Shepherds Hockey Night at The Bridgeport Islanders Islanders!

Thanks to Class of 2026 KCHS mentor, Bob Marchesi, over 20 Shepherds mentors and their students were able to enjoy a private tour of the Total Mortgage Arena and then watched the puck drop for the game between the Bridgeport Islanders v. Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

It was a 4-3 loss for the Islanders but a win for our group as they enjoyed exciting hockey, great food, lively music, and a lot of fun! Nyasha, Mariela and Cindy even made it on the jumbotron!

Thank you, Bob, and all the mentors who made the effort to enjoy the day with their students!

CLICK HERE to see all of the pics from the night!

Notre Dame's Experiential Learning Term (NDXL) is here!

Two weeks of student voice and choice. Students have chosen two classes, outside of the traditional classroom setting, to engage with for the next two weeks. Some of our Shepherds students' favorite choices include Podcasting, Animal Therapy, Tool Shop, Becoming a car mechanic, Criminal Justice, and many more!

NDXL strives to promote unique and authentic non-traditional learning experiences that seek to promote a student's innate curiosity and creativity. Through these experiences, students are learning the 21st century skills that are needed in the workplace, higher education, and beyond!

Sebastian is a senior at Notre Dame High School. Upon

his entrance to Notre Dame in the fall of 2019, Sebastian, Sebby for short, knew that he would want to take advantage of every opportunity offered. "Being a part of the Shepherds program, and coming from St. Martin de Porres, were the reasons I could ever come to a school like this," he states. 

Sebastian certainly is leaving Notre Dame with a bang. With his 3.83 GPA, Sebby has celebrated over 10 college acceptances thus far. Schools such as UConn, Providence College, Fairfield University, Bryant University, and Clark Atlanta have offered acceptance to Sebastian, but he has his heart set on either UConn or Providence. He plans to have his decision made by April. 

Sebastian has also been a part of the Basketball program over his four years led by Athletic Director, Jason Shea. He has held quite a few roles on the team, but nothing was more exciting for him than Senior Night 2023. Not only did they win their Senior Night game, but they finished the season with an impressive 23-2 record and an SCC Championship title. 

Congratulations to Sebastian for his outstanding achievements!

Congratulations to five of our Notre Dame Shepherds Seniors on their acceptance to the following colleges:

Join Shepherds at The Shelton Sports Center on Friday, March 31st!

Mentors and students: Shepherds is having a fun-filled afternoon of Arcade and Laser Tag at The Shelton Sports Center (784 River Road, Shelton, CT) on Friday, March 31st from 3pm-5pm.

The cost is $28 per person (to be paid at the door) which includes 40 credits towards the arcade plus a snack and beverage.

The Shelton Sports Center is a 4,000 square feet of state-of-the-art video arcade, featuring over 100 games - sign up today!



1 Day, 2 College Tours for 3 Shepherds Classes - 2024, 2025 & 2026

Shepherds Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors from both Shepherds' partner schools will be visiting two colleges on Thursday, April 13th: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and The College of The Holy Cross, both in Worcester, MA.

Space is very limited for this College Tour. This trip is for students to reserve on a first come, first serve basis. Mentors are family members, please encourage your students to sign up soon. Space may be available for family members and mentors after all students have had the opportunity to sign up or decline. We will advise family members and mentors if space is available by April 10th.

The bus will leave Kolbe Cathedral at 7:30am and Notre Dame at 8:15am and will return to Notre Dame at 5:15pm and return to Kolbe Cathedral at 5:45pm.

There will be a tour and information session at both colleges and lunch will be provided at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

STUDENTS, SIGN UP BY APRIL 6th!

We can't believe we are already here talking about the close of another successful school year...but, here we are!

We are happy to announce the Notre Dame Shepherds End of the Year Celebration will be on Wednesday, April 26th from 5:30pm-7:30pm. This celebratory dinner will be held at Notre Dame in The Collins Auditorium.

We are asking our Shepherds mentors to coordinate with their student for attendance and travel arrangements and RSVP below. (Senior students are welcome to bring up to 2 family members and Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors may bring up to one family member).

We look forward to seeing everyone there and to celebrate another successful Shepherds year!

MARCH 2023

Friday, March 31: Shelton Sports Center Activity

All Shepherds students and mentors are invited to attend

APRIL 2023

Thursday, April 13: College Tour Day

Freshmen, Juniors and Seniors

Visit includes tours of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and College of Holy Cross

Wednesday, April 26: Notre Dame Shepherds End of the Year Celebration

All students and mentors will have a celebratory dinner at Notre Dame (The Collins Auditorium)

Shepherds celebrates 25 years of "Changing Lives...One Student at a Time" this fall with our 25th Anniversary Gala, Thursday, October 19, 2023, at The Inn at Longshore in Westport.

Shepherds only holds a major event like this every five years! It’s critical to building the financial resources to support more students over the years between events.

Sponsorships and tables information will be available shortly. Should you wish to reserve a sponsorship early - personal or business - make a tax-deductible gift, please contact Jane MacDonald at Jane MacDonald at jmacdonald@shepherdsmentors.org.

We have started to build our pool of prospective mentors for the incoming Class of 2027.

As of March 15th, we still need 4-5 women and 3-5 men for the incoming Class of 2027 at Kolbe Cathedral and 4-7 mentors for Notre Dame. 

Please invite your friends whom you think might be interested to check out Shepherds website, send us an email info@shepherdsmentors.org or call us (203) 367-4273 to discuss the opportunity to “change a life….”

Click here to fill out a Mentor Interest Form (or email the link to a friend!)