As it celebrates 20 years of Triton pride, Notre Dame Academy is getting ready to make the next 20 as fun and as effective as the first two decades.

            Even though the school is only 20 years old, the building, previously Premontre High School and loaned to NDA from the Norbertines, is much older.

            Additions such as the Schneider Family Triton Center and the Commons have been added rather recently but none is newer than the new Ted Fritsch Field.

            Added last summer before the football and soccer seasons began was a new synthetic material field.

            Funded entirely from private donations was not just the field but also new bathrooms and a heated concession stand.

            And the feedback could not be any more positive.

            “Everyone has been extremely positive about the field. The band, the dance team, both soccer and football teams, everyone has been positive,” said Athletic Director Ken Flaten. “Not only the school has been using it, but the Pop Warner Championship used it, Allouez Buccaneers, St. Norbert football and women and men’s soccer teams, UWGB soccer team, and even the West DePere football team after they defeated us,” added Flaten.

            Another recent change that students have noticed was the work on the baseball field before the snow came down.

            New  ‘Magic Mix’ dirt was added in the infield and warning track in the outfield, and both dugouts were completed so the field would be ready in the spring for the baseball team to use.

            But all the funding does not go to athletics.

            To keep up with the ever-changing modern world Notre Dame has, and will keep on, updating its classrooms and facilities.

            “We have to keep up with the times and that is why we are updating our rooms to new twenty-first century rooms,” said Principal John Ravizza.

            Ravizza added that the school has already started updating some rooms--Mr. Kircher’s room, for example--with different technologies, including an overhead projection screen.

            Some labs, as well as the Main Office, are being fitted with new flat-screen computer monitors. 

            The NDA chapel is also looking forward to a facelift.

            The Norbertines donated $55,000 to install new flooring in the chapel along with some work on the roof.

            “We are going to add new tile where the carpet is now. The carpet has actually become dangerous because of the folds in it,” said Campus Minister Sr. Laura Zelten.

“The tile is a going to be a lighter color and should look amazing when it is finished.  For now we should put up with the problems this could cause for some classes, but the construction should be done by the end of January,” added Zelten.

            Along with all of these changes going on now, some larger changes loom in the future.

            A proposal is currently in the works to get the funding and permission to renovate the entire Old Gym.  This would include adding new locker rooms, bathrooms, a weight center, a fitness area and a gymnasium atrium entrance.

            According to Mr. Flaten, all of these additions could be made and the already tight parking space would not lose any room.

            The new atrium entrance would be on the concrete slab next to the back of the old gym and over the door where the football teams leaves the locker room. It would have a staircase leading to the new gym and an entrance to the old gym as well. It would be big enough to hold a banquet in that area and include a new concessions area as well as an entrance to the new bathrooms.

            This new entrance would also be helpful moving the main parking area during events in the gyms from the staff lot to the current student lot which is much larger and more convenient for basketball games, volleyball games and other events.

            The new locker rooms would occupy the space next to the parking lot behind the old gym where there are currently two large doors. Both a women’s and a men’s locker room would be added.

            The renovations to the old gym would be an entire facelift. New backboards, hoops, gym flooring and bleachers would all be part of it. The bleachers would be similar to the ones already in the new gym.

            Possibly the biggest change that would come with all of this would be the new fitness and weight centers. These would be alongside West Mason Street and would have a connection to the current Old Gym atrium.

            Not only would these facilities help Notre Dame’s sport teams but they could possibly have a positive effect on the community as well.

            The new facilities could possibly be open to non-students, and one could obtain a membership to use the facilities. This would be extremely useful not only to the local health but also could produce some jobs in the upkeep and supervision of the new areas.

            All funding will come from private donations, not from tuition increases or added fees, according to Mr. Flaten.

            The most impressive part of the construction would be the efficient use of space without robbing student parking space.