Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Notre Dame ACE Academy?

Notre Dame ACE Academy (NDAA) schools are Catholic K-8 schools that have a special partnership with the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) and the University of Notre Dame.

There are three NDAA schools in Tucson, Arizona: St. Ambrose, St. John the Evangelist, and Santa Cruz.  In January 2012,  NDAA announced the expansion of the network to include two schools in the Diocese of St. Petersburg: Sacred Heart Catholic School in Pinellas Park, and St. Joseph Catholic School in Tampa.

What is ACE?

The Alliance for Catholic Education is a movement based at the University of Notre Dame that strengthens and sustains Catholic schools. ACE was founded in 1994 as a two-year master of education program that prepares teachers for Catholic schools and has since grown to include a principal preparation program, an English-as-a-new-language program, an educational consulting firm, and several other initiatives designed to strengthen and sustain Catholic schools. The NDAA project is the first ACE initiative to focus on comprehensive school support.

What is the goal of ND ACE Academies?

The U.S. Bishops call on Catholic schools to provide parents with “the choice of an education that no other school can supply—excellent academics imparted in the context of Catholic teaching and practice.” Therefore, the goal of this university-school partnership program is to provide a Catholic education of the highest quality to as many children as possible.

The mission statement of NDAA reads:

Notre Dame ACE Academies provide a Catholic education of the highest quality to as many children as possible by implementing a unique model of urban Catholic schooling supported by parental choice scholarships and the mobilization of the resources of ACE and partnering dioceses.

NDAA has two goals for children in partner schools: College and heaven. Everything we do is designed to help children achieve those goals.
 

How does NDAA work?

NDAA schools implement a unique model of Catholic schooling focused on the three pillars of ACE: academic achievement, community, and faith formation. NDAA supports that model through numerous benefits to schools in the areas of Catholic identity, stewardship, and teaching & learning. Benefits include:

Catholic identity: ACE promotes a school culture of high academic expectations, Christ-centered community, and faith formation in the Catholic tradition. Teachers and principals participate in professional development, community building, and faith formation opportunities at Notre Dame each summer. NDAA schools provide teachers with support in building a strong, positive, Catholic school culture.

Teaching and Learning: ACE provides a teaching and learning specialist and professional formation program for all teachers and school leaders. Funding is available to upgrade instructional resources and for teachers to pursue professional development and research interests. ACE provides training in research-based instructional practices, and teachers participate in leadership formation conferences at Notre Dame.

Stewardship: NDAA schools are supported by a regional NDAA Board that includes the Bishop, the Superintendent, other diocesan leaders, pastors, school advisory board representatives, ACE faculty and staff, and local community leaders. ACE Consulting provides strategic planning support, and ACE faculty and staff support school leaders in administration, finance, and advancement. The NDAA board supports pastors and principals in overseeing school budgets. ACE provides an advancement director to boost enrollment and raise scholarship funds. Schools use the Notre Dame and ACE brands to promote the school, and ACE fosters connections to Notre Dame and ACE alumni groups.

Do the names of NDAA schools change? Are they still parish schools?

Partner schools will add the “Notre Dame ACE Academy” designation, but they will retain their name and parish affiliation (if applicable). ACE will provide signs and promotional materials to advertise the school’s new designation.

How long is the NDAA partnership?

NDAA expects to partner with schools for the long-term. The initial agreement is for a five-year partnership. After five years, ACE, the Bishop, the Pastor, and the Superintendent will revisit the terms of the partnership to revise it as needed.

What changes when a school becomes an NDAA school?

NDAA represents a collaborative approach to school sponsorship and leadership. Pastors of NDAA schools delegate certain responsibilities to a regional NDAA Board. This board, known as a “board of specified jurisdiction,” is responsible for school leadership, provides financial oversight, and offers assistance in development, marketing, public relations, policy, and other areas. Additionally, NDAA schools are supported by several Notre Dame-based faculty and staff members who work with teachers, principals, and pastors. Teachers and principals participate in NDAA professional formation to create a culture of constant improvement, and data will be used to diagnose and address challenges facing the school to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education that puts them on the path to college and heaven. Teachers are evaluated by principals using an NDAA-developed evaluation tool that ensures high-quality instruction, and principals are evaluated by a committee of the NDAA board to ensure high-quality school leadership and constant improvement. Finally, two Notre Dame employees the local area support the NDAA schools: an advancement director and a teaching and learning specialist.

What sort of relationship is there among all NDAA schools?

The NDAA program will facilitate collaboration among the NDAA schools, bringing teachers and principals in each region together for professional development, community building, and faith formation opportunities. The teaching and learning specialist and advancement director work with all area schools, and the NDAA Board will support all local schools as well. Principals continue to manage the daily operations of the school, though they enjoy additional support from the NDAA faculty and staff and the NDAA Board. Each school retains its unique identity, and the school’s parent advisory board will continue to support the principal.

Nationally, school leaders and teachers are brought together for professional formation and community building opportunities on Notre Dame’s campus each summer. NDAA faculty and staff facilitate additional collaboration among regions virtually.

What does the teaching and learning specialist do?

One goal of NDAA is to offer a Catholic education of the highest quality, and the teaching and learning specialist (TLS) supports teachers and the principal in efforts to enhance academic excellence. The TLS supports the principal in fostering a culture of continuous improvement by providing support to struggling teachers as well as challenging excellent teachers to become ever better. The TLS works with the principal to provide professional development in regular faculty meetings and creates professional learning communities to help teachers improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Also, the TLS works with individual teachers in and outside the classroom. The TLS observes teachers, co-teaches, models instructional strategies, provides resources, and assists in planning as needed.

What does the advancement director do?

Another goal of NDAA is to provide an excellent education to as many children as possible, and the advancement director is responsible for boosting enrollment through marketing efforts and raising money for scholarships. The advancement director works closely with pastors, principals, and diocesan officials to promote the schools. Additionally, this director works with families and scholarship providers to maximize parental choice funding to each school and also engages in traditional fundraising to advance the mission of the schools. Through these development and marketing efforts and by supporting principals and pastors with financial management oversight and consulting assistance, the NDAA initiative hopes to improve each school’s financial position to ensure long-term sustainability while keeping costs to families as low as possible.

What does it cost a school to be an ND ACE Academy?

Notre Dame’s efforts in NDAA schools are funded through a generous grant from a national foundation and other partners. Schools are not expected to support the NDAA initiative financially at the outset. Over time, however, NDAA expects that local development efforts and increased enrollment will lower the amount of external support needed and that increased revenue will allow schools to be independently sustainable,  supporting NDAA initiatives themselves.

What is expected of an ND ACE Academy?

Schools are expected to demonstrate commitment to the goal of the NDAA initiative: to provide a Catholic education of the highest quality to as many children as possible. Teachers and principals will be asked to help build and maintain a school culture focused on the three pillars of the NDAA model by providing an academically excellent education, building strong community, and forming young people in the Catholic tradition.

How will NDAA’s success be measured?

Success will be measured at the school level in five primary ways:

Catholic identity, as measured by a Catholic identity inventory created by Notre Dame researchers and through surveys of students, parents, and teachers.

Educational achievement, as measured by growth in student test scores, high school graduation rates, and college attendance and graduation rates.

Community impact, as measured by enrollment growth.

Financial stability, as measured by consistently balanced budgets, increases in tax credit scholarship support, and improved resources.

Teacher quality, as measured by student achievement gains, implementation of effective instructional practices, and a low rate of teacher turnover.

Where are NDAA schools?

The first cluster of NDAA schools was established in the Diocese of Tucson in Fall 2010. The next cluster of NDAA schools will be established in the Diocese of St. Petersburg in the Tampa Bay area in Fall 2012.

Is ACE currently seeking new partners for NDAA?

ACE is currently engaged in preliminary conversations regarding potential partnerships with several dioceses, with hopes to further expand the model in a few years. If your diocese meets the criteria described below and you’d like to discuss further the potential for future partnership, please contact the director of ND ACE Academies, Christian Dallavis, at dallavis.1@nd.edu.

When NDAA expands, what criteria will ACE use to select NDAA schools and dioceses?

ACE hopes to build the capacity to expand this initiative in the coming years. ACE considers potential partner dioceses and schools according to several criteria:

• Effective university-school partnerships require the strong support of local leaders, and preliminary conversations must affirm the support of the bishop, superintendent, and pastors of potential partner schools for the ND ACE Academy model.
• The diocese should have a cluster of two or more elementary schools that would be likely candidates for partnership. Schools that serve low-income communities will be given strongest consideration.
• Parental choice programs enhance the capacity of Catholic schools to serve under-resourced communities, and so schools in places with strong tax credit scholarships or voucher programs have greater opportunities to extend the Catholic school advantage to students who need it most. Cities and states with substantial parental choice programs will be given strongest consideration.
• If ACE and the diocese agree to explore the potential for partnership in more depth, ACE Consulting will conduct a feasibility study and needs assessment to examine the capacity of potential schools to grow and serve more children and will make a recommendation to NDAA leaders about partnership. ACE Consulting will examine schools’ academic programs, enrollment trends, financial health, and facilities. ACE Consulting will also investigate the educational landscape of the community, the Catholic identity of the schools, and the impact of parental choice programs on school finances and enrollment.

Why focus on elementary schools?

ACE works to combat the achievement gap that faces low-income and minority children in the United States. Research suggests the achievement gap is firmly in place by 4th grade, so by focusing on enhancing educational opportunities at the earliest levels, we hope to reduce and eventually eliminate the achievement gap by the time NDAA students reach high school. By focusing on educational excellence at the elementary level, NDAA hopes to strengthen feeder schools that place high-achieving 9th graders in local Catholic college preparatory high school programs.