Alliance for Catholic Education: Strengthening Catholic Schools and Shaping Educators
The Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), housed within the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame, is dedicated to sustaining and strengthening Catholic schools. Since 1993, ACE has provided formation to individuals aspiring to be teachers. The program has been honored and emulated by other universities.
A Comprehensive Approach to Catholic Education
ACE's mission is rooted in the belief that Catholic schools serve as engines of both human formation and social transformation. The organization strives to provide a high-quality education to as many children as possible, increasing access to high-performing Catholic schools. ACE aims to form the next generation of teachers and school leaders with the talent, imagination, and zeal to serve some of the most under-resourced schools in the United States.
Key Programs and Initiatives
ACE achieves its goals through several key programs and initiatives:
ACE Teaching Fellows: This program forms college graduates to renew and transform Catholic school classrooms. ACE Teaching Fellows seeks to develop a cohort of educators to meet the needs of K-12 Catholic schools. The program recruits graduates from colleges and universities across the country, representing a variety of undergraduate disciplines and professional experiences. ACE provides a two-year service experience encompassing professional development, community life, and spiritual growth. ACE teachers engage in graduate-level coursework and apply what they have learned through an extended practicum teaching experience. They also participate in fellowship activities. ACE teachers are welcomed into their new school and local communities and are invited to participate in the life of the school community. ACE teachers live in community with their peers, and learn how to balance community and spiritual life with the demands of first-year teaching. The second summer is designed to help ACE teachers grow in teaching, community and spirituality. Through retreats, shared meals, Mass, and other activities, ACE teachers continue to grow in relationship with God and one another. Upon returning to their school community, familiarity enables ACE teachers to improve their teaching, enter more deeply into community life, and make more intentional time for prayer. Professionally, ACE teachers are challenged to grow in new ways by their academic supervisor, principal, and mentor teacher. The two-year ACE journey culminates in Commencement Weekend, a time for ACE teachers to celebrate their accomplishments with friends and family, including a commencement ceremony, graduation Mass, and dinner celebration.
The Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program: This program prepares future principals of Catholic schools to lead with skill and zeal.
Professional and Consulting Services: ACE offers these services to help strengthen local Catholic schools.
The ACE Teaching Fellows Experience
ACE Teaching Fellows provides an intensive two-year service experience based on three pillars: professional development, community life, and spiritual growth.
Year 1: ACE teachers are welcomed into their new school and local communities and are focused on making a successful transition into full-time teaching. They are also invited to participate in the life of the school community beyond the traditional school day. ACE teachers live in community with their peers, and gradually learn how to balance community and spiritual life with the demands of first-year teaching.
Year 2: The second summer is designed to help ACE teachers grow in all three pillars - teaching, community and spirituality. The academic coursework helps individuals process their first-year teaching experience with a constant focus on how to improve in order to better serve their students. Through retreats, shared meals, Mass, and other activities, ACE teachers continue to grow in relationship with God and one another. Upon returning to their school community, familiarity enables ACE teachers to improve their teaching, enter more deeply into community life, and make more intentional time for prayer. Professionally, ACE teachers are challenged to grow in new ways by their academic supervisor, principal, and mentor teacher.
The two-year ACE journey culminates in Commencement Weekend, a time for ACE teachers to celebrate their accomplishments with friends and family, including a commencement ceremony, graduation Mass, and dinner celebration.
Read also: Shaping Futures Through Squash
Post-Graduate Opportunities
Following their two years in ACE Teaching Fellows, ACE graduates have gone on to lead and serve in some of the nation's most competitive Ph.D., JD, and MD programs; high performing schools and school systems; and prominent ventures in engineering, finance, and other organizations in the non-profit and for-profit sectors. Regardless of the career and vocational paths ACE graduates choose, we hope all remain advocates for children in need, particularly through supporting Catholic schools.
Recruitment and Admissions
One of the unique aspects of ACE is the personal support provided by the ACE Recruitment & Admissions Team. Members of the team provide support to prospective applicants discerning a call to serve with ACE Teaching Fellows. In addition, they also serve to support our current ACE teachers throughout their two years in the program personally, communally, and spiritually. The ACE Teaching Fellows Recruitment and Admissions team will meet with prospective applicants all across the country, attending career & post-graduate service fairs, hosting information nights, and visiting college campuses. You'll have the chance to learn and ask questions about the M.Ed., the application process, community life, and more.
The University Consortium for Catholic Education (UCCE)
The University Consortium for Catholic Education (UCCE) officially formed in 2005. Today the UCCE consists of 13 programs, placing nearly 350 teachers in Catholic schools in approximately 34 states each year. The Alliance for Catholic Education at Saint Joseph’s University (ACESJU) is a member of the University Consortium for Catholic Education (UCCE).
Formation and Growth of UCCE
In 1999, universities with similar programs, as well as universities interested in beginning their own, were included in the conversation. Through the financial, strategic and technical support provided by these "founding" programs, more and more universities were able to develop their own teacher preparation programs. Beginning in 2000, partnership institutions began meeting twice a year to discuss best practice in supporting current teachers and diocesan school partners. With the growth and development of this partnership, the directors of the teacher service programs desired to organize themselves in a more formal structure.
Financial Support and Endowments
The Alliance for Catholic Education has been built on the support of the University of Notre Dame and individual donors. ACE also encourages donors to support local schools. The most enduring supporters of ACE have been Minnesota businessman Jack Remick and his wife, Mary Ann, whose latest gift of many was a 2014 donation of $10 million.
Read also: Resources for BPD: NEABPD
Impact and Reach
ACE has sent more than 1,300 teachers to serve in high-need schools throughout the United States.
An Example: ACESJU
The Alliance for Catholic Education at Saint Joseph’s University (ACESJU) is a two-year comprehensive graduate fellowship designed for high-impact social transformation. ACESJU fellows serve, learn and launch successful careers in innovative urban schools, nonprofits and creative change-making programs. This fellowship program provides recent college graduates the opportunity to serve as full-time teachers, administrators and counselors in under-resourced Catholic schools and organizations in the Philadelphia areas while pursuing a master’s degree at Saint Joseph’s University.
tags: #alliance #for #catholic #education #overview
