In 1910 five Notre Dame Sisters, led by Mother Mary Qualberta, came to America at the request of pastors who saw the need for ministry to Czech-speaking immigrants. In America the first work of the Sisters was the care of orphans at the Hessoun Orphanage in Fenton, Missouri. In 1911, the Sisters were invited to teach at St. Wenceslaus School in Dodge, Nebraska and in 1913 at Spillville, Iowa. Five more Sisters and three candidates were sent from Czechoslovakia, and small groups of Sisters came again in 1920 and in 1923. Soon American girls began to join the community and the Sisters' field of activitiy soon extended into the Nebraska towns of Brainard, Wahoo, Prague, Dwight, Schuyler and parishes in Omaha, the Iowa cities of Chelsea and Cedar Rapids, as well as the neighboring states of South Dakota and Kansas.

In 1917, at the urgent request of Archbishop Jeremiah Harty, two Sisters were sent to staff Boys Home, founded by Father Flanagan at 20th and Dodge Streets in Omaha. With increased enrollment, the Sisters and boys moved to more spacious quarters at the German Home on South 13th Street. (Pictured at left, the boys and Father Flanagan at the German Home, with three Notre Dame Sisters.) In the fall of 1921, Father Flanagan bought Overlook Farm, the present site of Girls and Boys Town, and the Sisters bought from him the tract of land he'd originally intended to use, Seven Oaks Farm, which later became the location for the Notre Dame Motherhouse.

In 1920 the Sisters began to minister at St. Adalbert School in Omaha, and in 1921 added other parishes in South Omaha. The Sisters were living in the farmhouse on Seven Oaks Farm, and in 1921 a chapel was added to the building. In 1922 the Sisters began teaching summer religion classes in Oxford Junction, Iowa, a practice which continued in many towns in Iowa and Nebraska until recent times. In 1923 the Sisters began teaching at St. Wenceslaus School in Wahoo, Nebraska.

The construction of the Motherhouse on the grounds of Seven Oaks Farm began in 1925, and by 1926 Notre Dame Academy opened with 26 students. By 1930 there were 53 students at Notre Dame Academy.

In 1937 Sisters Genevieve and Jane were the first to be assigned to Our Lady of Lourdes Mission in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. This same year the new wing of Notre Dame Academy was dedicated, and the first Notre Dame Alumnae Reunion was held.

In 1941 St. Therese's School in Omaha opened, and the teaching Sisters commuted there daily by Yellow Cab. During the war, the Sisters worked hard at obtaining American citizenship. During this time the Mother General, Mother M. Fabiola, was in a concentration camp for the crime of receiving new postulants.

1950 and 1951 saw construction and completion of the west wing of the convent and the chapel. In 1954 schools in Harlan, Iowa and Atwood, Kansas were staffed, and in 1955 the Sisters staffed the school in Howells, Nebraska. From 1958 - 1962 the Sisters operated a kindergarten at Notre Dame. Also in 1962, Sisters Joan and Mariette were chosen for missionary work connected with the Omaha Archdiocese in Talcuahano, Chile.

In 1964 the enrollment at Notre Dame Academy topped 400, and a new addition to the school was opened; by 1967 the boarding school was discontinued.

By 1968 the Sisters were beginning to choose to work in ministries other than teaching in order to best meet the unmet needs of others and use the gifts they were given by God. By 1974 declining enrollment dictated the merging of Notre Dame Academy with Rummel High School to form Roncalli Catholic High School. The vacant Academy building was used by parishes, a dancing school, and rentals.

The Shelter for Victims of Abuse, Omaha's first shelter for domestic violence, received support from the Sisters beginning in 1979. The Sisters' commitment to survivors of domestic violence has continued to the present day. In 1981, 70 women in the Family Program at the Eppley Treatment Center were housed at Notre Dame. Through the 1980's and 1990's the Sisters continued to aid women seeking assistance.

During the early 1990's the Sisters began to research ways to better utilize the land and the former Academy building to serve unmet needs. This discernment led to Seven Oaks of Florence, affordable and quality independent living for seniors sponsored by the Sisters.

Today the Notre Dame Sisters continue in a variety of ministries, meeting the unmet needs of others through out the midwest United States and at a mission in Honduras.