Featured Blog Post

One of the most exciting parts of joining ACE is the opportunity to live in community and to grow alongside fellow teachers and friends. I assumed, though, that I would have to wait until summer for these moments of community to emerge. However, the April retreat provided exactly the type of community I hoped I would encounter in ACE—several months sooner than expected.

One of my seventh-grade boys penned a unique Easter reflection after I asked my class to think about what they would ask or say to Jesus. We had just prayed the Stations of the Cross during Holy Week.

“With eyes of faith consider the greatness of your mission and the wonderful amount of good which you can accomplish.”
- Bl. Basil Moreau, Christian Education

If you had told me after my first year of ACE that I would return to my ACE placement city of Corpus Christi after I had completed my teaching, I wouldn’t have believed you.

If you spend any time in a classroom, you know that new education software seems to be emerging almost every day. The EdSurge Product Index – a comprehensive index of almost all education-related software programs – includes over 500 K–12 curriculum products and more than 1,500 other software programs designed to meet the needs of teachers, schools, and higher-ed institutions. I am thrilled by the number of programs that have been created in recent years. New products drive competition in the marketplace, and this competition ultimately leads the whole industry closer to achieving its common goal: to meet the needs of all students and teachers.

As the school years comes to a close, I’ve noticed the dramatic increase in frequency of videos and memes on the internet about the plight and fatigue of teachers: “Summer vacation is our reward for surviving May” – “It’s May, teach yourself” – “Stay strong, it’s almost over!” As a teacher, I regrettably remember reading these and feeling justified in the mutual understanding we all had across the building, including among students, that we are all just ready for this to be over.

I receive quite a few questions about scheduling, particularly how we make time for 90-minute “blended” blocks and what a typical school day looks like. I hope this snapshot of a day in the life of two of our second-graders at Holy Angels provides some insight!

With Catholic schools around the country looking for the tools to create the culture, foundation, and resources to educate all students inclusively while celebrating every student’s diverse and exceptional characteristics, Notre Dame’s Program for Inclusive Education (PIE) prepares to welcome its first cohort this summer. In this month’s blog post, Maggie Byrne, a parent of a child with Down syndrome and friend of PIE, shares her son Thomas’s journey through Catholic schools that utilized inclusive practices. Many thanks to Maggie for her contributions and willingness to share how Thomas has been welcomed, served, and celebrated in Catholic schools.

When we say we believe all children can and will learn, we embed an imperative to do whatever it takes as adults to help all of our students excel. As lead learners in our schools, we have a moral responsibility to ensure that all students receive rigorous, high-quality instruction every lesson, every day. But for students stuck on the wrong side of the persistent achievement gap, we must tackle not only cumulative deficits in knowledge and skill, but also the doubts students have about their abilities, hardened by years of educational neglect.

This is the third post in our series highlighting teachers in blended-learning classrooms, and our first post about a teacher outside of a Notre Dame ACE Academy. Today’s post features Rose Oldenburg, an outstanding teacher at a Seton Education Partners blended-learning school, Nativity Jesuit in Milwaukee. Read on to learn about how Rose faced her technology fears, focused on classroom management, and got creative to make the school’s blended-learning program a success in her own classroom.

Walking into Accepted Applicants Night for ACE 24, I am not sure what I expected. I did feel one thing for certain–a slight sense of trepidation. I received an email a week earlier from my principal at Holy Names High School in Oakland, California, so I knew where I would be living, but a huge piece was still missing. Who exactly would be living with me? Who are my community members? Will they be down for random Hamilton jam sessions at odd hours of the day? Will they be willing to look at countless pictures of my baby niece and still feign interest every time? Are they nervous like I am? Did they have to look up where exactly in California Oakland is like I did? Do they love board games? Are they coffee or tea people?

“Cheers!” Ian called to me in his thick Irish accent with a huge smile on his face as his classroom of third graders burst into giggles. Most of Ian’s students had never heard of Ireland before he began teaching at Holy Angels this fall, but it’s safe to say that they are fans of the Emerald Isle now simply because it is the home of their beloved Mr. Corbett.

Something was different as we walked into Dr. Collier’s Social Studies Content class during that first ACE summer. 

Last week, as ACE teammates from across America gathered together for our annual spring retreat, we were both embraced and pushed by the words of Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. Throughout the day, he shared stories and reminders from the Bible, challenging us to think about ways in which we bring hope to the children and families we serve. A week later, we are still doing further reflection on his call to bring hope through praying, singing, and staying.

Though this blog is primarily focused on the work we do, we also want to highlight some of the most exciting blended-learning implementations in other Catholic schools across the country.

First, a disclaimer: it is exciting to be part of an effort that is gaining momentum virtually every day, but this constant growth makes it impossible to stay up-to-speed on all of the implementations of blended learning in Catholic schools across the nation. Having said that, we hope to highlight some of the most significant advances of blended learning in Catholic schools and to paint a picture of what this space looks like today.