NCEA
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND
NEWS
Upcoming
Events
Leaders Apart 2006: Imagining the Future, San Jose, CA, February 17-19, 2006.
This
will be a gathering of 40 Heads of School
and emerging leaders in a facilitated
conversation about the development
and future of Catholic
high school leadership. Participants
will gather at the comfortable Dolce
Hayes Mansion, a 100-year-old,
65-room residence that is now a conference
center. Be on the lookout for registration information very soon. For more information and a registration form, please click here.
Minds
in Motion: New Thinking about the Capital
Campaign, Orlando, FL, March 9-12, 2006.
Advancement issues in Catholic Secondary
Education, with special focus on the Capital
Campaign. To receive first notice of the
program and registration information, please
send an email to nceasec@ncea.org. NCEA
National Convention, Atlanta, GA, April 18-21,
2006.
We look forward to having "a peach of
a time" in Georgia celebrating
Catholic education with our colleagues
from across the country. Stay tuned
for more information about hotels and
programming or check www.ncea.org/annual/convention/.
Secondary
Schools Department Awards: Each
year at the convention, at the Secondary
Schools Department Convocation, NCEA recognizes
distinguished educators from across the country
for their contributions to Catholic secondary
education. You should have received a nomination form in the mail or you can access it online.
The application deadline is November 28, 2005.
Gather
By the Bay: Faith & Philanthropy in the
Catholic High School, San Francisco, CA,
June 28-July 1, 2006. Advancement
issues in Catholic Secondary Education with
a special emphasis on the mission of the
Catholic school. To receive first notice
of the program and registration information,
please send an email to nceasec@ncea.org.
LEAD:
Leadership in Equity, Advocacy and Diversity,
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles,
CA July 12-15, 2006. A conference
addressing diversity issues in the Catholic
high schools with emphasis on supporting
special needs students. To receive first
notice of the program and registration information,
please send an email to nceasec@ncea.org.
Frontiers of Justice-Trip to Kosovo
Each year the Secondary Schools Department of
the National Catholic Educational Association
and Catholic Relief Services sponsors Frontiers
of Justice, a short-term firsthand experience
of the developing world for Catholic high school
teachers and leaders. We are pleased to announce
that we are accepting applications for this
year's trip to Kosovo scheduled for late June/early
July 2006. A participant's sponsoring institution
will be expected to cover $500.00 towards the
cost of the trip. Catholic Relief Services
underwrites the rest of the cost. This year
applications are not only open to individual
educators, but school teams of two are encouraged
to apply as well. Teams will consist of one
faculty member and one administrator.
Click here for
more detailed information about the trip, expectations
of participants and an Acrobat version of the
application. Word
version of the application
only.
The application deadline is January 4, 2006.
Department
Electronic Newsletters
Besides our monthly ENews, the Secondary Schools Department publishes two other electronic newsletters, both of which come out three times a year. Both New Directions, focusing on advancement issues, and the Emmaus Journal, for campus ministers, religion teachers and service directors, were published in October. Click here for the Emmaus Journal and here for New Directions.
Regional Meetings
The 2005-06 regional meetings are underway. You will want to attend the one near you. These annual gatherings of Catholic high school administrators and others in a geographic area provide the opportunity for discussion of matters pertinent to the region as well as national issues of importance for American Catholic high schools. Your regional representative, who serves on the Secondary Schools Department Executive Committee and elected by you, organizes the meeting and Sr. Mary Frances Taymans, the Executive Director, attends. As a membership organization the regional meeting is also your opportunity to provide important counsel to the Department and Association.
The schedule and location of the regional meetings are found here:
http://www.ncea.org
/departments/secondary/aboutus/regions/schedule.asp.
Your regional representative and other members of the Secondary Schools Department's Executive Committee are found here: http://www.ncea.org/departments/secondary/aboutus/committee.asp.
Hurricane
Katrina Relief
NCEA's Child to Child campaign to
help schools affected by Hurricane Katrina collected
more than $1,000,000! Thank you for your generous
contributions! Check http://www.ncea.org/katrina/ for
more information.
Membership
Benefits - News You Can Use
Recognizing the hard work and dedicated service of Catholic educators is a charge we take seriously at NCEA. As noted above, we are currently accepting nominations for our Department awards to be given at the Secondary Schools Convocation April 19 at the national convention in Atlanta. We also prepare attractive recognition certificates with a letter for our member schools who want to honor an educator on a significant anniversary or event in his or her career. This service is free for our Premier Members. We charge a modest fee for other members. Call Mike Conroy (202-337-6232) or email nceasec@ncea.org if you'd like to know more.
Publications
Being Catholic: From the Heart, by Bishop Gordon Bennett, SJ, is the Department's newest publication. This short but inspiring book is the text of Bishop Bennett's well-received keynote address at the Tradition and Transitions conference in June 2005 in which he reflected on Mission, Identity and the Catholic School (20 pages, $7 members/$9 non-members). Please visit NCEA's online store for more information and to see what else we offer.
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CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
January 29-February 4, 2006 is Catholic Schools Week
Join schools across the country celebrating "Catholic Schools: Character, Compassion, Values." Marketing
materials and more information can be found here.
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FEDERAL PROGRAMMING
Participation
in the National Assesment of Educational
Progress (NAEP)
If
your school receives an invitation to participate
in the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) in 2006, NCEA strongly encourages you
to participate. This program tests students
in grades 4, 8, and 12 and is often referred
to as "The Nation's Report Card."
Supplemental Education Services
Private schools are eligible to access federal monies to provided supplemental education services (SES), a key component of the No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The US Department of Education's Office of Non-Public Education is pleased to announce the release of a new brochure, Opportunities for Private Schools to Provide Extra Academic Help to Disadvantaged Students. Developed with the support of the Department's Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the brochure is designed for private schools that are considering providing supplemental education services (SES), or that want to learn more about it.
This link is
to a list on the US Department of Education's
website with general SES information.
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The following links and programs are for your consideration. Inclusion on this list does not constitute an endorsement of any particular program or resource.
AWARDS
A
$100,000 Cash Award for teachers
The Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award, a $100,000 cash prize, will be awarded to an extraordinary teacher in an under-served community. The award seeks to recognize innovative and results-oriented teaching and to raise public awareness of the importance of effective and committed teachers.
Nancy and Rich Kinder of Houston, TX established this award so an outstanding educator serving low-income children could be rewarded financially for his or her work. To be selected, teachers must be nominated for the Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award. Nominees must be currently employed in a K-12 school, public or private, in the U.S. where at least 50 percent of students qualify for the free- and reduced-price meal program. Nominations should be submitted online at www.kinderaward.org. Application deadline is December 31, 2005.
Applicants Sought for Teachers Hall of Fame
The National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF) is dedicated to preserving and promoting the teaching profession and inspiring others to become and remain teachers. The NTHF is accepting nominations for inductees for its 2006 class. Candidates must be certified and have a minimum 20 years of full-time preK-12 teaching experience.
Nominations must be post-marked by January 3, 2006. For more information or to nominate a teacher, visit www.nthf.org.
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CURRICULUM RESOURCES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Advent Resource from Catholic Relief Services and the US Bishops
The
USCCB is working with CRS and Bread for the
World to develop parish resources on global
poverty for the Advent season. They will include
general parish resources as well as a special
resource for use in high schools and youth
ministry programs. The theme will be "For Unto Us a Child is Born," which
will encourage us to remember all the children
born to us every day who suffer from hunger
and poverty. Resources are also being developed
by a number of other faith communities (Methodists,
Lutherans, Episcopalians, Baptists) so there
will also be opportunities for ecumenical activities.
The new resources are on the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty Web site. If you have any questions, please call Joan Rosenhauer at the USCCB at 202-541-3381 or Kathy Brown at CRS at 410-951-7232.
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