Notre Dame named a top 50 Catholic high school in U.S.

Last week, Bishop John J. Leibrecht called Brother David Migliorino, the principal of Notre Dame Regional High School.

"He said, 'Brother, I have something to tell you that is going to make you very happy,'" Migliorino said. "I thought he was going to say he was giving us money so we could add on to the high school."

That wasn't the case. But the news was equally pleasing to Migliorino: For the third year in a row, Notre Dame had been named one of the top 50 Catholic high schools in the nation.

The Catholic High School Honor Roll is produced by a board of Catholic college presidents and scholars. It is an independent project of the Acton Institute, an "international research and educational organization," according to the institute's Web site. The not-for-profit think tank is in Grand Rapids, Mich.

"They were amazed by the amount of service done by the high school and were amazed by the different types of course offerings," Migliorino said at a pep rally Thursday.

There are about 1,300 Catholic high schools in the nation, according to the Acton Institute. The only other school in Missouri selected was Gateway Academy in Chesterfield.

Schools are judged on academic excellence, Catholic identity and civic education.

Migliorino said the average ACT score of students in 2007 was 25, while the national average was 21.2. He also cited the amount of scholarship dollars earned by the 105 graduating seniors last year, $5 million, as a contributing factor in the top 50 designation.

Additionally, Notre Dame offers seven Advanced Placement courses and 14 dual-credit courses, and each grade has a mission project.

"I am unbelievably impressed," Migliorino said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

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