ACE in the City
Sacramento first welcomed our ACE teachers back in 2010, and we have been honored to serve Catholic schools of the diocese since then. Six former ACErs served in Sacramento, and five more currently serve five separate schools in the diocese: St. Charles Borromeo, St. Patrick Academy, St. Robert Catholic School, St. John Vianney Catholic School, and Our Lady of Grace School.
In 2011, the Most Rev. Jaime Soto, Bishop of Stockton, spearheaded a process of restructuring and revitalizing the diocesan Catholic schools. In this vision, all Catholic schools are now managed by a fiduciary board of directors made up of the Catholic laity under the direction of the bishop in order to create a more dynamic mode of governance, and in order to better serve all children of the diocese.
Where we'll be
Monday, May 12th
An extraordinary gathering of many of the students from all schools in the diocese will take place at Raley Field (400 Ballpark Drive, West Sacramento, CA, 95691) starting with Mass at 9:30 and followed by an event celebrating Sacramento's Catholic schools at 10:30. Rev. Timothy Scully, CSC, as ACE founder, will present University of Notre Dame Awards to two champions of education in Sacramento. Bishop Soto will concelebrate the Mass and will be in attenance at the event afterwards.
Tuesday, May 13th
9:00 am PST - School visit to St. John Vianney Catholic School
10499 Coloma Rd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670, (916) 363-4610
Event Point of Contact: Pat Graff,
Award Recipients
The University of Notre Dame Sorin Award for Service to Catholic Schools
Sister Elizabeth Curtis, known to most of us as “Sister Liz,” sadly passed away on January 24, 2014 after battling cancer. Her loving presence will be missed not only at Holy Spirit Parish and School in Fairfield, where she served for the past 14 years as principal, but also by the parish and school families of St. Dominic’s in Benicia, St. Hilary’s in Tiburon, and schools in New Orleans and American Samoa. Sister’s gentle and loving spirit was an inspiration to all who met her.
She is survived by Sr. Goretti Curtis, C.H.F., who was her sister by birth as well as her sister in her religious order; by brothers Mogue, Paudge, and Harry; sister-in laws; and numerous nieces and nephews, all residing in Ireland; her religious community the Sisters of the Holy Faith; and many friends.
The University of Notre Dame Champion for Education Award
Dr. James S. Lanich began his career as an inner-city middle school teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. He then joined the L.A. County Office of Education, where he led the largest reform unit of any educational agency in the nation and brought standards-based reading and math reform to over 1,700 schools.
Dr. Lanich received his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from USC and later assumed leadership of Curriculum Services for the Los Angeles Superintendent of Schools; he was tasked with raising the reading and math scores in the 100 lowest performing schools. From 2001 to 2005, he served as the first director for the Broad Prize for Urban Education, which awarded $1 million in scholarships to high-performing urban school districts in the nation. During this time, Dr. Lanich also founded Educational Results Partnership (www.edresults.org), the largest longitudinally linked student achievement database in the country.
Dr. Lanich was appointed by the Governor of California to the Academic Content Standards Commission, which was responsible for adopting the Common Core Standards, and was also appointed by the California State Board of Education to the African American Achievement Gap Advisory Commission. Dr. Lanich was also appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education to the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which develops policy guidelines for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Nation’s Report Card.
In addition to his role as president of Educational Results Partnership, Dr. Lanich serves as the President of California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE), representing California business leaders who are focused on raising student achievement, closing the achievement gap and increasing college readiness and success. In 2012, Dr. Lanich also assumed the role of Executive Director of the California Partnership for Achieving Student Success (Cal-PASS PLUS), a pre-K-through-workforce system of data funded by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to guide regional and statewide education improvement and overcome barriers to college and workforce success.