Strict but Trusted, Sister Dolores Is Irreplaceable at Fontbonne By Zena Barakat The Lessons of Sister Dolores: Sister Dolores F. Crepeau, the principal at Fontbonne Hall Academy in Bay Ridge, inspects seniors" white graduation dresses, a long tradition at the school. One of the first lessons a Fontbonne girl learns is that no good can come from crossing Sister Dolores. The Sister, principal of Fontbonne Hall Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in Brooklyn, once jumped out of her 2004 Toyota Corolla, confiscated a girl's beer, emptied it into the gutter, explained that as a certified alcohol counselor she could have the girl arrested, then waited while the shellshocked child called her parents to report herself. By the time the girls are seniors, they understand that when Sister Dolores says they are free to choose their own graduation dress, she means if it passes inspection. Starting in early May, they bring them to the principal's office and change in the bathroom. "Let me see you," Sister Dolores said to Alessandra Fodera, who will be attending Georgetown University in the fall. Turn around. The dresses cannot be strapless. Straps must be at least one and a half inches wide. Hems are to be one and a half inches off the floor. Shoes must be white and can be high heels, but not too high. Gowns will absolutely not be off-white, diamond white, or eggshell white. Only white-white. "Gloves," Sister Dolores said, checking to see that they were elbow length. You don't have to take them out of the bag. I just need to look at them. There is no precise measure for how much cleavage is too much, but Sister Dolores knows it when she sees it. "You look gorgeous," she said to Ms. Fodera. Absolutely beautiful. I checked you off, so you're all set. This is the 75th anniversary of the founding of Fontbonne Hall Academy, and there is no place quite like it, nor few people left anywhere like 63-year-old Sister Dolores Crepeau. The school is in Bay Ridge, at the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, in the mansion that Diamond Jim Brady bought for the actress Lillian Russell. It feels like going to school in a house. Sister Dolores's house. The school's mission today is, as it has always been, "to offer a superior educational program while forming and empowering young women of confidence and compassion." All 132 in this year's senior class plan to attend college in the fall. Their choices range from small Catholic colleges like St. Joseph's (New York) and St. Joseph (Connecticut) to Ivies. Fontbonne has both the advantages of a small school (average class size: 20), as well as some of the disadvantages (only eight Advanced Placement courses offered). One of the advantages would be Sister Dolores. This month, in a move that surprised absolutely no one, she was inducted into Fontbonne's Hall of Fame. She expects excellence in whatever the girls do - even fire drills. "Our average is 2 minutes and 10 seconds," she said, standing in the street on a recent day, watching the girls leave the building. After the last girl had filed out, the assistant principal, Gilda King, checked the time and said, "One minute and 40 seconds." "A record," Sister Dolores said. At a party held by the school before the annual prom, girls bring their dates to meet Sister Dolores. "She looks deep into the boys" eyes," said Effie Maldari, the school's finance director and a member of the Class of "68. Sister Dolores is checking to make sure they are worthy of a Fontbonne girl. Plus it unsettles the boys a little. Before the buses leave for the prom, Sister Dolores boards them to search for contraband. Stephen Gordon said after the rigors of Sister Dolores, his daughter Danielle, Class of 2011, was prepared for the eight-week basic training program at West Point known as "Beast." Sister doesn't ask the girls to do anything she doesn't ask of herself. Most mornings she is in by 6 a.m., and, if lucky, she's back at the convent in Park Slope by 6 p.m. for supper and prayers.