK-12 science program inspires inquiry at every level and every age.

At Notre Dame Prep, science functions as a core component of the school’s academic identity. From Pre-K through 12th grade, students move through a structured, mission-aligned curriculum designed to build inquiry skills and practical problem-solving. The International Baccalaureate framework runs throughout the program, with Advanced Placement courses added in the upper grades.

This comprehensive approach to science and STEM allows NDP to maintain a deliberate balance — developing students who are both analytically capable and grounded in the school’s broader values, prepared for the demands of college and beyond.

A foundation of wonder: science in the lower school

Paul Frank, longtime IB-PYP coordinator and lower school math specialist at NDP, describes the science experience in the youngest grades as “an inquiry-based and experiential approach that encourages curiosity and wonder about the natural world.”

Rather than segregate science into a standalone class, he says teachers in prekindergarten through fifth grade integrate scientific exploration into transdisciplinary units like “how the world works,” “sharing the planet,” and “who we are.”

Through hands-on investigations, such as outdoor explorations, simple experiments and collaborative projects, students learn to ask questions, make predictions, test ideas and reflect on their discoveries. “They develop an understanding of how the world works through authentic experiences,” Frank says.

This isn’t busy work; it’s the beginning of a mindset, according to Frank, who also believes that science in the lower school helps young students see the connections across disciplines and across life: science is not just something that happens in a lab, he says, but part of everyday life.

“Students come to see that science is part of global issues, human experiences and ethical decision-making,” he said, noting that that foundation primes them for more formal scientific work later in their later academic years.

Middle school: questioning, collaborating, growing

As students move into middle school, Notre Dame Prep ramps up the rigor in both content and process. They study systems like plate tectonics and the atmosphere, as well as broader topics such as ecosystems and weather. But for NDP students, learning isn’t limited to lectures or textbooks.

Students engage in lab experiments, flipped-classroom sessions, group discussions and research projects. Through an inquiry-based model, they’re not simply repeating facts — they are challenged to evaluate and question what they learn. Underlying every unit are IB-MYP (Middle Years Program) Approaches to Learning skills: collaboration, communication, creative and critical thinking, and self-management.

This integrated, student-centered approach aligns closely with the ethos of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the national science education framework that many schools look to for inspiration. According to the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), NGSS emphasizes “learning that is both relevant and meaningful … authentic to the practices of scientists and engineers.”

NDP’s K-12 pipeline: a unified vision with ‘care and compassion’

One of the defining advantages of Notre Dame Prep’s science program is the continuity across grade levels. The school’s structure, which spans lower, middle and upper schools on one campus, makes cross-division collaboration not just possible, but vibrant.

Brian Little, chair of the NDP science department, says, “Science teachers meet as a K-12 department … to bounce ideas off of or improve skills … and make any additional changes based on what we see in students as young as 5 years old, up to seniors in high school.”

This regular dialogue ensures that the foundational science skills introduced in lower grades are reinforced and expanded in later years. It also allows the department to be nimble, introducing new courses or shifting focus in response to student interests or changing scientific contexts.

Beyond curriculum design, Little points to a “high level of care and compassion” from teachers, attuned both to students’ academic and personal growth. “When I walk into a classroom, I see a modeled behavior of our mission and a desire from our teachers to get the kids to succeed,” he said.

That connection, he says, sets NDP apart: “The interactions between our students and teachers are authentic and organic. This makes NDP a place where both students and teachers want to be.”

Upper school: rigorous, purposeful, mission-aligned

In the upper school, NDP blends IB and AP science in a way that pushes students intellectually while anchoring them in hands-on activities and real-world purpose. NDP’s upper school offers several IB science courses: IB Biology, IB Chemistry and IB Environmental Science are steady favorites.

Little notes that IB courses are periodically updated under the IB curriculum model to remain current.

“The actual curriculum and internal assessments and the external assessments all get modified periodically and we, as teachers, will go to training at a minimum once every year to stay on top of our craft,” he said.

In the next school year, NDP will be launching a new IB-Diploma Program Design Technology SL course, taught by veteran chemistry teacher and robotics instructor Louise Palardy.

“To be able to offer a design/technologically driven IB science course with hands-on experience will be invaluable for students and their futures,” Little added.

A sanctuary for pollinators

Another distinctive element of NDP’s science program is the Melissa Kozyra greenhouse and its adjoining garden. Under the leadership of biology teacher and greenhouse manager Laura Elwood NDP ’10, the space has become a living classroom dedicated to ecology, native plants and pollinator support. Her guidance has helped students and fellow staff transform the gardens into a thriving habitat that has now earned several notable certifications.

In 2024–25, more than 1,100 native flowers were planted in eight garden beds with help from parent and student groups. These beds are now certified as a Monarch Waystation — renamed Mary’s Restorative Nature Garden — featuring milkweed and nectar-rich blooms essential to monarchs. The area is also certified by the Wildflower Association of Michigan for boosting biodiversity through native plantings.

The greenhouse and garden also have inspired two newer science courses. Fall-semester Horticulture explores plant science, technology, business and design through study and hands-on work in the greenhouse and gardens. Spring-semester Botany introduces plant anatomy, physiology and reproduction, giving students an in-depth look at how plants grow and function.

The crown jewel: engineering and empathy

Perhaps no course exemplifies NDP’s mission better than Engineering and Empathy. As Vice Principal (and former science chair) Jocelynn Yaroch explains: “Students design products to address real world problems, working with underserved populations such as Angel’s Place, a group home for adults with physical disabilities.”

Over the course of a semester, she says, students brainstorm, build prototypes, form meaningful partnerships and apply both scientific principles and their own humanity.

Reflecting on what this course represents, Yaroch said, “For many of them. it’s the first time they connect their classroom learning to something larger than themselves. Once they understand what their work could potentially mean to our community partners, it’s really a big deal for them.”

Lab moments that transform

Yaroch also talks about the joys she received when teaching science: “My favorite moment is the ‘whoa’ moment!” she says. “In biology classes, students peer through microscopes at living organisms for the first time and they jump back because there’re these weird things swimming around.”

She said that for high schoolers in anatomy or biology, there’s the visceral experience of dissecting organisms such as fetal pigs or organs to see how “structures relate to each other and how they connect. “It really lights them up.”

A curriculum aligned with national vision

Notre Dame Prep’s approach to science doesn’t just feel cutting-edge — it aligns or surpasses national best practices. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which were adopted in many states or used as a framework by private schools, calls for three-dimensional learning that integrates:

1. Science and engineering practices (what scientists do),

2. Disciplinary core ideas (key principles across life, physical, earth and space sciences), and

3. Crosscutting concepts (themes like cause and effect or systems thinking)

NASBE’s review of the national curriculum landscape highlights a persistent challenge: many schools still lack high-quality, NGSS-aligned materials. In that context, NDP’s commitment to inquiry-based, coherent, mission-aligned science is especially noteworthy.

Meeting challenges head-on

Science education reform can be daunting. Research shows that districts across the U.S. struggle to find curricula that fully align with NGSS, and many teachers receive little curriculum-focused professional development. Others argue that while NGSS establishes powerful performance expectations, it does not prescribe lessons, leaving the schools to design their own journey.

At NDP, however, the administration has turned this challenge into an opportunity. By taking a collaborative, K-12 approach, they build consistency and continuity into their program. From hiring and supporting teachers’ ongoing learning to designing classroom experiences around both fidelity to standards and real-world relevance, NDP is cultivating high-quality science education that meets, and often exceeds, national benchmarks.

Why it all matters

In today’s world, scientific literacy is not a luxury — it’s a necessity. As Jocelynn Yaroch puts it, one of the major goals at NDP is “learning to evaluate information … to decide if sources are valuable … learning how to communicate effectively so that other people can understand what kind of information you’ve generated.” These are not just science skills, these are life skills, she says.

By starting inquiry in the lower school, building collaboration and critical thinking in middle school and culminating in mission-driven, rigorous upper school courses, Notre Dame Prep is developing students who think like scientists — and act like citizens. Whether they go on to medicine, engineering, education, or simply lead lives grounded in curiosity and compassion, NDP’s science program equips them for both.

At every level, Notre Dame Prep proves that science education can be more than rigorous. It can be transformative.

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school 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 Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.