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The Alliance for Catholic Education's Top Ten Most-Visited Stories of 2012

on Friday, 28 December 2012.

Whether through new initiatives or existing traditions, the movement of the Alliance for Catholic Education continued its mission to sustain, strengthen and transform Catholic schools in 2012.

As we move closer to our 20th year of service to Catholic education, we've sifted through all the exciting news stories of this past year to put together this list of the ten most-visited ACE stories:

1. ND Launches New Partnership Program in St. Petersburg, FL, Area

The University of Notre Dame partnered with two Catholic schools in the Diocese of St. Petersburg to form the second site of Notre Dame ACE Academies.

2. Michael Pressley Awards Go to Three Outstanding Educators

Three outstanding educators committed to sustain, strengthen, and transform Catholic schools received the 2012 Michael Pressley Awards from the Alliance for Catholic Education's ACE Advocates for Catholic Schools.

3. An Array of ACE Programs and People Energize Summer at ND

The summer break at the University of Notre Dame surged with energy as the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) began its peak season.

 

4. Dan Faas Delivered STT Student Commencement Address

ACE 17 Student Commencement Address given in the Monogram Room, Edmund P. Joyce Center
at the University of Notre Dame on July 13, 2012.

 
5. Your Future in ACE: Consider the Possibilities

This blessed time of year prompted us to look back upon cherished Christmas traditions and to look forward to a new year—often considering plans for the future that reflect our deepest values.

 

The Difference a Catholic Middle School Makes

on Wednesday, 05 December 2012.

Chicago Jesuit Academy (CJA) is a full-scholarship Jesuit school that serves young men from modest economic backgrounds in grades 5-8. Following the Nativity model, the west-side school begins its day at 7:30 am and ends at 6:00 pm. The school year lasts nearly 11 months, and students learn in small class sizes to prepare for success in college prep high schools, universities, and positions of community leadership. The school opened in 2005, and thanks to the unwavering dedication of its staff and teachers—four of whom are graduates of ACE Teaching Fellows—student success rates have been staggering.

"We're fortunate to have an extraordinarily talented faculty and staff," said CJA President Matthew Lynch. "They have the education and the work ethic to do whatever they want in their professional lives," he went on to say. But they choose to dedicate themselves to the students of CJA instead. This is true of ACE grads Matt Houlihan, Teresa Haggerty, Sarah Finch, and Katie McDonnell who, with approximately 75% of all ACE graduates, have chosen to stay in Catholic education.

Of their experience at CJA, these teachers have nothing but praise. Matt (ACE 12) said, "CJA is one of the few [schools] I've ever heard of that continually hires standout teachers and individuals. The camaraderie, teamwork and selflessness exhibited in the staff at CJA are nearly singular. For [any] teacher used to being a bit of an island, CJA is inspiring."

Katie (ACE 16) added, "ACE got me hooked on service in urban Catholic schools. I looked for a school that offers holistic opportunities to students who otherwise may not have school choice and CJA was the perfect fit."

"Our mission resonates powerfully with ACE alumni," Mr. Lynch said. "Our job is to help our students discover and develop their God-given gifts. This is at the heart of who we are."

Their mission is working. On average, incoming CJA fifth-grade students test at the mid-third-grade level in reading and mathematics. Upon graduating, eighth-grade students test at the mid-tenth-grade level in those subjects, and many go on to attend rigorous college prep high schools in Chicago such as Loyola Academy and St. Ignatius and prestigious boarding schools such as the Thacher School in California, Culver Academy in Indiana and Episcopal High in Virginia. To support them, CJA offers a College-Persistence Program that collaborates with families, high schools and colleges to ensure that these young men receive the same high level of care long after they have graduated eighth grade.

CJA currently serves close to 100 young men but will have the capacity to serve twice that number when a renovation and expansion project is completed in September of 2013.

For more information about the school, call (773) 638-6103, visit the website or follow on Facebook.

Catholic Education Report Explores Leadership, Innovation & Faith

Written by William Schmitt on Wednesday, 28 November 2012.

Success Stories Celebrating Children and Education Fill 2011-2012 Annual Report

Good news about the present and future of Catholic schools fills the pages of the 2011-2012 Annual Report from the Alliance for Catholic Education. That report, released today, is available online—the first fully digital version of an ACE annual report.

This fresh collection of compelling stories about ACE's activities explores successes in leadership formation, professional services, research-based innovation, and partnerships around the United States.

Faculty and staff have shared expertise in school governance, strategic planning, Latino enrollments, and parental choice, among other issue areas. Nearly 80 bishops have engaged in ACE-sponsored conferences on advocating for parental choice policies.

The report also offers highlights of the 2011-2012 academic year for numerous initiatives through which the Alliance for Catholic Education responds to the needs of dioceses—and to the call to serve children by sustaining, strengthening, and transforming Catholic schools.

During the year, ACE offered services in 74 archdioceses and dioceses. ACE teachers and principals impacted the lives of 38,000 students.

Supporters of Catholic schools will find a valuable resource in this update on ACE's growing list of activities. Paper copies of the 2011-2012 Annual Report are available by contacting communications specialist Bill Schmitt.

In the Spotlight: Andrew Hoyt

on Thursday, 08 November 2012.

This week, Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School teacher Andrew Hoyt answers our questions about his experience as a teacher, a Melody Teaching Fellow, and a witness to the difference Catholic schools make.

How did you come to be professionally involved in education?

My first exposure to teaching (aside from my own experience as a student) came in an unusual setting: a homeless shelter. While I was an employee at the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, a group of graduate students from the MFA in creative writing program at the University of Notre Dame started up a writing workshop for our guests at the CFH. These graduate students were nice enough to let me sit in with them, and they amazed me with their ability to engage even the most unlikely students in the written word.

A few years later, I became involved with a community of educators and ACE-grads who were [interested in] the Cristo Rey model. The more we researched it, the more impressed I became with the intersection of academics, spirituality, and social justice that drives these schools. When I heard of the plans for a new Cristo Rey school in Houston, Texas, I started shopping online for belt buckles and cowboy hats. I've been lucky enough to teach English at Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory of Houston for the last four years.

What led you to Melody Teaching Fellows, and how has the program helped you as an educator?

The Gwen and Larry Melody family have been incredible supporters and friends of Cristo Rey Jesuit in Houston, and when I heard of the idea for the Melody Teaching Fellows, I thought it would be a great opportunity to hone my practice and develop responses to some of the unique challenges my students face. In particular, the program gave me an opportunity to investigate, understand, and address some of my students' vocabulary deficiencies. With the help of my mentor and outstanding colleagues, I developed a curriculum to promote morphological awareness that I never could have imagined or completed without the Melody Teaching Fellows program.

I believe that the purpose of education, and literacy in particular, is to provide our students with freedom. With that in mind, the goal of my work with the Melody Teaching Fellows program has been to allow my students to feel hope when they encounter words and terms that they have never seen before, rather than despair or frustration.

Will you share with us a story from your classroom that affirms the value of Catholic Education?

My students work in a dojo-like environment to "chop" words into morphemes, and they earn bracelets of various colors, much like the belts in a karate dojo. Just last week a senior student, who earned a "black belt" in my class as a sophomore, sat in my room for a study hall with the rest of the varsity basketball team. As all of the students worked on their homework, one freshman ran across a word in his reading that gave him trouble. He asked three people what the word meant, but no one seemed to know. Finally, the third student suggested, "Ask Nghia, he's a black belt." The freshman looked in awe at the senior (it's insanely hard to become a black belt), and took his reading over to the older student. Though they didn't know I was listening, two things happened in that conversation that affirmed for me the value of their Catholic education. First, the senior admitted that he didn't know the definition of the word, but asked the freshman, "What should we do?" The freshman tentatively responded, "Break it down?" And the two began working together to determine the definition of the word. When faced with a challenge, Nghia didn't back down. He felt free to begin an investigation of his own; more importantly, he shared that freedom with the younger student. I could hardly hope for more than to see two students, helping one another, emboldened by a sense of hope, and relishing a challenge in front of them.

Read more about Andrew's curriculum on his blog here.

In the Spotlight: Cassie Brownell

on Friday, 02 November 2012.

Cassie Brownell had her first introduction to Catholic schools when she enrolled at Marquette University. "The closest Catholic school [to our small North-Central Montana town] was sixty miles away," she tells us. What captured her imagination as a college freshman is what continues to motivate her today: a love of service and living "as a woman for others."

That motivation is also what led her to ACE Teaching Fellows (plus, she says, the influence of "some great MU alums in the ACE program") and then spurred her to enroll in ACE Teaching Exceptional Children. About her interest in TEC, Cassie says, "After three years teaching in post-Katrina New Orleans, two years in second grade with ACE and one year in first grade at my post-ACE school, I recognized trends among the academic and behavioral needs of the students I encountered. From discussions with [ACE Senior Director of Program Development] Dr. Joyce Johnstone, I knew more could be done to address the needs of not only students but parents and educators."

Through TEC, Cassie established a Strategic Intervention Team (SIT) at her school, which allowed her and her colleagues to develop relationships with six families that now, she says, "have new hope for the future of their children's academic careers." She went on to say, "My principal commented that SIT is the single-best thing to happen at our school."

Now in her fifth year of teaching, Cassie continues her focus on service and living for others. Recently she visited her ACE school, where she ran into a former student. In the first moments of their conversation, the student asked, "Do you still love all of us?" That summed up Cassie's commitment as a Catholic and an educator: "Loving my students and meeting them where they are."