The University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) will once again welcome hundreds of visitors to the campus this summer for a unique series of conferences, all advancing ACE’s mission to sustain, strengthen, and transform Catholic schools.

The conferences, some of which are currently accepting registrants, constitute a growing part of the busy summer to be enjoyed by ACE participants. Hundreds of those participants will receive skills and personal formation to earn master’s degrees as K-12 Catholic school teachers and leaders.

Various units of ACE, which have multiplied during 19 years while remaining true to the original mission of service to under-resourced Catholic schools, host conferences that address today’s urgent issues. These include galvanizing top-notch teachers and school leaders; encouraging parental choice policies and informed financial strategies for Catholic school sustainability; promoting athletic coaching that ministers to young people; and introducing parents and South Bend-area educators to the summertime wellspring of Notre Dame’s commitment to K-12 schooling.

These are the conferences coming up:

ACE Teaching Fellows Annual Conference (June 5-10). Participants in the Melody Family ACE Teaching Fellowship program convene to assess and catalyze their growth as master teachers, educational leaders, and generators of problem-solving research. Several benefactor-supported fellowships support highly promising educators who wish to continue their careers in Catholic classrooms while pursuing advanced knowledge and skills. Fellows cultivate these leadership assets along with their mentors during the conference. Read more about the program.

Advocates for Parental Choice Symposium (June 15-20). This intensive formation experience gives participants a first-hand experience of people and places on the cutting edge in implementing school choice policies. Catholic school supporters will receive skills, insights, and working relationships to equip them as advocates in the parental choice movement. Major speakers and visits to Wisconsin and Florida will increase these future leaders’ understanding of the legal, social, constitutional, political, and moral dimensions of parental choice.

Play Like a Champion Sports Leadership Conference (June 22-24).

This annual conference, titled “Champion Character in Sports” for 2012, emphasizes developing the whole person through sports. Guest speakers offer professional development for coaches and athletic administrators at both the youth and high school levels. Hosted by ACE’s Play Like a Champion Today® experts in sports as ministry, the conference gathers representatives of parochial leagues around the country to network and share best practices. Go here to register.

Superintendents Strategic Leadership Conference (June 24-27)

ACE Consulting annually invites superintendents from dioceses across the country to hear expert speakers and conduct in-depth conversations about the many-layered challenges of leading Catholic schools. The goal is to help superintendents share best practices and obtain better tools to formulate and implement strategies that will sustain, strengthen, and transform Catholic education. The conference is produced in collaboration with FACTS management company.

Principals Academy (June 26-29)

A four-day enrichment experience for Catholic school principal will focus on identifying and shaping a school’s culture to benefit leadership and learning. The values of a school, expressed actively and nurtured in a culture, provide a framework in which teachers can reduce students’ achievement gaps and leaders can promote continuous improvement in a school. This academy, hosted by ACE Consulting, will help principals develop action plans to improve and utilize their school culture. Register here for the Principals Academy.

Equitable Services Institute (July 8-12)

Students in Catholic schools across the country are not getting federally funded services to which they’re entitled; the Equitable Services Institute assists diocesan superintendents, principals, and other educational leaders to solve this problem. Attendees will receive updated information about complex federal funding policies plus practical roadmaps for the process of consultations by which educators obtain equitable shares for their students from Title 1, Title 2, and Title 3 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Learn more here, and click to register.

School Pastors Institute (July 17-20)

Pastors whose parishes include schools are invited to this annual institute to learn to manage and leverage better the distinctive relationship between a parish and its school. The Institute develops many skills and perspectives that a pastor will need in overseeing a parish school, its people, and its finances. It provides insights for valuable reflection on the value of Catholic schools to the children and parents of a parish and to the future of the Church as a whole. 

ACE Parent Retreat (July 25-27)

Parents whose sons or daughters have just finished their first year in ACE Service through Teaching often have many questions about these first-year teachers’ experiences. ACE Advocates hosts a special retreat for these parents at Notre Dame to get their questions answered and to see the broader context of the journey their ACE teachers are taking. The retreat also allows these parents of the ACE 18 cohort to hear presentations, worship together, and swap stories. Learn more.

Mary Ann Remick Leadership Conference (July 13)

This conference, a capstone event for those earning their master’s degrees in educational administration through the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program (RLP), is a unique and informal venue for South Bend-area educators to discuss current research with ACE leaders and experts from across the country. The RLP participants present the action research they have conducted to help address key day-to-day issues facing Catholic schools, and local educational leaders attending free-of-charge may exchange useful ideas. Read about last year’s conference and read about the value of action research.

The Holy Spirit won't take "No" for an answer. Just ask Laura Knaus. Early in her career as a teacher in Chicago's inner-city, she felt the nudge toward administration. But she explored other opportunities in education first. Still, the call to administration beckoned, and eventually she became principal of Sacred Heart School in Lincoln, Nebraska—and landed in the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program (RLP) at ACE.

Hearing Laura speak about Catholic schools reveals why the Spirit must have led her to a position of leadership. "The Church speaks of Her schools in such a beautiful way—as places that foster the growth of minds and souls, that help students grow intellectually, socially and spiritually...[They are] 'at the heart of the Church.'"

And not only that, Laura says, but Catholic schools are at the heart of society has a whole. Thus, her commitment is "to fully participate in the movement to strengthen and restore our Catholic schools, especially those that serve under-served populations."

As principal, Laura brings that commitment to her Diocese, staff, parents, and students. (One example, as pictured above: She has instituted "Kingdom-Builder Awards." Each quarter, one student per grade is recognized for this honor.) She also brings what she's learned in RLP, such as professional development for her staff, and modified policies to move her school forward for the benefit of its children. And Laura is using her Action Research at Sacred Heart "to revamp our approach to parent involvement and to more effectively collaborate with parents, who are the primary educators of their children."

This leader in the Alliance for Catholic Education concludes, "I believe wholeheartedly in what ACE and ACE-modeled programs are accomplishing across our nation. Bringing awareness to [this work] is critical to the expansion and sustained success of the ACE mission." We are grateful for the central role Laura and others like her are playing to strengthen the heart of the Church--and the soul of our nation.

Many of the judgments Americans commonly accept about our educational system are myths, according to an award-winning education journalist who addressed an Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI) audience on April 30.

Veteran reporter John Merrow, whose stories appear on the PBS NewsHour and a range of other media, critiqued a list of myths—and spotlighted numerous problems in schooling—during his lecture, which capped the 2011-2012 Center for Research on Educational Opportunity (CREO) Seminar series.

"I wish, after 37 years of reporting, I could be optimistic [about the future of education]," he said, but little real progress will be made unless strong leaders and the whole nation engage in a sweeping "conversation about what we want for our kids" and the best ways to achieve those goals.

On the subject of today's educational myths, Merrow rejected the notion that the biggest challenge in schooling is an "achievement gap" between rich and poor students as defined by test results.

Focusing a school's efforts on raising those test scores ignores the fact that the problem grows out of less-recognized phenomena in society, he said—an "opportunity gap" reflected in schools of differing quality, an "expectations gap" derived from asking little of students, a "leadership gap" fed by a lack of the courage to solve more systemic problems, and an "outcomes gap" that is measured and addressed statistically and simplistically.

Among other points he made:
• Charter schools are not a big part of the solution for America's education problems, although they could offer some answers—"I'm not so sure about profit-making charter schools."
• Over the past 40 years, the average teacher salary, adjusted for inflation, has risen less than 1% annually.
• "America's children are the most tested in the world.... Oftentimes, we're testing our kids because we're trying to keep track of the teachers." Americans spend too little of the education dollar to see if their expenditure of $12,000 a year per student has worked well, he said.
• Schools must realize their purpose is to prepare students for their careers and for life, not just college, Merrow said. He noted that Notre Dame ACE Academies speak of preparing students for college and heaven. "That's cool," he said. "It's not how I would phrase it, but it's a wonderful construct" because it reflects a deep, long-term purpose.

Merrow added that his audience shouldn't go away from the talk feeling too distressed. After his visit to Notre Dame, including meetings with University President-Emeritus Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C, and leaders of IEI units such as CREO and the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) who are working to change things, "I'm going to go back feeling a lot better."

CREO director Mark Berends, a distinguished sociologist of education at Notre Dame and a Fellow of the Institute for Educational initiatives (IEI), called Merrow "the premier influential, thorough, thoughtful education reporter in the United States."

One never knows what brings Catholic school principals to their positions.

When Roseanne Villanueva moved to Tucson seven years ago, she says, "I didn't know about Catholic education. I didn't go to Catholic school. I didn't think I could afford it, and it wasn't something I really believed in."

So when she enrolled her two youngest (of four) sons in the preschool at St. John the Evangelist, she was initially happy just to have a place for them to go.

Within the first month, though, "I noticed a difference between the two older boys, who were in public school, and the two younger ones. The two little ones were talking about God in a way that I never had heard little kids talk, and I hadn't realized that could happen at that age. I liked the way they treated each other and the topics they brought up to talk about."

Naturally, Roseanne brought her older children to St. John the Evangelist as well. A teacher in a public school at the time, she asked the principal to keep her in mind for any future openings. That very spring, a position became available, and despite the pay cut on top of the expense of sending all four boys to Catholic school, her family decided to make the switch.

This teacher who once had never considered Catholic education was now teaching in a Catholic school--and loving it. She especially appreciated subbing in religion classes: "You learn about something when you teach religion in Catholic school," she says, "and I learned about my faith when I taught it. It's still one of my favorite things, to get to sub religion if a teacher is out."

Roseanne became principal of St John the Evangelist, a Notre Dame ACE Academy, in 2009. About it she says, "There's no school anywhere where the teachers are getting the kind of training our teachers are getting. The quality of education has gone up here. All the resources have made such a difference for the kids." Roseanne also points to the collaborative culture of the Academies, where the principals of the three schools can turn to each other and teachers who once worked in near isolation can share ideas, as a major factor in the success of St. John the Evangelist.

This is how the Holy Spirit works. Under Roseanne's leadership, the school where she first enrolled two of her children simply because it was a good place for them has gone from struggling to thriving. Under her leadership, the school about which she initially knew so little is now on a steep upward trajectory with enrollment increasing, school culture growing stronger and more defined, and student achievement scores up as much as two years in some classes. This is how the Holy Spirit works. Thanks be to God!

Christian Dallavis, director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies initiative, has been honored for best dissertation by the Catholic Education special interest group (SIG) of theAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA).

The SIG, which brings together scholars from around the world who conduct research in the field of Catholic education, bestowed the award on Dallavis as the group gathered at the AERA annual conference, held April 13-17, 2012, in Vancouver, Canada.

Dallavis's dissertation, titled "Extending theories of culturally responsive pedagogy: An ethnographic examination of Catholic schooling in an immigrant community in Chicago," explored the capacity for Catholic schools to be culturally responsive to their students as ethnicity in a community changed over time.

He studied a particular Chicago-area Catholic school during two time periods—its early days after its founding in 1903 to serve the local Polish immigrant community and its recent days serving a community that has become virtually all Hispanic.

His ethnographic and historical research showed that the key tenets of what scholars now call "culturally responsive pedagogy" were present in the school during its early days. "Polish culture, literature, language, and history were at the heart of the school, right alongside American history and literature, English, and religion," Dallavis commented in a recent interview. But contemporary teachers don't emphasize the home culture of their students in the classroom in the same ways today.

This shift is symptomatic of a broader trend in American classrooms in recent years, as the minority composition of student bodies has increased dramatically but the teaching force has not. Dallavis said his study "identifies missed opportunities" for teachers and principals in Catholic schools to enrich cultural connections with students, because a growing body of research suggests that culturally responsive teaching is an effective approach to improving minority student achievement. Dallavis contends that faith-based schools have a unique opportunity to be culturally responsive, because faith is a critical part of the home culture for families who choose Catholic schools.

"Many Catholic schools were extraordinarily culturally responsive to the immigrant communities from Europe that founded the schools a century ago. Today, Catholic schools ought to look to that legacy to prepare teachers and principals to be culturally responsive to today's children in similar ways," Dallavis said, summarizing the take-away points from the dissertation. The research was part of his graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he earned a joint Ph.D. in English and Education.

The study received the SIG's inaugural dissertation award; the SIG was authorized by the AERA only in 2010, an act affirming the validity of Catholic education as a field of scholarly research. The SIG is chaired by Shane Martin, professor and dean of the Loyola Marymount University School of Education.

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It's not every day one gets to meet the man who may be Chile's next president. But given their vested interest in that beautiful country (see ChACE), folks in the Alliance for Catholic Education got to do just that.

With his wife Francisca, Claudio Orrego, a mayor of Santiago and presidential candidate for 2014, sat down with members of ACE faculty and staff to discuss the state of education in his country. Over lunch hosted by ACE co-founder and Director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI) Fr. Tim Scully, Mayor Orrego outlined Chile's current economic and educational ups and the downs.

"[Chile] has grown and prospered," the Mayor said, "but not all have benefited equally."

In fact, though statistically the country ranks about average in terms of global economies, just 10% of the population holds the nation's wealth. 90 percent live on less—-in some cases, much less—-than $8,000/year. Mayor Orrego calls this the Tyranny of Averages.

Given the way education is structured, this tyranny has closed many school doors to Chile's poorest children, an injustice that has brought thousands of protesting students to the streets in the past year.

The message hasn't been lost on Mr. Orrego. Under his leadership as mayor of Peñalolén, Santiago, per pupil investment is on the rise, as are student test scores and the number of students enrolling in higher education, which has grown from just 8% in 2007 to a whopping 63% in 2011.

"Our goal," says the popular politician, "must be to ensure that more people can share in the benefits of living in Santiago." As he fights for social justice there, so he fights for it across the country. "Any positive change in any place...is also a positive change for Chile."

If all that we read about today's generation of 20-somethings is to be believed, it would be easy to lose hope for the future. News reels, magazine articles and the like murmur the merciless message that young adults are wasting away in the mire-y bogs of technological addiction and entitlement-driven self-absorption.

Until we meet young ACE teachers like Patrick Graff, a Notre Dame graduate just completing his first year in ACE Service through Teaching.

Listen to what he says when asked what motivated him to enter this intensive, trial-by-fire service program: "When Blessed John Paul II spoke of the New Evangelization, I could only think of the tireless effort of those educators who made me into who I am after 17 years of Catholic education, and I wanted to be a part of those invisibly small acts of love that shift the balance of the world."

Then hear how he has been changed in his first year as a third-grade teacher in Tampa, FL: "The phrase 'redemptive suffering' [has taken] on new meaning for me....ACE is a truly unique experience because it teaches you how to love, how to die to yourself so that your work may be used to point others toward their true end. One finds identity with Christ in this mission, knowing that He comes to suffer as one of us, revealing that in loving we come to know who we are and who we are meant to be. This is a lesson I am constantly learning, and I have ACE to thank for the secret joy that purposeful striving brings."

Patrick Graff represents hope for the future, a shining light of the Holy Spirit's continual work through God's people.

Plenty of fans came to Notre Dame on the weekend of April 20-22 for a preview of next fall's Fighting Irish football season, but the annual Blue-Gold Game was hardly the only campus event introducing a mix of friends to a future of opportunity and teamwork.

This was the weekend of the traditional April Retreat hosted by Service through Teaching, the signature teacher-formation initiative of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE). Some 87 members of the recently selected ACE 19 cohort came to taste what it will be like to be an ACE teacher for the next two years.

"It's really the start of the whole ACE experience," says Chuck Lamphier, director of ACE Advocates, who remembers his own attendance at an April Retreat when he was a new member of ACE 10. The schedule of events is traditionally a dynamic mix of the three pillars of ACE formation—professional service, spiritual growth, and community life.

A highlight of the retreat focused on the ACE community that each new teacher will join in the diocese where he or she has been assigned to serve in a local Catholic school. Fellow members of ACE 19 who have been assigned to the same community, soon to be sharing a house and offering each other moral support in their formation, are introduced to each other.

The bonds of fellowship established at the retreat will extend through the two years of the Service through Teaching experience—and often for the rest of the community members' lives.

Additional important relationships were initiated over the weekend because participants also included superintendents and other leaders from the dioceses where the new ACE teachers will serve. No fewer than 46 diocesan and school administrators came to campus from all around the country to meet the ACE teachers they will be hosting and overseeing.

Tom Doyle, senior director of the Service through Teaching M.Ed. degree program, gave the ACE 19 newcomers an overview of the academic rigors set to start this summer.

Many of these ACErs are poised to receive their undergraduate degrees from the University of Notre Dame or Saint Mary's College this spring, just before they start their first ACE summer. But the cohort consists of graduates from over 40 different colleges and universities, including Dartmouth, Duke, Fordham, Gonzaga, Harvard, Marquette, and the Congregation of Holy Cross institutions St. Edward's University and King's College.

"Some ACE 19 members are entering their two-year commitment to Service through Teaching after a year or more of post-graduate international service," adds Sarah Greene, associate director in the Service through Teaching pastoral team. "Two came to the April retreat shortly after returning from post-graduate service-teaching in Japan and Korea, respectively. One is finishing a year of service in a medical clinic in Costa Rica, and one served with the Peace Corps in Benin. We also welcome two new ACE 19s from Ireland."

The April Retreat, which also offered opportunities for Mass and other prayer, ended on Sunday in time for many of the participants to head back to their usual Monday workload in various dioceses and schools. Whether they resided far away or elsewhere on campus, they closed their weekends better connected to ACE's past, present, and future.

Over the years, Fr. Joe Carey has worn many hats in his service to Catholic education. The 1962 graduate of Notre Dame earned his M.A. in Theology from Holy Cross College in Washington, D.C., was ordained a Holy Cross priest in 1969, and went on to teach at Notre Dame High School for six years.

Fr. Joe then served as Director of Vocations for the CSC order for four years. At the University of Notre Dame, he was both an Assistant Rector and Rector, a Financial Counselor, Assistant Director--and then Interim Director--of Campus Ministry for Religious Education and Retreats. During that time, Fr. Joe also served in Campus Ministry at St. Mary's College for five years.

Recently, this long-time friend of the Alliance for Catholic Education officially joined the ACE family as its chaplain.

Fr. Joe notes, "I believe that God loves all people and ministry is about bringing all people the good news that they are made in the image and likeness of God."

Catholic elementary school principals, speaking out in a major nationwide survey, report experiencing acute challenges and frustrations in the operation of their schools, and they identify financial management, marketing, Catholic identity, enrollment management, and long-range planning as their schools’ top five areas of need.

The study, just completed by the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) and its Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, is a rare, comprehensive glimpse of these principals’ views on what they need to do their jobs better and how they describe the state of Catholic education today.

"It is difficult to read the responses of Catholic school principals in this study and not sense both their commitment to this ministry and the overwhelming responsibilities that are associated with it,” say the authors of “Leadership Speaks: A National Survey of Catholic Primary School Principals.” They paint a picture of principals as faith-filled individuals confronting unusually challenging expectations, worthy of new forms of support, such as their own national association.

The study has not yet been published, but the authors—Rev. Ronald Nuzzi, senior director of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, along with two members of the Remick Leadership Program faculty, Anthony Holter and James Frabutt—presented an overview of their work during the National Catholic Educational Association annual convention held April 11-13 in Boston.

A total of 1,685 Catholic school principals representing all areas of the country and all types of school locations and organizational structures, participated in the survey during 2010, answering nearly three dozen questions.

When invited to give open-ended answers, the participants narrowed down the five top areas of need to the two they called most important—enrollment management and financial management—which together often capture the most basic goal of survival, keeping a school open.

Based on the data obtained, “the Church seems to have hired well, attracting mission-driven and loyal individuals to the overarching goals of Catholic education,” according to the study. But these principals live daily with what has been called “the tyranny of the urgent,” hungering for more support—“emotional as well as financial.”

“A Catholic school principal has job expectations that go beyond what can be found in secular educational literature,” the authors note, pointing out that the work of a chief executive officer and a chief operating officer is combined with the school’s overarching religious purpose: “the sanctification of all its stakeholders.”

The study provides enormous amounts of data describing today’s Catholic school principals and outlining their views, and the authors conclude with four recommendations:

· Develop “new models of governance for Catholic elementary schools” that shift the panoply of principal responsibilities “into a more manageable and realistic position description.”

· “Develop a program of ongoing professional development and renewal for principals” that address their needs, both professional and personal.

· Organize a national association of Catholic school principals as a means “to give voice to their leadership concerns at every level and to promote advocacy for Catholic schools at the national level.”

· “Convene multiple groups of national and international stakeholders to advance the understanding of Catholic schools as instruments of the new evangelization.”

Students entering grades 2 through 8 in the South Bend and Elkhart areas will have expanded opportunities this year to extend their learning into the summer months through a partnership of local Catholic schools and the University of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE).

The "Catholic Schools Summer Camp Educational Program," co-sponsored by the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and ACE, will offer day camp-like learning experiences at five schools—two more than last summer. Students are being invited to register at St. Jude Elementary School in South Bend and at St. Vincent de Paul School in Elkhart, in addition to last year's lineup of South Bend schools: St. Adalbert, St. Anthony de Padua, and Our Lady of Hungary.

Each school will offer two sessions, one spanning three weeks in June and the other spanning three weeks in July. Different grades will have different focus areas, generally covering math or language arts. The sessions are mornings only.

Registration for the sessions is open to students from all schools and backgrounds, with one entire session costing $80 and both sessions costing $150. There are discounts for registration by May 7, and financial aid is available. Information about financial assistance comes from the individual school where a student is enrolling.

In addition to these sessions, the partnership is again offering its "Catholic Schools Summer Science Educational Program," which is specifically for students entering 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. This program also offers June and July sessions but is based at Christ the King School in South Bend.

The morning sessions in June will emphasize ecology and life sciences. The sessions in July will feature forensics and early engineering concepts. Lab periods are built in, with lots of hands-on learning. Student experiences will include building a roller coaster, launching your own rocket, and growing your own plants.

Registration costs for the science program are the same as for the broader educational program.
More information and a downloadable registration card for the general camp program are available at http://ace.nd.edu/summercamp. You can also contact Caitlin Cameron of ACE at 574-631-9332.

The Alliance for Catholic Education forms college graduates to be teachers serving in Catholic schools around the country. These teachers in formation, studying at Notre Dame during the summer as part of the highly selective Service through Teaching program, serve alongside current Catholic school teachers to lead the summer camp experiences, yielding an optimal teacher-student ratio and frequent individual instruction.

Over the past three summers, ACE Summer Camp Programs have served more than 1,100 students in the greater South Bend area.

You've heard of a "Double Domer." Well, Michigan native Dane Whipple is becoming what might be considered a "Double ACEr." Last year he completed his first certification with ACE in English as a New Language (ENL); now he is well on his way toward earning his second certification with ACE in Teaching Exceptional Children (TEC).

This long-time Notre Dame fan graduated from the University of Michigan-Flint, and taught in Flint-area Catholic schools until, as he says, "the General Motors strike approached and the economy took a downturn." He relocated to San Diego, where he continued teaching and found his way to ACE.

"My motivation to join the ACE TEC program," he says, "was based on my experience in the ENL program. I learned so much [there] and met so many wonderful people that, when this second program was offered, I decided to pursue it." Dane found that teaching English as a new language truly helped struggling students—his ultimate goal. So he knew that the TEC program would equally support students with mild to moderate disabilities.

What he may not have expected is the change these programs have wrought in him. Even as he has established his school's Student Study Team, a resource for parents and students to help students achieve success; and even as he has introduced Quizlet, a website that helps students make study flashcards for their classes, Dane attests to his own growth in body, mind and spirit. He speaks of his increasing empathy for students who struggle, his openness to differentiated instruction, and the value of daily mass and other resources offered during summertime training.

Just as this teacher calls his ACE experience "a blessing," so ACE calls him, ever grateful for the thought and commitment he and others like him bring to our Catholic schools.

America's K-12 schools, both public and Catholic, are in crisis, said NYU historian and education scholar Diane Ravitch in an April 10 address at the University of Notre Dame. But she pointed out that both have their enduring strengths, and she warned against some of the most popular solutions being proposed to their current problems.

Ravitch, whose talk entitled "Is There a Crisis in Public Education?" was part of the year-long "Notre Dame Forum" series exploring issues in K-12 education, expanded on the arguments in her best-selling book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System.

Pointing out that public education has come under sharp attack by a movement pushing privatization and free-market disciplines for schools and "de-professionalization" for teachers, Ravitch acknowledged that schools need to solve a range of problems today. But "they are not declining and they are not failing."

Those who attend ACE's 2012 Principals Academy this June will be immersed in culture—or, more precisely, in dynamic discussions of how to identify and shape a school's culture to benefit leadership and learning.

This third annual Academy, taking place June 26-29 on the University of Notre Dame campus, is sponsored by ACE Consulting. Principals from around the country are invited to develop new skills and perspectives that give students more robust structures for achievement.

"Every school has a culture, but the key is to be intentional about forming one that is shared and understood and alive for your teachers and your students," says Dr. Christian Dallavis, director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies initiative and an expert on the power of vibrant school cultures. He will lead a team of presenters at the Principals Academy.

"The goal is to give principals tools they can use to do formation around the values of a school," Dallavis says.
There are several components of a culture, ranging from the faculty's sense of purpose to the values that undergird educators' actions in the classroom to the environmental features—how a school looks and feels.

"We'll walk principals through that framework and then help them develop action plans for their own school culture," says Dallavis. Building this awareness and structure can help a school in many ways, he says, including succession planning for the leaders, reducing students' achievement gaps, and promoting continuous improvement throughout the school.

Some 75 principals attended last year's event. Those interested in this year's Title IIA-eligible Academy can visit the ACE Consulting site at http://ace.nd.edu/consulting/professional-development/principals-academy and click on the registration box.

Sister Gail Mayotte, SASV, PhD, has been an educator for twenty-six years in varying roles: teacher, principal, diocesan curriculum and testing director, and currently as professor of supervision and instruction for the Alliance for Catholic Education Service through Teaching program. "In this latter role," she tells us, "and in working for ACE, I have the opportunity to support individuals in their teacher formation as well as collaborate with others who are passionate about working towards sustaining and strengthening Catholic schools."

When asked about what incited her own passion for Catholic schools, Sr. Gail says, "As a student within Catholic schools, I experienced the strength of community, the opportunity to learn about and express the Catholic faith, and the importance of service to others. I received an excellent, well-rounded education. As an adult, I wanted to work in that same environment and contribute towards shaping those valuable experiences for others."

Today, in addition to her role as professor, she directs field supervision visits of ACE teachers. She also works alongside Dr. Tom Doyle for ACE Collaborative for Academic Excellence, an effort to strengthen the academic quality of Catholic schools.

All of which emphasizes what she values most about Catholic schools: "[They] provide a place where the Gospel message is shared and expressions of faith permeate all aspects of school life; an experience of Christian community that supports and challenges each member; and a commitment to the holistic development of each individual student."