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Amid nationwide contentions among public, private, and charter education sectors, Indianapolis has seen unprecedented cooperation between historically unlikely partners that have been working together to create high quality education options for the city's children. The University of Notre Dame brought together leaders from these various sectors on Friday to discuss the changes Indianapolis has seen and the national implications of those changes.

Crossroads of America: Indianapolis's Bold New Vision for K-12 Education featured national and local education reformers who discussed the unique circumstances, policies, and lessons learned in Circle City schools -- a cohort of reformers many said would not have come together in the past.

"This group of people in this room would not have happened five years ago," Mickey Lentz, Chancellor for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, said.

Representatives from private organizations, charter operators, and Indianapolis Public Schools alike stressed the importance of bringing high-quality talent to the school system, which is now abounding in Indianapolis.

"Indianapolis is a dramatically different city today in terms of the pool of talent we work with," David Harris said. Harris is the founder and CEO of The Mind Trust, an organization launched in 2006 to help create an educational landscape in Indianapolis that would give every child the opportunity to receive an excellent education.

"Building on our teachers' capacity, empowering our leaders—it's amazing what that can do," Tammy Bowman, curriculum officer for Indianapolis Public Schools, said.

Talent, along with accountability and choice, were highlighted as important aspects of effective education reform. The panelists said they see opportunities arising all over the country for positive change in the world of education.

We're gaining ground [in Illinois] in ways we never thought possible," Myles Mendoza, executive director of Ed Choice Illinois, said. "We're finding some great success."

Amid discussion of the importance of a culture of choice, solid accountability standards, and an influx of talented teachers, the conversation repeatedly came back to ensuring the constant improvement of local schools, as 76,000 Indianapolis children do not have access to a quality school.

"I see this tri-sector approach growing, where it's really about good schools, whether public, charter, or private," Mendoza said.

"Accountability and talent don't happen without choice," Derrell Bradford added. Bradford serves as the executive director of NYCAN. "There are really only two types of schools in the end—those you want to send someone you love to, and those you don't."

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Additional Coverage of Crossroads of America:

State Impact, Education Panel: To Improve Education State Must Address Poverty

Chalkbeat Indiana, Charter Advocates Call for More State, Philanthropy Funding

Fr. Timothy R. Scully, CSC, the Hackett Family Director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives, recently penned a letter on school choice to the editor of Education Week that was featured on their website and print publication. 

Read the Letter Here

In April 23, 1879, a massive fire destroyed the Main Building of the University of Notre Dame and destroyed virtually the entire fledgling university. In what would become an iconic moment of Notre Dame’s history, Father Sorin addressed the stunned survivors: “If it were all gone, I should not give up.”

It is this same spirit of zeal and hope – especially in the face of adversity – that has characterized the Congregation of Holy Cross and the University of Notre Dame throughout their histories. This same spirit enlivens the work of the Holy Cross community and Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) in their efforts to rebuild and renew education in Haiti.

Today, four and a half years since the devastating earthquake in Haiti destroyed Holy Cross schools and infrastructure, Notre Dame and Holy Cross have rebuilt, bigger and better than ever.  With more than $1 million in support from the Notre Dame and ACE communities, Basile Moreau School, which had been reduced to rubble, has been reconstructed. This shining new facility now serves 1,000 K-12 students, twice the number as before the earthquake.  Situated in a slum neighborhood of Port-au-Prince called Carrefour, the beautiful school and campus present a stark contrast to the shacks, tents, and trash of the surrounding neighborhood.  In the words of Rev. Rosemond Marcelin, C.S.C., the principal of Basile Moreau, “We rebuilt this school to be beautiful and expansive so that the children who come here could see beyond the trash and squalor that they live in and dare to have beautiful and audacious dreams for their lives.”

Advancing Basile Moreau School’s mission to serve the poorest children and families in this community, one third of the students receive major tuition assistance, and another third attend the school at no cost.  ACE, working with generous Notre Dame benefactors, has provided 100 scholarships for each of the next five years to increase access for the poorest students. ACE has also partnered with benefactors to beautify the campus, with landscaping and the addition of a soccer field. 

Holy Cross and ACE leaders are now adding new computer labs, strengthening the English language curriculum and instruction, and developing a health clinic to serve the students, many of whom lack access to regular medical care, eyeglasses, and adequate nutrition.  This summer, Basile Moreau hosted more than a dozen Notre Dame faculty, staff, students, and alumni, including ACE graduates leading English language camps and a medical team coordinating a health screening of nearly 1,000 students and teachers. 

“The transformation at Basile Moreau School is simply breathtaking,” said Rev. Tim Scully, C.S.C., founder of the Alliance for Catholic Education.  “From the rubble, a beautiful school has emerged and is now bustling with activity and exciting and innovative programs.  Basile Moreau is a beacon of hope and a testament to the power of the Gospel in service to our most vulnerable children.”

But knowing the needs of their country, the Holy Cross leaders in Haiti and their partners in ACE have not stopped at rebuilding Basile Moreau School.  They are making great strides in constructing a new school in a growing neighborhood of Port au Prince called Tabarre, located near the international airport, with funding and construction management from the Digicel Foundation.  The new school will have an innovative English focus and will open its doors this September, eventually growing to serve an estimated 1,000 students.  This school will become the 16^th that Holy Cross priests and brothers operate in the country, serving over 5,000 students, with a reputation for excellence.

ACE’s work in support of Holy Cross schools is only a small portion of the powerful impact ACE is making in Haiti.  ACE’s initiatives include working with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the Haitian Catholic Church to train thousands of teachers, as well as transforming educational outcomes through an innovative literacy program that benefits over 7,500 students in impoverished Catholic schools.  Notre Dame’s ACE Haiti effort and the work of its partners represent perhaps the largest, most impactful, and most promising set of projects currently under way in Haitian education. 

The ACE in Haiti website illustrates the breadth of initiatives transforming this hard-hit country’s future through quality education for its next generations. Notre Dame’s Committed to Haiti website describes the University’s even broader efforts, integrating education, health care, and overall sustainability to support human development in Haiti.

Contact: Bill Schmitt 574-631-3893 /
Alliance for Catholic Education

As more than 250 teachers and school leaders are missioned back to Catholic schools after a busy summer on campus, a beloved leader of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) community is transitioning to a new phase of her distinguished career. Dr. Joyce Johnstone will retire from her directorship roles in ACE and the Institute for Educational Initiatives, becoming a Professor Emeritus at the University, effective Aug. 1.

Throughout her prodigious career spanning more than four decades of service at every level in the field of education, Johnstone has been a tireless advocate for children. She has contributed her extraordinary talent, imagination, and energy to an array of initiatives during her 16 years at Notre Dame. As Ryan Director of Educational Outreach for the Institute and Senior Director for Program Development in ACE, she has helped to advance the University’s mission of service and the work of Catholic schools around the nation and abroad, and she has consistently shown a commitment to excellence in public and faith-based education for all students.

Johnstone is both a strong advocate for and an innovator in the field of education. The list of initiatives that exist due in large part to her efforts includes the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, ACE’s inclusionary licensure programs in English as a New Language (ENL) and Teaching Exceptional Children (TEC), the University Consortium for Catholic Education, and Notre Dame’s administrative role in the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program for Indiana (AP-TIP IN).

Her accomplishments have been both global and local. In 2012, Johnstone spearheaded an initiative to provide ACE’s ENL curriculum to hundreds of educators in Puerto Rico. In 2014, she was a driving force behind Notre Dame’s deepening partnership with schools in Brazil, hosting 30 Brazilian English teachers for several weeks this winter; the ambitious initiative engaged South Bend public school teachers and students in a display of hospitality and an exchange of cultural insights.

In her decade and a half of leadership in the Alliance for Catholic Education, her commitment to the dignity of every human person has been unmatched. Educators across the state of Indiana have recognized Johnstone, who holds a Ph.D. in special education from Indiana University, and her particular interest in meeting the learning needs of all children; the Indiana Council for Exceptional Children named her Professor of the Year in 2010.

Members of the ACE team and colleagues in the Institute for Educational Initiatives know Johnstone as an outstanding teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend. They offer their gratitude to her for her years of service and her creativity in improving the lives of countless students, teachers, and educational leaders. Her vision and entrepreneurial spirit have left an indelible mark on the Alliance for Catholic Education and the University of Notre Dame, and have touched the lives of generations of educators.

The home of the Institute for Educational Initiatives has been re-christened “Visitation Hall” in honor of a beautiful stained glass window that depicts the joyful reunion of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. In many ways, the story of the Visitation beautifully captures the joy inherent in the ACE community.  Mary is entrusted with an astonishing task, and Mary’s joy is fortified by her embrace and solidarity with Elizabeth.  Overcome with gratitude Mary praises God in the extraordinary Magnificat prayer, and she goes forth to live out her vocation with joyful obedience. In the same way, ACE teachers and leaders undertake the great mission of strengthening Catholic schools, are fortified by the love that abounds throughout the ACE community, gather together to praise Christ the Teacher, and go forth in joy to lives of service in Catholic schools.

In the summer, Visitation Hall and Carole Sandner Hall (the home of ACE) are bursting with activity in the form of workshops, conferences, and classes which bring together educators from across the country and overseas for the common mission of Catholic schools. 

This photo essay captures the joy that animates the final weeks of ACE summer as the IEI and full ACE community celebrate our shared mission to children through prayer and solidarity.

The home of the Institute for Educational Initiatives has been re-christened “Visitation Hall” in honor of a beautiful stained glass window that depicts the joyful reunion of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth.

Bishop Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport, celebrated Mass at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes with ACE teachers, Remick leaders, and over 100 pastors from Catholic schools across the country. He offered these words of inspiration, “The unique mission of Catholic schools is to be explicitly intentional and integrative of all things human (natural) and all things divine (Grace) as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ through the lived witness of the community of the Church.”

Remick Leaders presented their action research projects to the broader education community and keynote speaker, Dr. Alberto Vázquez Matos, Superintendent of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, encouraged these leaders to go out and animate the Catholic schools they serve.

The Visitation is a joyful reunion of Mary and Elizabeth, and nowhere is a similar joy more apparent than the reunion of the graduating ACE Teaching Fellows cohort for their Commencement Retreat. Members of ACE 19 joined in prayer and much laughter as they reflected on their ACE experience and the exciting future ahead.

Summer lunches in the dining hall are a great opportunity to witness the wide reach of the ACE community. At any given table you will find ACE teachers sitting alongside professors and members of the ACE team as they celebrate the joys and challenges of each day.

The completion of the summative poster project for second-year ACE teachers is always an occasion of joy, and this year’s ACE 20s made an impressive showing. Posters were supplemented with iPad presentations and science labs were demonstrated live.

Answering Christ’s call to welcome the immigrant church is at the heart of the English as a New Language (ENL) program. Teachers worked independently and collaboratively to develop the expertise to work with students whose primary language is not English.

An annual tradition of fun competition, the ACE Store basketball games bring the community together with big cheers and a lot of sweat and hard work.

Honoring and celebrating those who have created and innovated on behalf of our neediest students is a blessing. You can read about these amazing Catholic school educators and advocates here: http://ace.nd.edu/news/ace-to-present-awards-for-excellence

The beauty in the story of the Visitation is that two women celebrate a secret joy which will soon be made known to the world: the birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus. In the same way, ACE teachers reveal their hidden gifts at the annual Talent Show, filled with laughter, song, camaraderie, and fond farewells.

On the final day of the ACE summer, ACE teachers and leaders are missioned, going forth to share the joy of the Gospel with the children that they serve in dioceses, neighborhoods, and schools across the country.