Sarah Butch, M.A.

Sarah Butch serves as the Coordinator for the English as a New Language Hernandez Fellows Program under the ALMA Initiative for the Institute of Educational Initiatives and the Alliance for Catholic Education. In 20 years, the Hernandez Fellows program has formed over 500 Hernandez Fellows—in-school experts and teacher leaders who have earned their English as New Language certifications from Notre Dame—and is the largest formator of ESL educators for Catholic schools in the U.S. In her role, Sarah oversees the marketing and recruitment of the program, assessment and administration of financial aid, alignment to state and national standards, event preparation and execution, visioning and implementing pastoral and community care efforts, and maintains diocesan and school leader partnerships. Sarah is also a core member of the ENL Professional Development Team and assists with content creation, particularly at the middle school level and with multilingual learners in the math classroom. Sarah also bridges theory and practice on a regular basis in working with ALMA's dual language schools, coordinating ALMA's National Spelling Bee in Spanish, and leading a cooking club at a local Catholic school.

Sarah earned her bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Spanish from Grand Valley State University, her M.A. from Cornerstone University in Curriculum and Instruction, and her ENL certification from the University of Notre Dame. She has spent the past 15 years working with multicultural and multilingual students in Catholic schools and she is passionately dedicated to supporting educators as they embrace, educate, and empower the culturally and linguistically diverse students in their classrooms. She enjoys baking, traveling, and spending time with family.