News

Rodney Pierre-Antoine, current principal of St. Jarlath Catholic School in the Diocese of Oakland, will join the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) as director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies, effective July 1, 2014.

In this role, Pierre-Antoine will work closely with principals and teachers in Notre Dame ACE Academies partner schools in the Dioceses of Tucson and St. Petersburg to provide a Catholic education of the highest quality to as many children as possible. The director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies leads regional boards and supports school leaders in their efforts to establish high-performing, transformational school cultures rooted in the Catholic tradition. Pierre-Antoine will also lead the development of a strategy for replicating the Notre Dame ACE Academies model in other communities so that many tens of thousands more children have the opportunity to attend excellent Catholic schools.

Christian Dallavis, Ph.D., ACE’s senior director for leadership programs and founding director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies said he was thrilled that Pierre-Antoine had agreed to take on this leadership role and that his experience as a veteran Catholic school principal will be especially helpful to the future of the initiative.

"Rodney is among the most passionate, thoughtful, faithful, and fun people I know, and he brings a deep knowledge of how kids learn, how teachers grow, and how great schools work,” Dallavis said in announcing the appointment.

Dallavis added, "In the Notre Dame ACE Academies, we have found that school success is driven by leaders who will do whatever it takes to ensure that every child succeeds. Rodney absolutely epitomizes this 'whatever-it-takes' mindset, which we believe is essential to leading the transformational, breakthrough schools our kids deserve."

Pierre-Antoine began his career in education as a Teach for America corps member in urban Oakland public schools, before earning his M.A. in educational administration from Notre Dame in ACE’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program. He has held leadership roles in urban Catholic schools since 2005, serving as dean of students at St. Martin de Porres Catholic School in Oakland and as principal at St. Felicitas Catholic School in San Leandro, CA. He became principal at St. Jarlath in 2011, and the school has seen enrollment growth of 80% since then.

“I am thrilled about the opportunity to cement the Notre Dame ACE Academies pillars of educational excellence, the experience of community in Christ, and faith formation in the Catholic tradition in our existing schools,” Pierre-Antoine said of his appointment. “I also welcome the prospect of expanding this wonderful initiative to diocesan communities who are ready to embrace this innovative model for Catholic education.”

As a faculty member in Notre Dame's Institute for Educational Initiatives, Pierre-Antoine will also teach in the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program and will be involved in developing the new Center For Transformational Educational Leadership that ACE is establishing.

Rodney’s wife, Jocelyn, is also a graduate of the Remick Leadership Program, and will join the ACE team in the summer as a member of Remick’s national faculty. Rodney and Jocelyn will continue to live in the Bay Area for the next year. 

The General Mills Foundation contributed a $40,000 grant to the Notre Dame ACE Academies of the Tampa Bay, Fla., area in support of nutrition and wellness programs for the students they serve. This grant is the latest example of corporate community partnerships to ensure educational excellence at the two ACE Academies, Sacred Heart School in Pinellas Park and St. Joseph School in Tampa. The grant was presented Feb. 19 by Shawn O’Grady, Senior Vice President of Sales at General Mills, and General Mills Sales Director, Michael O’Connell.

O’Grady and O’Connell presented the oversized check to school leaders and representatives of the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), who were in town as part of Notre Dame’s Fighting for Our Children’s Future National Bus Tour. Christian Dallavis, ACE senior director for leadership programs, accepted the grant on behalf of the Notre Dame ACE Academies.

The contribution, one of many that the General Mills Foundation makes to communities that are home to its employees, strengthened the schools’ science programs as well as their health and wellness efforts. With the support of General Mills Foundation, the schools installed hydroponic learning gardens from local vendor Hydro Harvest Farms and made significant playground improvements at both schools.

O’Grady said General Mills wanted to encourage those gathered from the school community and the Tampa area. “At General Mills, we believe not only in nourishing the lives of people who enjoy our products, but we also want to be a part of your community,” he said. “You should all believe that you can do great things one day, because you can. And that’s why we’re here.”

On the days when the ACE bus visited Sacred Heart (Feb. 19) and St. Joseph (Feb. 20), a dozen volunteers from General Mills, clad in yellow General Mills shirts, graciously donated their time to install borders and lay hundreds of cubic yards of playground grade mulch around the newly installed playground equipment. This volunteer day also served as a kick off event for continued partnership between General Mills and Notre Dame ACE Academies.

The hydroponic learning gardens are an innovative and ecologically advantageous addition to the students’ hands-on experience with nutrition and wellness and they will be integrated into the schools’ science programs, with support from Notre Dame’s Center for STEM Education. Eighth grade student leaders were invited to cut the ribbons on the gardens in a ceremony with General Mills employees during ACE’s National Bus Tour visit.

Notre Dame ACE Academies advancement coordinator Cristina Espino applauded the partnership between General Mills and Notre Dame, saying, “The teachers and leaders at St. Joseph and Sacred Heart are committed to the education of the whole child, and this contribution from the General Mills Foundation establishes new playgrounds and learning spaces where more children will learn, grow, and thrive.”

The General Mills Foundation is celebrating its 60^th anniversary this year. The mission of the General Mills Foundation is to nourish communities.  Continuing its tradition of generous giving and global community support, General Mills contributed more than $150 million to charitable causes in fiscal year 2013.  General Mills invests in and collaborates with community organizations and programs that focus on alleviating hunger and advancing nutrition wellness.  In addition, 83 percent of U.S. employees volunteer.  

Notre Dame ACE Academies are an initiative of the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education established to strengthen and sustain existing urban Catholic elementary schools, a comprehensive university-school partnership combining research-based insights with a game-changing, positive Catholic school culture to close the “achievement gap” that burdens so many disadvantaged students. Notre Dame ACE Academies seek to provide a Catholic education of the highest quality to as many children as possible, preparing students for college and heaven. Currently, there are five Notre Dame ACE Academies between the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Tucson and St. Petersburg.

Notre Dame representatives at the Sacred Heart School event presented a University of Notre Dame Sorin Award for Service to Catholic Schools to the Most Rev. Robert Lynch, Bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Photo: Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new facilities being added at Sacred Heart, one of the Notre Dame ACE Academies. Students, school leaders, and other members of the ACE and ACE Academies communities were present, along with leaders and volunteers from General Mills. Photo by Matt Cashore, University of Notre Dame.

The University of Notre Dame’s Fighting for our Children’s Future National Bus Tour, marking the 20^th anniversary of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), returns to the road on Feb. 6, 2014, with plans to visit Catholic schools in ten more cities and promote educational excellence for all children.

This second leg of the bus tour follows an array of activities in 14 cities during the fall 2013 semester, when ACE leaders helped to raise awareness of K-12 Catholic schools, their contributions to communities, and their local champions through award presentations and other events. The University will continue its call to extend educational opportunities for serving society and bringing hope to low-income students.

A bus branded with the messages of Notre Dame and the Alliance for Catholic Education begins the journey’s second leg in Biloxi, Miss., on Feb. 6 and closes this segment of its national tour in Atlanta, Ga., on Feb. 23-26. The full itinerary for February covers Mobile, Ala., Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La., and several cities in Florida, including the Tampa Bay area, where an innovative model for inner-city Catholic schools—Notre Dame ACE Academies— is producing major gains in academic performance, student enrollments, and financial support.

By mid-May, Alliance for Catholic Education representatives will renew their local partnerships and spread their message of hope through events and honors in nearly 50 cities. This National Bus Tour, segmented into four legs spanning the current academic year, marks ACE’s 20 years of service based on the pillars of education, community life, and spiritual growth. The Alliance for Catholic Education has become the nation’s premier provider of teachers and other resources to sustain, strengthen, and transform Catholic schools.

The ACE Teaching Fellows formation initiative has commissioned over 1,200 teachers for Catholic schools as part of a curriculum granting the Master of Education degree. This and other programs constitute a nationwide movement forming and supporting a next generation of leaders to ensure that all children, especially those from low-income families, have the opportunity to experience the gift of an excellent Catholic education.

The Alliance for Catholic Education was co-founded in 1993 by Rev. Timothy Scully, C.S.C., and Rev. Sean McGraw, C.S.C. , and many early ACE teachers served in southern dioceses. The Notre Dame National Bus Tour will kick off the second phase of its journey in some of the first cities ACE teachers called home. ACE Teaching Fellows participants have served in Mobile for all 20 years and in Biloxi since the second cohort of college graduates was sent forth to teach.

During the first leg of the National Bus Tour in late 2013, when ACE leaders visited cities including New York, Dallas, Milwaukee, and Washington, D.C., Father Scully received the Manhattan Institute’s William E. Simon Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Social Entrepreneurship for founding and leading the Alliance for Catholic Education. A professor of political science, Fr. Scully is the Hackett Family Director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives.

As the tour’s second leg rolls into ten additional cities, Notre Dame scholars and specialists in elementary and secondary education will continue to spotlight the profound effect an excellent education can make on a child’s life. Visits by the bus and presentation of awards will help to celebrate the hope-filled mission of Catholic schools in the lives of children and families across the United States.

For more information:   Bill Schmitt      574-631-3893

William McGurn of the New York Post offers his view of what makes Catholic schools so necessary and successful.

Whether it's the 99 percent of Catholic school students who graduate or the fact that a Latino child is 2.5 times more likely to graduate from college if he or she has attended a Catholic high school, Catholic schools are coming through for children in a big way.

The full article by William McGurn can be found in the January 31, 2014 edition of the New York post entitled Catholic Schools' Secret: Love.