Staff from Lancaster St. Bernadette and St. Mary schools and Fisher Catholic High School traveled to South Bend, Indiana, for the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Leadership Conference at the University of Notre Dame held Nov. 9-11.
St. Bernadette principal Rachel Cavello and teachers Betsy Loy and Robin Sanders spoke at the conference. They presented “Building a Resilient School Culture: Aligning Valued Families, Students and Staff.”
“Building a positive, faith-filled and mission-centered school culture is something I am incredibly passionate about,” Cavello said. “It was the focus of my research while earning my master’s degree at the University of Notre Dame.
“Culture truly drives everything we do, and as we expand into a full middle school, we have been very intentional in cultivating a shared identity rooted in our faith, belonging, joy and purpose.”
The fourth annual ACE Leadership Conference offered sessions on instructional practices, artificial intelligence from a Catholic lens and Catholic Social Teaching.
Attendees learned from Catholic school leaders across the country. The conference offered insight into common challenges.
“We believe that our purpose is to make Jesus known, loved and served,” Cavello said of St. Bernadette School. “Our time at Notre Dame reinforced those beliefs and gave us new tools to live them out.
“What we experienced there is exactly what we hope to model for our students each day: a community united in faith, growing in virtue, supporting one another and becoming more like Christ in all that we do.”
Cavello, a St. Bernadette graduate, became principal in 2024. The growing school is currently raising money for an estimated $2.5 million addition.
St. Bernadette added a sixth grade last year and a seventh grade this year. An eighth grade is set to be added next year.
Notre Dame’s ACE program sustains and strengthens under-resourced Catholic schools through leadership formation, research and professional service. ACE exists to ensure children, especially from low-income families, experience an excellent Catholic education.