News

Rev. Ronald Nuzzi, Ph.D., senior director of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program at Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), will lead a new ACE initiative focusing on Catholic schools and the New Evangelization beginning in August, 2013. This Catholic School Identity Renewal Initiative will help Catholic elementary and secondary schools across the country to deepen their Catholic identity and to strengthen their faculty faith formation efforts.

Father Nuzzi's leadership of this initiative requires his departure from the directorship of the Remick Leadership Program, although he will continue to teach in the program. ACE will undertake a search for a new director of the program, which has become the largest of its kind, preparing tomorrow's knowledgeable, faith-filled leaders for Catholic schools.

The new initiative to take shape under Father Nuzzi's guidance will respond to Church leaders' growing focus on the vital role of Catholic schools in the New Evangelization. This effort to help schools make their identity more vibrant is a natural outgrowth of ACE's nearly 20 years of service to sustain, strengthen, and transform Catholic schools. More details will be forthcoming about ACE's work in this area.

Father Nuzzi, a priest of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, came to ACE in 2002 as the founding director of the principal formation initiative that later would be named the Remick Leadership Program. This graduate-level leadership preparation initiative has recently recruited its 12th class and has already prepared more than 200 master's-degree graduates to lead Catholic schools nationwide.

Upticks in enrollment and a legal affirmation of Indiana’s school-vouchers law have been among the good news for Catholic schools reported recently in the media. Journalists turned to a variety of Notre Dame faculty and staff for expertise on aspects of these stories.

John Schoenig, director of ACE’s Program for K-12 Educational Access and an experienced analyst of parental choice policies around the country, offered insights on Indiana’s school vouchers law. The legislative debate about amending the vouchers policy had prompted a National Public Radio reporter to interview Schoenig in February. The decision by the Indiana Supreme Court in March declaring vouchers to be constitutional led the National Catholic Register to quote Schoenig’s assessment of the ruling.

See a new "ND Expert" story outlining his thoughts on possible school-voucher implications in other states.

The latest issue of Chicago’s archdiocesan newspaper Catholic New World reports that “efforts to persuade Latino parents to send their children to Catholic schools appear to be paying off.” A key source helping to tell that story is Juana Sanchez Graber, a field consultant leading ACE’s “Catholic School Advantage” campaign in the archdiocese.

In covering a new initiative for Catholic educator engagement in the Diocese of Santa Rosa, the latest issue of National Catholic Register quotes Rev. Ronald Nuzzi, senior director of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program. Father Nuzzi affirmed the kudos going to Bishop Robert Vasa’s planned educator-renewal program, which will spotlight key teachings of the Church: “This work of faith formation, the evangelization and re-evangelization of adults, is never done.”

Separately, Father Nuzzi's reflection on Pope Emeritus Benedict's strong support for Catholic education was presented in the popular blog Catholicmom.com.

A story in an online newsletter covering education reform, RedefinED. has reported that Catholic school enrollment in Florida increased last year. The newsletter, which has interviewed Notre Dame ACE Academies director Christian Dallavis in the past, noted a partnership with ACE Academies as one of the constructive steps taken by the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Schools must give all children the maximum opportunity for learning—a goal which requires not only academic excellence but support for the mental, emotional, and behavioral health needs of their students. That goes without saying in the context of a Catholic school's caring community, emphasizing respect for the whole person, but a new book from an Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) scholar at the University of Notre Dame will help educators understand and meet these needs more holistically and effectively.

James M. Frabutt, Ph.D., an experienced teacher of tomorrow's educational leaders and an expert in child development, has written Beyond Academics: Supporting the Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Health of Students in Catholic Schools. Readers will come away better prepared to understand and deal with the prevalence of these health issues, as well as their intersection with the Catholic school mission—helping children achieve their God-given potential.

"This book uniquely captures evidence-driven best practices for educating multi-faceted human beings and the faith perspectives that anchor those practices in a Catholic school context," says Frabutt. "All schools need to do a better job of going beyond academics, but the book will give Catholic educators particular hope that they can do so in a distinctive, strategic, and integrated way."

An experienced faculty member in ACE's Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program and author of nationally recognized studies addressing Catholic school challenges, Frabutt provides an authoritative overview of statistics, trends, and action-oriented research to help Catholic educators combine higher academic achievement, holistic student wellness, and overall school improvement.

Frabutt, scheduled as one of the presenters at the April 2-4 convention of the National Catholic Educational Association, has coauthored books including Steadfast in Faith, Striving for Balance: The Notre Dame Study of Catholic Elementary School Principals and Building Assets: The Strategic Use of Closed Catholic Schools. At the Houston convention, he and co-presenter Rachel Waldron will speak on "Educating the Youngest Hearts and Minds: The Landscape of Catholic Preschool Education."

Before joining the faculty of ACE's Remick Leadership Program at Notre Dame, Frabutt served as Deputy Director of the Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Prior to that, he was the Director of the Division for the Prevention of Youth Violence and Aggression at the Center for the Study of Social Issues at UNCG.

His new book, Beyond Academics, can be purchased from Information Age Publishers. 

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Publication Date: 2013

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Hardcover: 9781623962876

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Members of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) family and friends were among the Catholic school experts making presentations at the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) Annual Convention and Expo April 2-4 in Houston, Texas.

The convention, a premier event convening Catholic school educators from around the country, offers presentations on a wide variety of topics, and the speakers from ACE addressed subjects relevant to schools’ roles in the New Evangelization. The subjects ranged from the spirituality of Catholic school leadership to virtue in high school sports, from improving school finances to increasing Latino enrollments.

A full schedule of presentations is available online from the NCEA. Those with particular ties to ACE included:

Erika Banwarth Cedrone, a partner in ACE’s Catholic School Advantage campaign, who spoke on “Increasing Latino Enrollment in our Catholic Schools.”

Frank DiLallo, M. Ed., LPC, an author published by ACE Press, spoke on “A Catholic Educator Response to Bullying.”

Jim Frabutt, Ph.D., faculty member in ACE’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, was a co-presenter, with Rachel Waldron, MA (a graduate of ACE’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program), on the topic, “Educating the Youngest Hearts and Minds: The Landscape of Catholic Preschool Education.”

Erik Goldschmidt, Ph.D., a graduate of ACE’s third cohort of teachers, addressed the issue of “Enhancing Faculty Faith Formation with Online Resources.”

Juana Sanchez Graber, a field consultant with ACE's Catholic School Advantage campaign, spoke on "Developing a Parent Ambassador Program" with Jean Simpson.

Mary C. McDonald, Ed. D., an author published by ACE Press, made two presentations, one titled “A Light Reflected,” and the other titled “Fishing on the Other Side of the Boat.”

Rev. Ronald Nuzzi, Ph.D., ACE’s senior director of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, made a presentation titled “Towards a Spirituality of Leadership: A Catholic and International Perspective.” He was also a co-presenter in two other sessions—“Towards a Bright Future: Current Research on Catholic Schools” and “Catholic Section of the Praeger Handbook of Faith-Based Schools in the United States, K-12.”

Clark Power, Ph.D., director of ACE’s Play Like a Champion Today ® training and research program for character education through sports, spoke on “Developing Virtue Through Sport: A Catholic Mission for High Schools.”

Jim Rigg, Ph.D., superintendent for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and a graduate of ACE’s sixth cohort of teachers, spoke on “Blessings and Bucks: Making Sense of School Financial Vitality.”

Anne Stricherz, M.A.T., a graduate of ACE’s third cohort of teachers, spoke on “Sports and Spirituality: Fertile Ground for the New Evangelization.”

David Tompkins, M.A., faculty member in ACE’s English as a New Language certificate program and a seasoned ENL teacher, presented “Teaching the Immigrant Church: Ten Strategies to Support Linguistically Diverse Children and Promote a More Culturally Inclusive School.”

Steven Virgadamo, associate director of ACE Consulting with over 25 years of experience in managing and leading Catholic institutions, spoke on “Applied Behavioral Sciences in the Art of Face-to-Face Cultivation and Solicitation of Donors.”

A complete description of the Annual Convention and its activities can be found at the NCEA website.

Tony Hollowell, a 2006 ACE Teaching Fellows graduate who has undertaken many adventures in support of Catholic schools, is living a new set of adventures these days as a seminarian at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. During his studies to be a priest for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, he was invited to be lector at the March 12 Conclave Mass for the Church’s College of Cardinals, just a couple of days before they elected Pope Francis. Tony was in St. Peter’s Square among the throngs present to hear the words “Habemus Papam” and to enjoy the introduction to the new Holy Father.

Thank you, Tony, for taking the time in a seminarian’s busy life, especially during Lent and during these early days of the new papacy, to share the following reflections with your ACE family:

When I found out that I would be doing the first reading at the Mass to begin the Conclave, the first thing I thought was “I have to tell my family!”

I knew my parents would be excited, but through the whole experience, God showed me just how big my family has grown over the course of my life. As I sat in Saint Peter's, two hours before the start of the Mass, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all the wonderful people God had put into my life, people who had become a part of my family.

High school teachers, grade school principals, college roommates, students I had taught, mentors who had taught me, families that I had met—the list went on and on. Pulsing right in the middle of all this gratitude was an ineffable joy for the many people that I encountered while being a part of the ACE program.

I received many notes of encouragement from all these people whom I had encountered in ACE. God showed me that my family has continued to grow steadily as I continue to try to serve Him.

I did the “ACE Teaching Fellows” program with ACE. Our Holy Father Francis has proclaimed, “To be powerful is to serve.” He knows what I learned in ACE—namely, by serving others, we become powerful through love.

When I began to teach in Mississippi, I was confused, frustrated, tired, and just not very good. But that eventually did not matter. Though I was inexperienced, I was given mentors. Though I was weak, my love was strengthened. Though I was away from home, my family grew.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains but a grain. But if it dies, it will bear much fruit.” The many emails and messages of encouragement I received from people that I met in ACE were the abundant fruit of two years of ACE Teaching Fellows.

They were sacramental reminders of the immeasurable love God pours out on those who serve Him. Truly, to be powerful is to serve.

I am continually reflecting on experiences and lessons learned in ACE and applying it to my journey in the seminary.

The greatest lesson ACE ever taught me was a fundamental truth of the Christian faith, that “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” It is only through the cross that we will ever attain the Resurrection, a fact that Holy Week seeks to imprint on our hearts.

The name of the school I served in ACE was called Resurrection Catholic School. That is a prophetic name for the lesson learned in ACE, for it was through ACE that I first learned the joy of the Resurrection that comes from carrying the cross and following Christ.

God simply will never be outdone in generosity, giving us tenfold in return for every act of faith made out of love of Him. Thus, I remain in a debt of gratitude before a God who continues to expand my family to include more and more holy men and women, building us up together into the Body of Christ. And there is always room for more.

Homepage photo of Pope Francis: License Some rights reserved by the Catholic Church (England and Wales)

Photo of Tony Hollowell, provided by him, shows his ministry as lector at the Cardinals' Conclave Mass on March 12, 2013.

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A March 15 article in the Indianapolis archdiocesan newspaper, The Criterion, talked about Tony’s journey.

You can see a video of Tony’s ministry as lector at the Conclave Mass.

You can hear an audio recording of Tony's  interview on national Catholic radio on March 15. He spoke to the Son Rise Morning Show about his first glimpse of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square.

Also see ACE’s previous story about Tony and Notre Dame Magazine’s story about Tony as a cross-country cyclist supporting Catholic schools.