Pierre-Antoine to Lead Notre Dame ACE Academies

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.