Notre Dame High School (Harper Woods, Michigan)

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Notre Dame High School was a Catholic, all-male, non-residential college preparatory school in the Detroit suburb of Harper Woods, Michigan. It was closed in 2005 after more than 50 years in commission due to budget concerns, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit. The school had about 300 students at the time of closure, down from almost 600 during its peak enrollment some ten years earlier. It was founded in 1954 and operated by the Marist Fathers and Brothers.

[edit] Closing

The Archdiocese of Detroit announced in early March of 2005 that 18 Detroit-area schools -- including Notre Dame High School -- would be shut down because declining enrollment was escalating the budget deficit. Archdiocese spokesman Richard Laskos called the decision "irrevocable" despite protests from family, students and alumni of the school.^[1]

Friends of Notre Dame Incorporated filed a lawsuit in June to keep the school open, but a Wayne County Circuit Court judge ruled against them on June 20.^[2]

Entertainer Bill Cosby, who has spoken in support of keeping the school open, was scheduled to attend a meeting with activists protesting the school's closure in late June, but cancelled at the last minute.^[2] Displaced students from the closed schools had to decide where to finish their high school education, and dispersed to many area Catholic, private and public schools, including a handful who relocated to Notre Dame Prep in Pontiac, Michigan ^[1]