Waterbury Catholic High School was a Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 secondary school founded in 1926 in Waterbury, Connecticut

Waterbury, Connecticut

Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...

 by the Congregation of Notre Dame

Congregation of Notre Dame

The Congregation of Notre Dame was founded in 1653 by Marguerite Bourgeoys in Montreal, Canada. This was one of the first non-cloistered communities. The community's motherhouse has continued to be based in Montreal...

 (CND) of Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

The CND infused the school with their strong interest in education, particularly as vehicle to empower women. The school brought traditional college preparatory courses together with a strong curriculum of social justice

Social justice

Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...

, in the tradition of peace and justice studies. Study of Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. was a 20th century Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion...

, Thich Nhat Hanh

Nhat Hanh

Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in France. Born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo, Thích Nhất Hạnh joined a Zen monastery at the age of 16, and studied Buddhism as a novitiate. Upon his ordination as a monk in 1949, he assumed the Dharma name...

 and other visionaries threaded through the curriculum. The brothers Daniel

Daniel Berrigan

Daniel Berrigan, SJ is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for their involvement in antiwar protests during the Vietnam war....

 and Philip Berrigan

Philip Berrigan

Philip Francis Berrigan was an internationally renowned American peace activist, Christian anarchist and former Roman Catholic priest...

, James Carroll

James Carroll

James Carroll may refer to:* James Carroll * James Carroll , Irish independent politician, represented Dublin South West from 1957–1965...

, Doctor Spock and César Chávez

César Chávez

César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....

 all viisted the school in the seventies. It closed in 1975 when it merged with the Holy Cross High School (Waterbury), an all boys school. Sacred Heart High School

Sacred Heart High School (Connecticut)

Sacred Heart High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Waterbury, Connecticut. It is in the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.-Background:...

 bought the building. The school graduated about 120 young women per year, some of whom were famous, such as actress Kathleen P. Deignan

Kathleen P. Deignan

Kathleen P. Deignan, C.N.D., , is an Irish-American theologian, author and sacred song writer who has been engaged in the ministry of liturgical musicianship for over forty years...

, taught there as a young nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

, using her music to teach and animate students.