ND-BG History

Schenectady's Catholics were loyal to the two Catholic high schools that once dominated Catholic high school education in Schenectady. Both St. Joseph and St. Columba high schools were supported mainly through the efforts of their respective parishes.

However, In the mid-1950’s, Most Reverend William Scully, Bishop of Albany, saw the need for centralized Catholic high school education in Schenectady. He initiated the drive for the creation of 2 Catholic high schools - Bishop Gibbons and Notre Dame high schools.

The Christian Brothers were asked to staff the boys’ high school, Bishop Gibbons, and the Congregation of Notre Dame the girls’ high school - Notre Dame. Bishop Scully was familiar with the work of these two orders of educators from his ministry in New York City.

In 1958 and 1959 the boys’ and the girls’ schools were opened. In 1975 the two schools merged to offer the same excellent program within a co-educational setting. In 1989 the school expanded to include 7th and 8th graders and in 1996 it welcomed its first sixth grade class. Today the school offers a Regents and Honors curriculum to 220 students in grades 6 through 12.