NDB is looking to bring home a second SFGate Best of Bay Area award this year. The school won the public vote for “Best Private High School of the San Francisco Bay Area” for 2024 and hopes to do it again for 2025.
Earning the award again would reflect NDB’s image as a prestigious all-girls Catholic school dedicated to providing enriching academic and extracurricular opportunities, while also preparing students for their educational and personal journey after graduation.
Anyone was able to nominate NDB once per day until March 18. The five highest-voted schools will be finalists, who will eventually attempt to outvote each other from April 14 to May 5 at 11:59 p.m.
As of March 18, the schools nominated for this category are The Bay School of San Francisco, German International School of Silicon Valley, Marin Catholic, Mercy B, NDB, Sacred Heart Cathedral HS, San Domenico School, Sonoma Academy and St. Ignatius College Preparatory HS.
“It’s such a high honor. It’s such a way to get Notre Dame out in front of a far larger scale of people who maybe don’t even know about [the school],” explained Head of School Meredith Essalat. “It’s such a great way to promote our incredible teachers, incredible students [and] everything that makes this community the amazing community it is.”
Director of Admissions Debbie Anderson ‘85 shared how earning the award can attract prospective students.
“[Last year’s award], coupled with getting the [College Board’s] AP Platinum Award this year, was huge,” explained Anderson. “We were [AP] Gold last year, and then we got Platinum, which is the highest you can get [and] is higher than any of our competitors got in this area … That means our students are taking advantage of opportunities for AP classes. The teachers are doing a phenomenal job preparing you guys for the tests … and that’s great for parents because you’re paying less tuition in college.”
This AP honor was awarded after 209 students took 408 exams, with 70% of them earning a score of 3 or higher in 2024 – evidence of NDB’s academic rigor.
Additionally, the welcoming athletic environments tie NDB’s campus life together.
“Doing track is the main [activity I’ve benefited from] because I … developed some close friendships with people that I knew of knew about but I … never talked to, which was really nice,” said sophomore and track and field athlete Kat Laing.
As it awaits the results of the competition, the community is encouraged to begin voting for NDB, starting April 14.
