ELEVATING THE DIGITAL CLASSROOM

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September 16, 2026

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

Notre Dame Prep named a Microsoft Elevate Showcase School for 2026-27, recognizing its school-wide approach to digital innovation, AI and teaching and learning.

Notre Dame Preparatory School has once again been selected as a Microsoft Elevate Showcase School for the 2026-27 academic year, renewing a global recognition that reflects the school’s continued investment in technology, digital learning and the evolving role of artificial intelligence in education.

Microsoft describes its Showcase Schools as institutions that use technology to empower teaching, transform learning and equip students with skills for the future. The Elevate program connects recognized schools and educators with a global professional community, learning opportunities, Microsoft teams and resources designed to support the responsible integration of technology and AI into education.

For Notre Dame Prep, the recognition is the latest acknowledgment of a technology program that has developed over more than a decade and now extends from the lower school through the upper school.

Eden Konja, NDP’s director of information and academic technology, announced the renewed designation to faculty and staff.

“I am thrilled to announce that Notre Dame Preparatory School has once again been selected as a Microsoft Elevate Showcase School for the 2026–2027 academic year!” Konja said.

He said the recognition highlights “NDP's school-wide commitment to digital innovation, thoughtful AI integration, leadership, and excellence in teaching and learning.”

A global recognition with practical benefits

Microsoft’s 2026-27 Elevate program identifies Showcase Schools as part of a global community of schools demonstrating meaningful digital transformation. The application process includes evidence of a school’s progress in AI transformation, including policy and governance as well as other areas of school-wide implementation.

For NDP, the designation provides access to a professional community of school leaders and educators, opportunities to connect with Microsoft program and product teams, learning events and resources, global recognition, and a digital badge and certificate. Microsoft is also providing Showcase Schools with the opportunity to request up to five Microsoft Certiport certification exam vouchers to support staff professional development.

Microsoft’s invitation to NDP specifically cited the school’s “commitment to innovation, leadership, and meaningful digital transformation.”

The company also noted that the recognition reflects a “whole-school commitment to using Microsoft tools and AI to transform teaching, learning, operations, and policy and governance.”

That whole-school emphasis is significant to understanding technology at Notre Dame Prep, according to Konja.

“Rather than treating technology as a separate component of the academic program, NDP has built it into the way students learn and teachers teach,” he said.

Technology from PreK through 12

Notre Dame Prep has operated as a 1:1 school for more than a decade. Today, every student is assigned a device appropriate to his or her grade level: laptops using Microsoft Windows operating system in the middle and upper schools and Apple iPads in the lower school. The school identifies technical proficiency, personalized learning, digital well-being, future readiness, critical thinking and ownership, and anytime, anyplace learning as guiding principles of its 1:1 program.

In the upper school, students in grades 9-12 currently use either Microsoft Surface Pros or Lenovo 2-In-1 laptops that support the demands of a college-preparatory curriculum, including research, data analysis, digital content creation, collaboration, robotics and computer-aided design. Middle school students also currently use either Microsoft or Lenovo laptops to develop digital skills, research and collaborative learning habits before entering the upper school. Lower school students use Apple iPads for interactive learning, creative work and age-appropriate digital applications.

The program also emphasizes digital citizenship. Students receive instruction in how to use their devices safely and appropriately, with digital literacy and responsible technology use treated as part of their broader academic development.

That approach reflects a philosophy that technology should support learning rather than become an end in itself.

In a 2025 NDP story about the lower school technology program, technology teacher Christy Brennan described her role as helping students develop “digital skills, creativity and problem-solving through hands-on lessons” while also working with teachers to integrate technology into classroom projects and enhance learning across subjects.

The same story noted that NDP’s technology work is grounded in the school’s faith and values. “As both a teacher and a parent, I appreciate how faith and values are genuinely part of our students’ daily experience, technology and otherwise,” Brennan said.

Building the infrastructure for learning

This week’s Microsoft recognition also comes against a long history of investment in the infrastructure required to make a sophisticated technology program possible.

NDP’s commitment to one-to-one technology began before 2014, when the school formally committed to providing students with individual computer tablets. In a 2024 article, Konja described an ongoing effort to keep the school’s technology infrastructure current, including expanded network capacity and additional internet connectivity designed to improve reliability and performance.

At the time, Konja said the work was part of a larger effort to improve the academic experience for students and teachers.

“This ongoing designation by Microsoft signifies our success in finding powerful new ways to support learning through technology,” Konja said. “In addition, our lower school has been honored for innovation as an Apple Distinguished School. Both honors reflect our commitment to make the most of educational technology and to prepare our students to lead the way in a digital world.”

The school’s technology environment includes campus-wide connectivity, classroom technology, specialized computing resources and technology supporting areas such as computer-aided design, robotics and esports. NDP has also continued to expand and update technology resources for faculty and staff.

Technology as an academic tool

The breadth of NDP’s technology program is particularly evident in the way it intersects with academic disciplines.

Students can use their devices for routine classroom work, but the same technology environment also supports more advanced applications. The upper school technology program, for example, includes resources for robotics and CAD projects, while NDP’s broader STEM offerings have included specialized facilities and equipment in the Timothy J. Easterwood Science, Art and Technology Wing.

That STEM infrastructure has previously received outside recognition. In 2019, Newsweek and STEM.org ranked Notre Dame Prep as the highest-ranked Catholic high school in Michigan on the publication’s list of America’s Top 5,000 STEM high schools.

The school’s technology program has continued to develop since then. NDP was also named a 2025 Innovative District Award recipient by the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning, while its lower school maintains Apple Distinguished School status.

Preparing students for an ai-driven world

The renewed Microsoft recognition comes at a time when artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important consideration for schools and educators.

Microsoft’s current Elevate program specifically emphasizes AI literacy and responsible integration. Its 2026-27 Showcase School application process asks schools to demonstrate progress in AI transformation, including policy and governance, and Microsoft describes the broader program as a way for educators and school leaders to build the capacity to integrate AI confidently into teaching and learning.

At Notre Dame Prep, that work fits within an established approach to technology that emphasizes critical thinking, ownership, digital citizenship and adaptability.

Konja said this renewed recognition will allow NDP faculty and students to continue accessing “advanced digital tools, professional development, and have access to certification exams.”

He also connected the Microsoft recognition to NDP’s other technology distinction.

“Earning recognition as both a Microsoft Elevate Showcase School and an Apple Distinguished School uniquely positions NDP at the absolute forefront of independent education,” Konja said. “As an independent school, I believe our strength lies in our ability to innovate, adapt, and set the standard for educational excellence.”

He said the goal is not simply to place more technology in students’ hands, but to use it in ways that support the school’s larger educational purpose.

“By seamlessly integrating best-in-class technology and ethical AI, we amplify our mission empowering students with the tech savviness, critical thinking and innovative mindset needed to excel and lead in a rapidly evolving, tech-driven world,” Konja said.

An extension of the NDP experience

For prospective families, the Microsoft designation provides one way to understand the role technology plays at Notre Dame Prep. It is not limited to a particular class, grade level or technology initiative.

The school’s technology program spans PreK through grade 12, with students gaining access to age-appropriate tools as they progress through the academic program. The school’s Technology Services team also works directly with faculty to integrate technology into instruction and provides support to students and families. NDP describes the team as an “educational partnership” that collaborates with teachers and helps students develop the digital skills needed for the future.

That combination of infrastructure, instruction and professional support is central to the school’s approach.

“The future of learning is unfolding now,” Microsoft said this week in announcing its 2026-27 Elevate program, describing Showcase Schools as part of a global community working to reshape what is possible in education.

For Notre Dame Prep, the renewed designation provides another measure of where the school stands in that changing educational landscape while reinforcing a longer-term commitment to preparing students for the academic, professional and technological environments they will encounter beyond NDP.

Konja credited the school community for making the recognition possible.

“Thank you to our board, leadership, administration, teachers, staff, and our amazing technology services team for driving meaningful innovation across our campus every day!” he said.

The Microsoft Elevate Showcase School designation will continue through the 2026-27 academic year, with Microsoft planning to publish its annual list of recognized schools and formally celebrate the global Showcase School community through the Microsoft Education Blog in October.

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.