This article initially appeared in the Summer 2023 issue of our magazine, 'Sowing Goodness.' The full issue is available here.
Day after day for over six months, Sisters would pile into a truck and trailer for the daily journey from San Jose to Belmont, California to clean Ralston Hall, a mansion at a property the Sisters purchased, and prepare it to welcome students and Sisters. It was 1923—a century ago— and the dawn of a new era.
But the story began in 1851, when two Sisters journeyed from Oregon to San Francisco to meet Sisters arriving from Belgium. They had planned to return to Oregon but instead, with only 25 cents in their pockets and an abundance of faith, the Sisters remained and opened a boarding school, the College (high school) of Notre Dame (CND) in San Jose. In 1868, CND was chartered as the first college in California authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women and it would soon become known as the “best school for young ladies” in the west.
By 1923, the block in San Jose was full and the Sisters needed more space. They found the expansive Ralston property, built by William Ralston a successful San Francisco businessman, in what would later become the city of Belmont, California. In the fall of that year, the day students remained at Notre Dame San Jose, while the Sisters and boarders moved into Ralston Hall and classes started for the college, high school and elementary school. All remained at Ralston Hall until the high school building was completed in 1928 and the high school and elementary school relocated to the newbuilding. The elementary school remained in the high school building for nearly thirty years and, in 1957, moved up the street to its current location alongside the Notre Dame Preschool.
Throughout the years, all the schools have grown and thrived as partners in the community and with each other. Many Sisters attended Notre Dame Elementary School (NDE), Notre Dame Belmont High School (NBD), or CND (later NDNU), and many have taught at the schools and served in leadership roles.
The College of Notre Dame has evolved as an institution of higher education, including going co-educational in 1969 and, in 2001, becoming Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) and moving from a departmental framework to a structure of four schools each directed by a dean.
NDNU President Beth Martin, Ph.D., who was founding Dean of NDNU’s School of Sciences and served in that capacity from 2001 to 2006,returned in her new role as president in September 2021. She has always admired the Sisters’ drive to reach marginalized populations. She said, “Rather than say ‘We have a package of things that we have been teaching for 200 years,’ instead the Sisters say, ‘I need to learn what you need to know and teach you what you need for your life because life changes constantly.’”
NDNU continues to embrace this spirit and resiliency as it enters a new era. “The population and needs are changing and we are adapting with the times,” said President Martin. NDNU is offering more online courses and hybrid courses. NDNU is expanding its master’s level degrees and offers undergraduate degree completion programs for students across California. The Sisters have also made the enormous decision and commitment to monetize the campus.ndnu has entered into an agreement with Stanford University that gives Stanford the option to purchase the property in the next few years.ndnu will remain on campus and can channel resources into continuing its transformation to focus primarily on graduate programs. These changes will make education more accessible for a broader population, including some who may otherwise not have had access.
Sister Jean Stoner, SNDdeN, chairperson of thendnu Board of Trustees, attended NDNU (then CND) and lived on campus in Ralston Hall and later in Toso Namur. Sister Jean is confident that NDNU will successfully navigate this new direction. She draws on the Sisters’ history of adapting to change and their willingness to face challenges head-on. “We can pivot to a different iteration of the university after 172 years because we have done it before. We did it leaving Oregon to come to California, and again leaving San Jose to come to Belmont,” she said. “Often one finds that, although something is not easy to do, accomplishing it leads to the possibility and promise of efforts being able to flourish.”
The students have always been at the heart of all the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur schools. Sister Carol Miller, SNDdeN, who attended Notre Dame Belmont High School and taught at NDNU remembers with admiration the dedication of her students, who balanced work, family and education with unwavering commitment. “They would arrive to class at the end of their workday and, just ahead of class beginning, they would call to be sure the babysitter had arrived and during the 15-minute break they would call their elderly parents to be sure they had a good day and bless them,” she said. “They would get out of class at 9:15 PM and commute home and have to get back up in the morning for work. I was always impressed by the dedication of the students.”
As we near the 100th anniversary in Belmont, on September 16, 2023, we are grateful to the community that has welcomed the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and our schools and embraced us as essential partners. The Sisters look back with pride on the rich history and forward with tremendous optimism to the future possibilities where our schools will continue to be a beacon of educational excellence and opportunity for all.