History

Rev. Timothy R. Scully, C.S.C., and Rev. Sean McGraw, C.S.C, co-founded the Alliance for Catholic Education in 1993 to help meet the need for talented, well-trained young people to teach in Catholic schools.¹ The goal was to sustain and strengthen Catholic education, especially in under-resourced schools, by forming a next generation of committed, faith-filled Catholic school teachers.

ACE began to meet this goal with the Service through Teaching Program, which has commissioned over 1,200 teachers to serve in Catholic schools throughout the United States to date. Then in 2002, recognizing the critical importance of effective leadership for strong Catholic schools, ACE founded the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program. To date, it has prepared more than 150 faith-filled administrators for Catholic schools across the country, most of whom currently serve as principals and superintendents.

Yet it became clear that a more comprehensive approach to sustaining and strengthening Catholic schools would be necessary to revitalize the largest non-public school system in the United States, and ultimately to reverse the trend of school closings. So in 2005, University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., assembled a national Task Force on Catholic Education to discuss and study the issues affecting our nation’s Catholic schools.

After 14 months of rigorous study and meetings, the Task Force released its final report in December 2006, entitled Making God Known, Loved and Served: The Future of Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in the United States. In addition to suggesting five recommendations for the Church in the United States to ensure the vitality of Catholic schools in the new millennium, the report outlined twelve strategic objectives for the University of Notre Dame to help meet the most pressing needs of our nation’s elementary and secondary Catholic schools.

In response to these recommendations, ACE's scope and size expanded quickly. By 2010, the Alliance for Catholic Education was comprised of four academic programs and eight outreach and professional development programs, and currently offers countless services to Catholic school teachers, administrators, parents and supporters. In May of 2011, all units within ACE moved under one roof in Carole Sandner Hall, a beautiful new building on Notre Dame's campus. 

1. (You can read about the founding of the Alliance for Catholic Education on Today in ND History.)