In 1964, Sister Sara Jean Donegan and Sister Gloria List graduated from the Marquette School of Dentistry. The two opened a dental clinic at the SSND convent in Elm Grove, Wisconsin, where they performed basic dentistry for sisters. At a recent talk given to sisters living at Trinity Woods in Milwaukee, SSND North America Archives Director Michele Levandoski got a...Read more

The way scientists study the brain is changing — and Dr. Margaret Flanagan, who directs the Nun Study, is helping lead the transformation with the help of brain tissue contributions by more than 600 School Sisters of Notre Dame. For more than a century, pathologists have relied on microscopes and glass slides to examine brain tissue and uncover the causes...Read more

Click here for the SSND Atlantic-Midwest Province Lenten Reflections The following Lenten reflections, prepared by the SSND North American Vocation Team, are based on You Are Sent, the Constitution of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. (Print PDF) For more information, please contact sisters@ssnd.org or hermanas@ssnd.org. The Lenten season brings us the opportunity to look more carefully at our life...Read more

“What would the Church be without religious sisters and consecrated laywomen? The Church cannot be understood without them.” ~Pope Francis, February 2022 February 2 is the World Day for Consecrated Life, instituted in 1997 by Pope Saint John Paul II. This celebration is attached to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord which is also known as Candlemas Day;...Read more

By Jesús Leyva, Director of Communications for the National Religious Vocation Conference Reprinted with permission from the NRVC Catalyst blog.  As we take a moment to reflect on the significance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I realize that he has been a hero of mine since I was ten. It’s hard to believe that I first learned about him...Read more

As Lizbeth Reyes-Hernandez began planning for her senior year at SSND-sponsored Mount Mary University (MMU), her advisor suggested the SSND North American Archives as a possibility for an internship. A history major, Lizbeth had focused on Latin American and Indigenous communities and was very interested in women in leadership—an integral part of her experience at MMU. “The first oral history...Read more

In 1990, 678 School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) from what are now the Atlantic-Midwest and Central Pacific Provinces volunteered to participate in a study on aging, Alzheimer’s, and related dementias. To take part in the study, the sisters agreed to periodic cognitive and physical assessments throughout the rest of their lives as well as brain donation at death. The...Read more

by Danny Heitman Originally appearing in the Wall Street Journal on October 15, 2025, the following piece is reprinted here with permission We live in an age of wonders, so perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised to come across an online service that helps people find nuns. It happened after a glance at my personal library prompted memories of my...Read more

In the United States, National Vocation Awareness Week (NVAW) is celebrated each November, this year from November 2-8, 2025. NVAW is a time to highlight and promote vocations to ordained ministry and consecrated life and renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations. Follow SSND on Instagram and Facebook for special posts throughout NVAW. There are several ways...Read more

by Dan Stockman reprinted with permission from Global Sisters Report Debra Sciano was taught by Sinsinawa Dominican sisters in high school, but never wanted to enter religious life. She was going to be a lawyer. But then a friend invited her to go with her on a vocation retreat with the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Sciano didn’t even know what...Read more