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Catholic School Advantage

Creating a Home for All Students: An LEI Photo Essay

on Friday, 26 April 2019.

One of the most important recommendations offered at the Latino Enrollment Institute (LEI) and Adelante each summer is to create a culturally responsive school environment. First impressions can have a tremendous impact on prospective families, whether it be culturally responsive imagery displayed prominently throughout the building, or simply a welcoming face and a familiar language spoken in the front office. These environmental markers—physical manifestations in the school building of students’ home culture, faith, and language—are important indicators to parents and children that the school values their specific Catholic and ethnic identities.

We asked some of the school leaders who are currently enrolled in the LEI to share a photo or two that captures their efforts to modify their school environment in a way that would resonate with the Latino families they serve. Scroll through the photos below to see some of the things that our LEI principals have been doing this year in their schools.

  • HolyCross GuadalupeMass
  • MetroCatholic 2
  • StJohnBosco 2
  • QueenOfAllSaints-3
  • St. Andrew School_Dia de Muertos
  • QueenOfAllSaints-4
  • StBasil DiaDeLosMuertos
  • StBasil OLG 1
  • St. Charles Borromeo_Milwaukee, WI
  • Metro Catholic_Bilingual Signage
  • StFrancesCabrini 3
  • MetroCatholic 1
  • StAndrewDelevan 3
  • "At Holy Cross School, we held a beautiful Mass to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our pastor retold the story of Our Lady's apparation to Juan Diego as our students reenacted it, which really helped illustrate this miraculous event. There was a procession of roses to the altar, followed by a fiesta in the gym, and our Pre-K and Kindergarten students all sang in front of the altar after the meal. The beautiful statue of Our Lady, as seen in the photo above, was a gift from last year's 8th grade class to the school and was brought here from Mexico by one of our families. It was such a beautiful event without all of our wonderfully devoted school parents who helped decorate and prepare the meal, as well as all of our teachers who taught our children about Our Lady of Guadalupe and prepared them to celebrate in such a beautiful way."

    Angie Budzinski | Principal
    Holy Cross Catholic School | South Bend, Indiana
  • "Every faculty member now has copies of four different cultural images of the Holy Family or Mary. These are on display in our hallways and in offices so that we can celebrate the four major cultures that are in our school."

    Mary Lou Toler | Principal
    Metro Catholic School | Cleveland, Ohio
  • "This past year the students of St. John Bosco Catholic School came together to celebrate the Day of the Dead. Under the direction of Spanish teacher Johana Bautista, kindergartners through 8th-graders created colorful sugar skulls from scratch and papel picado banners. These beautifully-decorated creations adorned the campus chapel altar for visitors to enjoy for two full weeks.The students also performed various songs in Spanish, danced to traditional rhythms, and even staged a fashion show! Coming together as a community to create such an event helps students and families better understand and appreciate this Mexican tradition and surrounds them with a taste of authentic culture."

    Anita Petitti | Principal
    St. John Bosco Catholic School | Phoenix, Arizona
  • "At Queen of All Saints, our entire community participated in a procession after a family donated a new statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the school."

    Marie Arter | Principal
    Queen of All Saints Catholic School | Michigan City, Indiana
  • "At St. Andrew School, we constructed an altar for Día de los Muertos and displayed it prominently in our hallway."

    Randy Green | Principal
    St. Andrew Catholic School | Delavan, Wisonsin
  • "Viviana Pacheco is our new bilingual school administrative assistant. She joined our school family last August."

    Marie Arter | Principal
    Queen of All Saints Catholic School | Michigan City, Indiana
  • "Our students were so excited to learn about and celebrate El Día de los Muertos this year. Here, they're showing off los esqueletos that they made."

    Camille DeLano | Principal
    Saint Basil Catholic School | South Haven, Michigan
  • "Celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe has become a beautiful tradition at our school. Here, our students are placing roses on the altar we put together for la virgencita.

    Camille DeLano | Principal
    Saint Basil Catholic School | South Haven, Michigan
  • "On Wednesday, December 12, our fourth grade students led the school in the Feast Day for our Lady of Guadalupe. In preparation for this Mass, they spent time learning about the cultural significance, as well as collaborated with a mom of one of our fourth grade students on a painting of the Blessed Mother. This was the first time in recent years that we celebrated this feast day as a school community. The painting that the fourth graders made was blessed by Father Brian and is hanging proudly in our school."

    Courtney Albright | Principal
    Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic School | Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • "This year we created a portable promotional sign, which we took to all of our meetings. We used it recently when connecting with Hispanic families at Esperanza, a local organization that helps families navigate educational and community options and resources."

    Mary Lou Toler | Principal
    Metro Catholic School | Cleveland, Ohio
  • This year, our 5th and 6th graders who honored/celebrated both Día de Los Muertos and All Saints Day. Our students researched the history, meaning, and traditions of both days and how they are relevant to our Catholic Church and identity."

    Victor Gonzales | Principal
    St. Frances Cabrini Catholic School | Alamogordo, New Mexico
  • "We have taught our students the sign of the cross in four different languages—one language each quarter—and use it over announcements every day during prayer. "

    Mary Lou Toler | Principal
    Metro Catholic School | Cleveland, Ohio
  • "For the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we built a beautiful shrine to la virgencita in our school hallway."

    Randy Green | Principal
    St. Andrew Catholic School | Delavan, Wisonsin

Sister Norma Pimentel to Present at 2nd Annual Adelante Conference

on Thursday, 21 March 2019.

By: Melissa Pavloff

Adelante 2019 Sister Norma Pimentel, MJ

The Alliance for Catholic Education’s Catholic School Advantage and the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies will co-host the second annual Adelante conference from June 30 - July 2, 2019.

Featuring a wide variety of topics and presenters, the conference seeks to provide a platform for strategic discussion of various ways in which Catholic schools can expand efforts to embrace, educate and empower Latino families.

Press Play: Dr. Katy Lichon

Audrey Scott on Wednesday, 16 January 2019.

Press Play Alliance for Catholic Education

Welcome to Press Play, ACE’s new segment highlighting the latest and greatest publications coming out of the Institute for Educational Initiatives.

Spoiler Alert: We look forward to sharing a bit about the book and its author – just enough to pique your interest – then we’ll race you to the bookstore.

See you on the last page!

Increasing School Enrollments through the LEI

on Tuesday, 11 December 2018.

By: Melissa Pavloff

Increasing School Enrollment - Latino Enrollment Institute

The Latino Enrollment Institute (LEI), part of the Alliance for Catholic Education’s Catholic School Advantage, is a collaborative initiative in which Catholic schools seek to engage and serve Latino communities.

Pastor's Corner: A Season of Renewed Grace and Hope for All

Written by Fr. Joe Corpora, C.S.C. on Monday, 10 December 2018.

Dear CSA Friends,

Fr Joe CorporaAt the end of September, I had the great privilege of attending the V Encuentro in Grapevine, Texas. This was a gathering of almost 5,000 people from all around the country to talk about many topics related to Hispanic ministry, the Latino presence in the U.S. Catholic Church, what this means, and how God is moving and acting in the Church today.

There were several keynote addresses and many breakout sessions. One of the breakout sessions was “Latinos and Catholic Schools.” Sister John Mary Fleming, OP, (previously Director of the Office of Catholic Education for the USCCB) and I helped to organize this breakout session.  Our wonderful panelists were Jo Jones, Principal of Corpus Christi School (Diocese of Grand Rapids), Christine Tax, Principal of St. Agnes School (Diocese of Phoenix), Toni Vaeth, Associate Superintendent of Catholic Schools (Archdiocese of Denver), and Melodie Wyttenbach, Faculty for the Remick Leadership Program (Alliance for Catholic Education). They did a wonderful job presenting and the participants were all very engaged.

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