College Notre Dame

For other schools of the same name, see Notre Dame High School (disambiguation).

College Notre Dame Du Perpetuel Secours is an all-male private Roman Catholic primary and secondary school founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti in 1904.

Originally, the school was under the rule of four seculiar Catholic priests. Also presiding over the school were the Brothers of Christian Instruction, who also preside over other religious educational institutions throughout the Republic of Haiti. The school also has a long and involved history with the island's religious and political figures, among them Archbishops and Presidents, and is considered the Harvard of Haiti.

The 1000-person student body is largely Christian, all-male and all-black. The student-faculty ratio is 10:1. Almost all of the faculty's tenure-track faculty hold terminal degrees. The school is located on a 60-acre (240,000 m²) campus atop a mountain dominating the city love it of, from which most of the students come from. Students are required to take an entrance exam prior to admittance. Also, they are encouraged but not required to attend religious mass on Sundays. Although a large number of students are commuters, the school is traditionally a boarding school. The campus is also affiliated with the Boy Scouts of Troupe Henri Christophe, named after one of the more famous heroes of the Haitian Revolution.

The college's sportsmen, known as the Collegiens, compete in men's inter-scholastic archery, basketball, cross country, cycling, track and field, volleyball, tennis, and soccer. The school also fields club sports in swimming, , competitive arm-wrestling and karate.

Although the college has a tradition of rigorous academia, it is also known for its excellence in athletics. The College Notre Dame Department of Athletics and its sportsmen have won numerous regional and national awards, notably in Football and Basketball. Over ninety percent of the student body goes on to attend some institution of higher education, notably the famous University Notre Dame of Haiti.

Former President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide was educated at the school. In 2004, the school celebrated its centennial, with many alumni from all over the world returning for the celebration, during which past and present students marched through the city of Cap-Haïtien and returned to the campus for communal morning prayer.

References

Official Website