MARIST MONDAYS PUT MISSION INTO PRACTICE

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September 22, 2026

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

Weekly community time connects NDP students with faith, service and preparation for life beyond high school.

At Notre Dame Preparatory School, Monday community time gives upper school students an opportunity to put the school’s mission into practice. Known as Marist Mondays, the weekly activities focus on developing students as Christian people, upright citizens and academic scholars.

The programming varies by grade and throughout the year, but the purpose remains consistent: to help students connect their education with their relationship with God, their responsibilities to others and their plans for life after NDP.

“Marist Monday!” upper school Principal Kim Anderson exclaimed in describing this week’s activities. “Students living the NDP mission! Christian people, upright citizens and academic scholars!”

Preparing for what’s next

For freshmen, this week’s community time focused on beginning to think about life after high school. Students met with their social, emotional and academic (SEA) counselors in the library to learn about SchoolLinks, an online platform that helps students explore colleges and careers, research scholarships, build academic and college plans and access resources for their future goals.

The platform gives students a place to organize information and begin exploring options for college, career and postsecondary success.

Juniors took a more immediate look at the college process, meeting with collegiate and career counselors Margie Bond and Vlado Salic. The sessions addressed researching colleges and universities, understanding application requirements and timelines and considering factors that can help students identify schools that align with their academic, personal and career goals.

Students also had an opportunity to ask questions and begin preparing thoughtfully for the college planning process ahead.

College and career exploration is one part of the broader programming offered during Marist Mondays. The counseling office’s Find Your Grind program takes a lifestyle-first approach to career planning, helping students consider who they are and where they want to go before focusing on a specific career.

Other Marist Monday activities address students’ relationship with God and issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Learning through service

For sophomores, Monday’s community time centered on advocacy and stewardship. Students met with Andrew Peters of NDP Campus Ministry and Moriah Schutte of Grace Centers of Hope to learn more about the sophomore community time program, which combines poverty awareness with local service.

“Service learning is a core component of our Marist education curriculum,” Anderson said.

Each sophomore community time group will have an opportunity to serve at Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac, giving students an opportunity to connect classroom learning about poverty and community needs with direct service.

The experience reflects a broader emphasis on service within the Marist educational tradition. Rather than treating service as an activity separate from school life, Marist Mondays provide regular opportunities for students to consider how their faith and education inform their responsibilities to others.

Seniors prepare to serve

For seniors, this week’s community time looked ahead to the Class of 2027 service day Sept. 28 with Life Remodeled, a community revitalization initiative.

The annual event will mark the 10th consecutive year that NDP seniors have participated. Students and their chaperones will join hundreds of volunteers from local businesses, including Ford and General Motors, as well as community organizations, police and fire departments and area schools.

This year, NDP students will work in a local neighborhood to improve sidewalks and surrounding blocks, clearing brush to provide families with easier access to bus stops. Students also will mow lawns, remove weeds, trim hedges and prune trees.

The event gives seniors a practical opportunity to put the school’s mission into action as they approach graduation.

Anderson noted that seniors will be “living out their commitment to servant leadership as Christian persons and upright citizens by serving our neighbors through this important Life Remodeled activity.”

She also described the lesson behind the annual tradition: “Service is not simply an activity, but an opportunity to put their faith into action and make a positive impact in the lives of others.”

Living the NDP mission

The range of activities taking place during Marist Mondays reflects the different ways NDP students are prepared to live the school’s mission.

Freshmen begin exploring their futures. Sophomores learn about community needs and prepare to serve. Juniors begin making decisions about college. Seniors prepare to put their faith and commitment to service into practice in the community.

Together, according to Anderson, those experiences make community time an extension of the broader NDP educational experience, giving students regular opportunities to consider not only what they will do after graduation, but also “the kind of people they will become and the responsibilities they will carry with them.”

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.