A Note From Our Executive Director
Our hearts are filled with gratitude this season of Thanksgiving for the opportunity to accompany Catholic educators who strive for academic excellence, deepen faith-lives, and holistically care for their students and all those in their community. As the Roche Center team continues to expand, we are excited to provide you this Fall 2022 highlight of our formation programs and research that advances the mission of forming educators to become agents of change who work to create excellent and equitable Pre-K-12 Catholic schools. Thank you for your partnership in this important work!

Melodie Wyttenbach, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Recent Roche Center Events
Whole Child in US Catholic Schools National Convening
The Roche Center hosted the national convening “Whole Child Education in U.S. Catholic Schools,” from June 24-25, 2022. Gathering more than 50 researchers, practitioners, and philanthropists, the convening examined the substance of whole child education in Catholic schools; the impacts on students, graduates, and educators; and critical needs in the commitment and effort to deliver a holistic approach to education. The Roche Center continues to support research and programming to advance whole child education in Catholic schools and will be presenting on this topic at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2023 Annual Meeting and virtually at the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) 2023 Convention via the on-demand convention library, both in April 2023.
Cultivating Talent National Summit
The Roche Center and the School of Theology and Ministry hosted “Cultivating Talent: A National Summit on Hispanic Educators in Catholic Schools,” from October 2-4, 2022 at Boston College. The conference drew more than 125 Catholic school leaders, theologians, and researchers to examine the role of Hispanic educators in Catholic schools. The summit was convened in response to calls from the report, Cultivating Talent: A Summary of Findings from the National Study Examining Pathways to Increase the Presence of Hispanic Teachers and Leaders in Catholic Schools, to launch, support, and join conversations to explore the implications of the report findings.
“Saints” Exhibit and Programs
On All Saints Day, the exhibit “Saints” by Nancy Marek Cote opened at Boston College, sponsored by the Roche Center, Church in the 21st Century, and Campus Ministry. The exhibit features 17 mixed-media paintings depicting Catholic saints, including the debut of a new work of Society of Jesus founder St. Ignatius Loyola, which Marek created for the BC exhibit. 100 fourth-grade students from St. Joseph School in Needham, MA and St. Columbkille Partnership School in Brighton, MA came to Boston College on All Saints Day dressed as their favorite saints to view the exhibit and learn about other sacred pieces of artwork on campus. The exhibit in O’Neill Library at Boston College will be on display until December 9th and is free and open to the public.
Imago DEI: Makȟa Black Elk
Makȟa Black Elk, Executive Director for Truth and Healing at Maȟpiya Lúta (Red Cloud Indian School), visited Boston College on November 3rd and spoke with the Roche Center Companions community on Red Cloud’s history, the truth and healing process, and forming culturally sustaining Catholic school communities. Red Cloud Indian School has a Lakota language immersion program, and is a TWIN-CS member participating in professional development and collaboration through the network. We are grateful to Makȟa for sharing his important work with us!
Programs for Catholic School Educators
Cristo Rey Network Teacher-Leadership Academy
Educators from across the Cristo Rey Network gathered on Boston College's campus to kick-off their Teacher-Leadership Academy in August. This year-long program, and new partnership for the Roche Center, customizes support for teacher-leaders who have demonstrated capacity for additional leadership responsibilities in their school community. As one participant reflected, “What resonates with me the most is that leadership does not have to be a one person task…as a teacher-leader, collaboration and cooperation are major aspects that lead to the success of ourselves and more importantly, our students” (Bradley, CR Brooklyn). Many thanks to Dr. Michael O'Connor, Program Director of Outreach and Professional Development, and Ms. Anne-Marie Funk, Instructional Leadership Coach, for their leadership of this program. We are grateful for this partnership and the opportunity to help form and support incredible leaders serving in Cristo Rey schools across the United States!
TWIN-CS Continues to Expand its National Reach
The Two-Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools (TWIN-CS) has supported the establishment of two new dual language programs in Catholic schools across the country in 2022-2023. St. Ambrose Catholic School in Annandale, VA and St. Patrick Catholic School in Pasco, WA join the network of 26 schools supporting culturally and linguistically diverse learners. TWIN-CS schools share bilingual resources, participate in high-quality professional development, receive instructional and leadership coaching, and engage in innovative research with the TWIN-CS Research Team. Watch these recent news reports highlighting our network growth: NBC Northern Virginia News on the transformation of St. Ambrose Catholic School and Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School on Long Island.
Summer and Fall Social Emotional Learning Academy Highlights
Working with over fifty Catholic school educators in the Boston area, Dr. Molly McMahon’s Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Academy is having a transformative effect on students and school communities as educators integrate social emotional learning into their curriculum and school culture. This year-long program begins by supporting schools as they implement tier 1 practices of SEL, with the goal to adopt tier 2 and tier 3 supports with personalized coaching and school-wide professional development. “Having the spiritual grounding and focus on the CASEL competencies has allowed me to see how the work of SEL is naturally aligned to our holistic approach to educating all children here at St. Joe’s” (Nicole, 3rd grade teacher).
Welcome to our New Instructional Leadership Coaches
The Roche Center welcomed three new instructional leadership coaches to the team this past August. Ms. Anne-Marie Funk, Ms. Tara Frost and Mrs. Andrea Cisneros focus their efforts supporting new teachers in area Catholic schools, teacher-leadership programming, and the development of a New Teacher Professional Learning Network, a new initiative launched in Fall 2022 to support new teachers in Catholic schools throughout the greater Boston area. As part of the PLN, teachers receive instructional coaching and participate in professional development tailored to the needs of beginning educators. These new coaches are making a significant impact on the academic excellence of our Catholic schools!
Research Initiatives
Journal of Catholic Education Special Issue
Growing out of the recent report, Cultivating Talent: A Summary of Findings from the National Study Examining Pathways to Increase the Presence of Hispanic Teachers and Leaders in Catholic Schools, the Roche Center has supported a special issue of the Journal for Catholic Education on the formation, recruitment, and retention of Hispanic educators in Catholic schools. The issue, which can be found on the JCE website after Thanksgiving, will feature 13 scholarly articles offering varied research and practitioner perspectives on this important topic.
United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) Conversation
Dr. Melodie Wyttenbach, Executive Director of the Roche Center, presented with Dr. Hosffman Ospino of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry to the USCCB Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church on the findings of the Cultivating Talent report. This conversation offered various strategies for how to support Hispanic educators in Catholic schools and then challenged Church leadership to consider their role in advancing the conversation.
Boston College Partners
Breakfast with God, IN PERSON!
During the pandemic, the Roche Center and the Church in the 21st Century co-sponsored Breakfast with God to support families with young children to continue to engage in the Sunday Gospel when they could not attend Mass in person due to COVID shut down. On Sunday, December 11, 2022, at 10am, we will host Breakfast with God IN PERSON at Boston College! All are welcome to meet Ms. Krane and Fr. Tran in person! RSVP here.
Save the Date! Book Talk: The Politics of Irish Primary Education: Reform in an Era of Secularisation by Dr. Sean McGraw
Tuesday, November 29, 2022, 5:00-6:30pm at the Connolly House at Boston College

The latest battlefield in the ongoing debate over secularism in Ireland is education. The role of the Catholic Church in education has come under increasing scrutiny in a rapidly liberalizing Ireland. Yet that role is frequently misunderstood and is shrouded in myth. In The Politics of Irish Primary Education: Reform in an Era of Secularisation, Boston College political scientist, Sean McGraw, and his co-author Jonathan Tiernan, provide a timely book that addresses the evolving role of religion and the Catholic Church in a rapidly changing Ireland. Taking recent referenda campaigns that legalized same-sex marriage (2015) and abortion (2018) as a starting point, McGraw and Tiernan discuss growing calls to reduce, or eliminate altogether, the Catholic Church’s control in primary education. Such control has long been considered a bastion of the Church’s influence in shaping every aspect of Irish life. RSVP here for the event!
Urban Catholic Teacher Corps (UCTC)
UCTC is housed in the Lynch School at Boston College and is a fully funded, two-year program that combines our master’s degree (M.Ed.) in Curriculum and Instruction with a one-of-a-kind teaching formation program focused on urban Catholic schools. While completing M.Ed. coursework and extensive student teaching, the UCTC cohort lives in an intentional community and commits to a ministry of teaching, growing in their faith and their practice. Click here to learn more and send potential candidate nominations (with email or phone) to uctc@bc.edu.
Other Needs or Supports?
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