i am also biased because i attended this school from 99-02! I loved the uniforms, and not having to pick out ur cloths, the campus and the atmosphere was welcoming and warm. I think they did an amazing job at proving opportunities for the young ladies to flourish, everything from sports to leadership to choir! I had an awesome experience with all my teachers there, nothing to horrifying. I would send my daughter here in a heart beat! and i think the review from Chris T is not a legit review, he's a guy ! he can't possible review an all girl school based on a visit for SAT's and Mixers he attended, yeeeeeah how about no!? read more

Amazing opportunity for girls ! Outstanding education by a very professional group of teachers!!

Great education. This school produces smart, independent leaders. We have been incredibly happy and our daughter is thriving.

I think I learned a lot of valuable things during my time at Notre Dame. I think being exposed to a lot more different types of people expanded my worldview and I appreciated the different themes we explored every year. I especially liked when multiple classes would take on the same theme or explore the same content from different angles. I am not a Christian and I did feel like my religious viewpoint was sidelined or not taken seriously even when they claimed to foster diversity. There was an assumption of Christianity being the default and the basis of ethical guidelines we used to look at certain things. I understand that it's a Catholic school, but it was duplicitous of them to claim to value diversity but not value the different knowledge of diverse people. On the surface there was a culture of niceness and friendliness among the student body, though towards the end of high school it started feeling very shallow. They (teachers and staff) were always pushing us to "bond" with each other which only ended up feeling suffocating. After I graduated I learned about some horrible things that happened at the school to my friends, such as harassment of freshmen by upperclassmen that went overlooked, encouraging eating disorders, counselors that did not honor confidentiality, and people's history of mental illness being weaponized against them to push them to leave the school. I did not personally experience any of these. Overall I think my high school experience was a mixed bag. I think this school made me a kinder person, I am not sure it was worth the money, I had some great teachers (Ms. Pope was probably number 1), it prepared me for college, I learned a lot about the world in my classes, I was quite lonely and though it was fairly easy to talk to people the fake nice culture made it hard to make real friends, some of the projects we had to do were really cool, we had some interesting field trips. It was a valuable experience but I have a lot of mixed emotions about it. read more

Principal Mary Beth Riley has done a great job of managing Notre Dame of San Jose and fulfilling their mantra "Women of Impact" based on all the awards she has received on behalf of her work at Notre Dame. The history of Notre Dame goes way back to when San Jose was a frontier town and the school was one of California's first colleges for women. When the college moved to Belmont the high school moved to the O'Connor Mansion, a wonderful couple that built the O'Connor hospital. While the mansion was torned down to make room for the fancy new building the school has done a good job of leveraging downtown as an extension of their campus. School plays are held in the professional theatres, the robot team practices out of the Tech Shop, the swim team and water polo teams play at San Jose State's pool and the track team practices at Bellarmine. If you are looking at an all girls school Notre Dame is worth checking out, just make sure you don't get it confused with the other two Notre Dame all girl High Schools (Belmont and Salinas). Cross town rival Presentation competes for the top girl picks, but both schools will give your daughter a great education and are good counterparts to the all boys Bellarmine school. Tuition is $16k and financial assistance is given for those in need. read more

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For over 30 years I have loved and admired Notre Dame High School in Downtown San Jose. I graduated from NDSJ in 1987, I serve on the board of directors and my daughter is currently a Junior at NDSJ this fall, class of 2022! During this time of Covid and distance learning, NDSJ continues to teach young women what they need to know for life. The teachers are very organized, up-beat and ultimately care for the well being of the students no matter if it is preparing for a test, or figuring out how to navigate this new age of on-line learning. Thank you NDSJ for creating a safe and collaborative environment for the future female community leaders of San Jose. read more

We are at the tail end of our daughter's second year, and the best decision we made was to send our her to ND. This shelter in place has solidified our decision even more! We are so impressed by the professionalism and quick action the school community took to transition to the online platform. Well done everyone! We ND! Other questions we have received about being at this school is... 1. How do we feel about the downtown location? It's actually really great. The girls are given very practical advice when venturing off campus for snacks and they take full advantage of all of the amenities DTSJ has to offer. 2. What's the homework load like? It is not bad at all. My daughter took four honors classes her freshman year and was able to stay on top of it. It is now sophomore year where she is really picking and choosing the classes in which she wants to challenge herself. 3. What are the strengths of NDSJ? There are so many, but I will say that the admin, staff, and certificated teachers are all incredibly helpful and understanding. I can't let this review go out without a shout out to the counseling department. They are dedicated to the WHOLE student as an individual person. read more

I taught French at ND for 20 years. I drove 100 miles a day and never regretted my choice to be there. I loved every day; never once did I think it was time to move on. The girls, their parents, my colleagues- all made this my dream job. I loved our messages of empowering young women and standing for social justice. I loved that we were a safe space for all young women... if my husband and I hadn't decided to retire in South Carolina, I'd still be there read more

Of course I am bias I went here to High School for 4 years and loved most (not all) of the teachers. One of the teachers I'll let remain nameless was crass and rude. She had graduated from standford and when I got a bad grade in her class, she said to me "what are you thinking of going to standford or something". Needless to say that experience ruined my perception of her and the school. We made amends later on but I swear that woman had it out for me. I know people say you've got to either be crazy or a lesbian to like all girls school but you know what I really enjoyed my education here. It was a great place for me to learn to be me. I mean of course we all had our awkward stages in life, but hey there is no better place than Notre Dame. Oh and now I hear my french teacher is the principal even better! I'm not sure who out there is looking for a Catholic High School but I highly recommend this place. I do however miss the Mansion that was there before. If you haven't heard the story of the Mansion you haven't spent time at Notre Dame. Now it's a beautifulo new building. Sadddd! read more

I go to this school and I hate it. I am transferring next year. The rules are not reasonable and THE TEACHERS ARE SO RUDE. If I email a teacher asking a question, the response is very informal and flat out rude. I would not recommend this school to anybody. read more

What to say about my Alma Mater? Let's just say I picked this school based on its proximity to the ice rink since at the time I was a competitive figure skater (hey, I was only 13 at the time when I made that decision... better than Pres, right?). Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the education I received there, but really, at that time many of the departments were not so well run. For one, the Mathematics department was SEVERELY lacking good instructors. I remember my Geometry teacher expected the class to do her job and teach ourselves the material. How is that possible when we don't know anything about the subject, hence why we are in that class. Also, my senior year, one of the math professors decides to have an important review session before Spring finals, knowing that Seniors were required to be elsewhere for graduation prep that day. Hopefully that Math department has been spruced up since then. I also hope the school has finally been able to deal with plagiarism and students that blatantly cheat and get away with it. My graduating class, it was well known that the salutatorian cheated on her school work and exams. Yeah, I still can't let that one go. The English department was excellent, as was History, Law and Science. My favourite English teacher is still there, Miss Orr. There are cool things to do off campus nearby, but sorry, you can't leave campus during lunch or your free period. You aren't even allowed to leave for the day at lunch if you have 7th and 8th periods free (if you're lucky enough to have both those two periods free as a Senior). I wish they would stop asking me for money. I don't have any to give! read more

I can't say enough good things about this school. The curriculum is strong, with plenty of AP and honors classes to choose from. And the variety of co-curricular activities ensures that there is pretty much something for everyone. While they do not require parents to volunteer, they still have something like a 95% participation rate, which speaks volumes about the community. But I think the strongest selling point for me is the staff. The faculty and administration are incredibly supportive. When my daughter was struggling, everyone from her teachers to the administration (and especially her counselor!) went way above and beyond to help her to succeed. ND was my top pick from the very beginning, and nothing we've experienced there has made my opinion waver in the slightest. read more

When checking out this school it obviously was an old school , a private school , very in need of some remodeling , especially on the outside , for a school who charges $17k a year , at least make it look nice read more

education is good, and had lots of awesome friends. Unfortunately there are some creepy guy teachers that go out witht he students. The administration doesn't seem to do anything about it. Other than that a great school! read more

Some classes were lame. Friends I met there were the best and still keep in touch with them. Spirit Week was fun. Being there as a freshman sucked but from there on, every year got better and better. I miss wearing uniforms because it's so hard to decide what to wear everyday now. At Notre Dame, everyone was able to wear the same thing every day and nobody would know unless you got a stain. You get detentions for doing ANYTHING geez. You can't look up Harry Potter scarves in the library and you cannot have boxers shown from under your skirt by accident, something random like socks over the knees aren't allowed, walking off campus and going back on campus after school isn't allowed... We'd have to go to mass as a whole school together. Mass felt like a performance since there were liturgical dancers. I was in GSL class and one of the options of helping out the liturgy was to be a liturgical dancer. Thank goodness I didn't get picked to do that. Phew. read more

L-O-V-E Notre Dame. Couldn't have imagined what a positive high school experience our daughter would have here. So blessed to be in this caring community! read more

I loved my four years at ND. I got a fantastic education while also learning to give back to my community. I learned the importance of family and good friends. I still have ND friends that I keep in touch with. Attending an all-girls high school and wearing a uniform keeps the focus on education and not having to think about what to wear every day. Uniforms also do away with the whole "class distinction". Everyone is dressed the same so those who come from privileged families don't look any different from those who don't. I would not trade my time at Notre Dame for anything. The nuns taught us self-discipline, resilience, self-reliance, and how to be our best. The nuns who were there when I attended were very committed to the girls and were very nurturing. Was the faculty strict? Absolutely. They had high expectations for us and the majority of us strove to excel. We knew we were very fortunate to be there and we didn't take it lightly. For the majority of us our parents struggled and made sacrifices so their daughters could get an excellent education. We were grateful and didn't want to let our parents down. For fear of sounding holier-than-thou let me assure you I got into my fair share of trouble while I was there; however, the nuns were gentle and fair and made sure I understood why what I did was wrong and how it could affect me later in life. I value their insight and guidance to this day. I'm sorry that the previous reviewers didn't like their time at the school but I hope they at least realize they were fortunate to have gotten the education they did. read more

The ladies who worked in this dept. used to feed me chocolate while I was waiting for choir to start after school. They are AOK with me!

Looking back at the 3.5 years I have been at this school (I am a senior), I have to say it has been pretty interesting. The atmosphere is pretty chill and easy going, until Junior year. then everyone freaks and out and things are hectic but that's basically high school life anywhere. The best part of ND is honestly the teachers! They aren't just knowledge spitting humans, but hilarious genuinely caring and amazing mentors. Shout out to Ms. Burson! You the bomb! The food will always be pricey, but have hope it tastes really good. The finals schedule is strange. Wait, sorry. I meant the end of semester assessments. Yes, come to ND to find out what that means. If you're thinking ND is the school for you, all I have to say is GO FOR IT!!!!!! read more

Great experience, there's many anecdotes about this high school. Let's say go try be friendly be responsible you have the doors open.

There's a rally at ND to protest unethical practices and the firing of a very popular coach while retaining 2 other coaches who have had multiple complaints filed against them. Here's a quote from the press release. "With the rally, the CPSETA hopes to capture the attention of the Notre Dame High School administration to reinstate Coach J in the athletic program. Coach J's leadership, integrity, moral values are what the Notre Dame athletic program has been missing for many years. The ND athletic program needs Coach J to Direct the Program and bring integrity back to the school." read more

Notre Dame High School in San Jose is the most amazing place. Everyone here is so accepting. I'm only a freshman and I already feel that I have found a true family there. I have friendships with of course a lot of freshman but also with several sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Almost every single person who I have met is incredibly friendly. Of course not every single person out of around 600-700 will be like that, but the majority of people's experiences are very positive. The academics: challenging, very challenging, but mostly manageable if you stay on top of it and study. The teachers expect a lot of you, but they are mostly good about telling you what they want and when they want it, and giving you the tools to do it. For the most part my teachers are pretty good. They are very willing to help if you need it, and some of them are actually really cool and awesome and fun and just in every way amazing. Also, if you still struggle with a subject, there are peer tutors available before and after school, and during your free block if you have one. I haven't done sports, so I can't speak to that, but I did the fall play, and I am so glad I did. Honestly, the whole cast and crew bonded into a huge family. I cried on the play's closing night (a lot of us did) because we knew we would miss seeing our family. Of course we still see each other around school and we hang out, but during the week of the shows we spent about 6 hours a day together, and nothing beats that. That being said, I still feel that we are a family even though the play is over. Another great thing about ND is that every student is assigned a counselor who you meet with at least once a semester. If you need to talk to them about something, anything, they are happy to do that and they are very supportive. From what I have experienced, there is absolutely no social stigma involved in going to talk to your counselor, which is great. All of the counselors are really nice and lovely. People in general here are very accepting and supportive. I have 700 sisters for life. read more

I graduated from ND in the mid 90's. My favorite part of the day was lunch, other than that my time there pretty much sucked. The teachers weren't that great except for my Spanish 1 teacher Ms. Geoffrion Vinci, and my senior English teacher Ms. Lochman. The other instructors only cared about the high achieving, honors students. If you were average academically, then you were invisible to them. Lord forbid that you decided to attend a community college. That was like heresy. The college counselor at that time was Peggy Hock. Before that it was Ms. Barretto. Neither of them were very helpful or encouraging if you were not an honors student with a high GPA. Notice a theme? As you probably figured by reading my review, I was one of those academically average students that attended community college. I don't regret my decision to do that. Eventually I transferred to a university and got a BS Degree. Two good things about ND, the workload makes college seem easy and a uniform makes getting ready in the morning a breeze. read more

When I first came to Notre Dame as a shadow, I knew that I belonged there. My conviction has been supported many times since my first day of school last year. As a current sophomore, having experienced a full year at Notre Dame, I have many good things to say. All of my classes were very interesting. I particularly liked Spanish 2 honors and ceramics. My Spanish teacher was very entertaining, and I really learned a lot, not just about Spanish grammar and vocabulary, but about various different things I'll need to know for life. In ceramics, I was a little nervous, because I don't consider myself artistic, but my teacher was very supportive, and the had the opportunity to try many new and interesting techniques. I made a lot of new friends, and I really got a chance to appreciate the diversity of many different cultures and backgrounds. I also became more independent as I explored Downtown San Jose with my friends. Over all, I am very pleased with my Notre Dame experience so far. read more

I loved that my hs was in the heart of downtown sj. Instructors really cared about my performance and I made friends for life. None better! read more

My daughter is a freshman and we're very happy that ND is providing excellent classes, teachers, and community awareness that are uncommon among schools. Very wholesome and healthy environment. read more

I am so glad I chose Notre Dame high school. I have had a great experience here over the last four years. I love the hands on approach to learning they use that really helps bring concepts to life. The environment is so supportive and friendly and I have made lifelong friends. read more