Notre Dame Academy’s Panda Prime Time prepares students for college

For a half-hour every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the school year, you won’t find students taking classes at Notre Dame Academy in Park Hills, Kentucky. Instead, you’ll find the students of the Catholic, all-girls, college-preparatory high school meeting with teachers for extra help, working on homework, visiting with the school’s chaplain, de-stressing with physical exercise in the gym or learning to play a musical instrument. Called Panda Prime Time, this half-hour is an opportunity for students to partake in enrichment, find support, collaborate with other students or spend time on their own personal learning.

“It’s not just a time for kids to stop and have a coffee break,” says Jane Kleier, chief communications officer. Instead, she says, the time is academically based, helping students learn to maintain a work-life balance and giving them an opportunity for spiritual enrichment.

The impetus of the program, which started in 2019, was to help students with their coursework.

“One of the drivers of implementing Panda Prime Time was we wanted the students to be able to get to the teachers during the day in order to be able to possibly get assistance on a topic that they covered in class,” says Principal Jack VonHandorf. “Rather than waiting till the next day, they could get that question answered quicker. They also have an opportunity that they could make up a test or a quiz.

“The neat thing is that the teacher can request the student or the student [can] request the teacher. So if the student is sitting in class and saying, ‘I don’t really understand what’s here,’ they can go to our little online form, and then they can request the teacher for that time.”

VonHandorf says they’ve been very pleased with the success of Panda Prime Time, as both teachers and students have embraced it.

“It’s impacting the student learning. One of the big things that [the teachers are] seeing is that they’re able to get to those students right away,” he says. “The students are building those relationships with the teachers during that time.

“A lot of our graduates come back and say that they felt very comfortable in going to talking to a college professor because they had done that with the teachers here and they felt comfortable approaching a professor in college.”

Kleier says that in addition to helping students academically, emotionally and spiritually, Panda Prime Time is teaching them time management skills. “It’s very clear that they are using time wisely. Nobody’s wasting their time during that half-hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They are very much learning to manage their time,” she says.

Notre Dame Academy is already looking to give students more options during Panda Prime Time. VonHandorf says the school is looking at potentially adding yoga or meditation to the already varied options.

“One of the hallmarks of [Notre Dame Academy] is these students taking responsibility for their education,” adds VonHandorf. “And this just gives them an opportunity to be able to do that. And our girls just embrace that.”