Notre Dame Secondary School
The Pioneer School Flourishes
Mkar, Nigeria — The history of Notre Dame Secondary School goes back to the initiative and invitation to the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) by the late Most Reverend Dr. Athanasius Usuh, the then-Bishop of Makurdi Diocese. SSND was asked to establish a girls' secondary school in the middle belt of Nigeria, particularly at Mkar village, a place in which girls were married off at tender ages.
In 1994, the then-Baltimore Province of the SSND responded to the Bishop's invitation. With great zeal and passion for humanity, sisters began the long journey that would uplift the dignity of the girl child through the provision of quality education in the Makurdi Diocese, which is now the Gboko Diocese. In September 1996, the dream of the girls school became a reality as Notre Dame Girls Secondary School, Mkar opened her doors to the pioneer class of 70 girls with Sister Margaret (Peg) Malone as the pioneer principal.
In its humble beginnings, Notre Dame Girls Secondary School was established as a day school. Over the years the school experienced tremendous growth and has gradually been transformed into a boarding school. Today, it is mainly a boarding school with a population of 750 girls from near and far.
The sisters have continued to insist on the absolute necessity of the example of the educator and the integration of instruction and character development at Notre Dame Girls Secondary School. God has continued to bless the work he started at Mkar through SSND. The sister's labor has not been in vain: it has continued to bear fruits as the school continues to grow from strength to strength. Many young girls have been and continue to be formed at Notre Dame Girls Secondary School into women of integrity striving to direct their giftedness towards rebuilding the earth.
The school would not have had a good foundation and growth without the great support of SSND within the Province of Africa and beyond, as well as the inspiration, wisdom and collaboration of the late Most Reverend Dr. Athanasius A. Usuh, the then-Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi and Most Reverend Dr. William A. Avenya, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Gboko. He has continued to offer his spiritual and moral support to sisters who have fully embraced the call to educate the African girl child.
As the works of God proceed slowly through the ministry of educating the girl child at Notre Dame Girls Secondary School, we entrust all that has been and all that will be into the hands of the God who calls and sends: in Him, all may truly be one as the roots of this noble institution at Mkar continue to be sturdier and its flowers lovelier.