Meet the NDAA Team

The Notre Dame ACE Academies team is:

Christian Dallavis, Ph.D.

Director, Notre Dame ACE Academies - email

Christian Dallavis works closely with NDAA principals, pastors, and teachers on issues of school leadership, school culture, and advancement. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2008, and serves as an advisor to the Catholic School Advantage Campaign and is on the faculty for the Alliance for Catholic Education Master of Education program.

As a member of the 4th cohort of the ACE Service Through Teaching program, Dallavis taught middle school English and high school theater arts at Mercy Cross Catholic School in Biloxi, MS, while earning a master of arts degree from the University of Portland. He also taught English in Dhaka, Bangladesh before returning to Notre Dame to join the ACE pastoral and administrative staff in 2000, where he supported beginning teachers and developed international teaching opportunities in Ireland and Chile. Later he attended the University of Michigan, where he prepared pre-service teachers to work in urban and under-resourced schools and earned a joint Ph.D. in Engish and Education. He also served as a member of the research team for the Squire Office of Policy Research for the National Council of Teachers of English.

Ryan Clark, Ph.D.

Coordinator, Teaching and Learning - email

Ryan Clark joined thefaculty of the Alliance for Catholic Education in 2006.  As coordinator of teaching and learning for the Notre Dame ACE Academies, he is tasked with the continuous improvement of the academic achievement of all NDAA schools by creating and implementing a data-driven, focused, and coherent program of professional formation.  

Clark served as Faculty of Supervision and Instruction for the ACE Service through Teaching program from 2006-2010.  He has been teaching and working in K-12 education for over 15 years as a classroom teacher in Baltimore, a member of the 3rd cohort of the ACE Service through Teaching program in Montgomery, and a teacher and graduate student in Portland.  He also teaches courses in Notre Dame's Education Schooling and Society (ESS) minor.  He earned a Ph.D. in educational leadership from the University of Oregon.  

Andrea Cisneros

Assistant Director - email

As the assistant director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies, Andrea Cisneros focuses on supporting the needs of the teachers and principals at NDAA schools so they can better meet the needs of their students.  Andrea focuses on developing and strengthening Catholic school culture, seeking out successful schools and learning from their practices to enrich the environment at NDAA schools.  In addition, she coordinates the NDAA Madrinas y Padrinos program, working closely with school community leaders to increase parental involvement, raise the profile of NDAA schools in the community, and invite new families to experience and benefit from the Catholic school advantage.

Cisneros studied secondary English education at the University of Delaware, and taught English and language arts in Delaware and Texas before joining the 15th cohort of the ACE Service through Teaching program to earn a Master of Education degree at the University of Notre Dame.  In ACE, she taught in Brownsville, Texas, at a NativityMiguel school, providing college-preparatory, tuition-free Catholic education to children in grades six, seven, and eight.

Kellye Seeger

Teaching and Learning Specialist, NDAA Tucson -email

As the teaching and learning specialist for NDAA in Tucson, Kellye Seeger works directly with teachers every day to support them as they improve their professional practice and endeavor to meet their students’ needs.  A graduate of San Diego State University with a B.A. in English and the University of Arizona with an M.Ed., Seeger has served as an English teacher and instructional coach at Flowing Wells High School in Tucson, and taught 5th grade as served as assistant principal at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School, where she was named Teacher of the Year in 2010.  .

Kellye and her husband, Doug, have four children, who all attended Catholic schools.

Joe Casey

Institutional Advancement Specialist, NDAA Tucson - email

As the institutional advancement specialist, Joe Casey works to build relationships between NDAA schools and supporters, and to ensure short- and long-term sustainability.  He focuses on channeling tax-credit contributions from individual tax-payers, C-corporations, and insurance companies in Arizona to Notre Dame's ACE Academies in Tucson. 

A native New Yorker, Casey attended the University of Notre Dame on a Navy ROTC scholarship and graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering.  Upon graduation, Casey served for over 6 years in the Navy's Submarine Force.  He worked in government consulting and radioactive waste management consulting until enrolling in Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, earning an MBA with a dual concentration in Finance and Management of Organizations in 1991. 

Casey works in the financial services industry, primarily assisting clients on their financial security, wealth management, business sustainability, and legacy planning.