“On a mission to serve, and to be better today than we were yesterday.”
We may be biased, but we truly believe Seton employees are the best of the best, not only when it comes to their rich experience and work ethic, but also their heart to serve. And because “continuous improvement” is part of our core values, our team just keeps getting better!
How do we identify the perfect fit for Seton? And what motivates candidates to serve? We ask only two consistent screening questions as part of the initial application to work at Seton.
- Seton Education Partners expands opportunities for parents in underserved communities to choose an academically excellent, character rich, and—for those who seek it—vibrantly Catholic education for their children. What about this mission statement is compelling you?
- Seton’s Catholic identity anchors our four Core Values of Integrity, High Expectations, Results Matter and Common Good. Please reflect on the description of our Core Values and share what most resonates with you and why?
For our Fellows only, we also ask:
- Explain why you feel called to participate in the mission of the New Evangelization by serving as a Seton Teaching Fellow.”
The answers we receive are inspiring. So join us in Celebrating 12 Years of Seton by hearing from 12 candidates on how they are driven to serve.
Seton Education Partners expands opportunities for parents in underserved communities to choose an academically excellent, character rich, and—for those who seek it—vibrantly Catholic education for their children. What about this statement is compelling to you?
“Catholic education in America is being drawn to a point. Once a firm fixture for the underprivileged and marginalized in American society, Catholic schools have been in steady decline for decades due to the disappearance of traditional religious orders. The modern observer has largely found two models of school; one existing on high tuition and comfortable endowments and the second struggling to keep tuition affordable but finding resources low and enrollment down. The former model, in spite of scholarship programs, tends to serve the populations that can support the school—wealthy and upper-class. The latter exists on a lifeline. Under-resourced, understaffed and under-enrolled, the students of these schools often receive a subpar education. In both cases, it can be common to find a weak Catholic identity, due to the disappearance of working religious and additional compromises caused by financial strains.
“However, Seton Education Partners proposes that there is a third option. By becoming intentional and innovative with resources, Catholic education can serve those who deserve it the most: the underserved of our communities. Within its blended learning model, Seton has discovered ways to properly distribute resources and training to ensure students within Catholic schools are able to have an academically excellent education, receiving the instruction, attention, and assets that they might not otherwise have. Within the Brilla and El Camino model, Seton has proved its ability to be innovative and creative in bringing together high quality academic education and Catholic formation for those who choose it in The Bronx. This Brilla/El Camino model ensures that scholars are receiving superior academic instruction, allowing the El Camino team to focus solely on catechetical instruction and evangelization; thus, not forcing the team to prioritize one over the other as many Catholic schools must.
“The Church is charged with the duty to overcome the challenges of the age in order to keep Christ’s mission alive; this is true of every era. Seton Education Partners is working toward revitalizing Catholic education, not so that it merely exists and is sustained. It is working towards revitalizing Catholic education so that it may truly fulfill Christ’s mission and once again meet the needs of those who need it the most.”
—John Lane, Principal at Romero Academy
“The mission of Seton Education Partners speaks to me because I was once in the shoes of our students. I was born and raised in the Bronx by a single mother. She knew that the only way to provide me with the best education was to enroll me in Catholic school. It provided me with the academic challenges I needed with a strong moral upbringing that facilitated my personal and professional growth. I strongly believe that this experience is what led me to becoming the first person in my family to go to college and focus on giving back to my community via a career in education.”
—Alexa Bonilla, Director of Enrollment for Brilla Schools Network
“The word “vibrant,” first of all! I worry at times that our society thinks that for an education to be “academically excellent” it must downplay or deemphasize joy. Nothing could be further from the truth!”
—Dan Faas, Director of Character Initiatives for the Elementary Schools in the Brilla Schools Network
“Everything. I believe the best way to remove the shackles of poverty is through education. Inequality in the quality of education children receive is one of the greatest challenges we are facing in America. Today, a child’s zip code or socioeconomic status is one of the most consequential determinants of his or her success. That is highly problematic in a nation that was designed to have “equal opportunity for all.” To expand the opportunities that all children deserve, we need innovative schools that deliver.”
—Michelle Perry, National Operations Manager for Seton Education Partners
“This statement has hit very close to home. Raised Catholic in an underserved community was not easy and opportunities were very limited for my family. Oh, how I wished my parents had a choice. I set out to leave my community for college, majoring in bilingual education, and vowed to pay it forward by returning to my humble community of Las Milpas in the Rio Grande Valley to change the trajectory for our children here by giving their parents a choice.”
—Cecilia Gallagher, Seton Leadership Fellow for Brillante Academy
Seton’s Catholic identity anchors our four Core Values of Integrity, High Expectations, Results Matter and Common Good. Please reflect on the description of our Core Values and share what most resonates with you and why?
“The words ‘humility’ and ‘mercy’ aren’t ones that I often see in Core Values, and it excites me to work at a place that wants to foster these fundamental virtues.”
—Colleen Vaughn, Network Special Education and Data Compliance Associate for the Brilla Schools Network
(In mentioning Results Matter) “For me, to represent the Church means that I am working to be better today than I was the day before.”
—Shanelle County, Director Of Elementary Content for the Brilla Schools Network
“Seton’s description of integrity—the aligning of beliefs with actions—reminds me of a quote from ‘Dead Man Walking’ author Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ: ‘I watch what I do to see what I believe.‘ When we truly act with integrity, it becomes almost unnecessary to recite what we believe about children, teaching and learning, or our role in a larger community. Our actions say more than a slogan or manifesto ever could. Particularly for adults who work with children, we should always be mindful of our actions whether we’re in the presence of the children in our care or not. The right thing to do for children, however, is often not the easy thing, and at times it necessitates cutting through the fog of fads, “silver bullet” initiatives, or public opinion. That’s why I think it’s crucial that a school community should know exactly what it believes, and allow itself to be guided by those beliefs and values to make any important decision.”
—Dan Faas, Director of Character Initiatives for the Elementary Schools in the Brilla Schools Network (responses so sincere we had to include Dan twice!)
“As an educator, I model for my students compassion, patience, kindness, and forgiveness. I believe all good teachers do not just teach the curriculum. They ensure that their students learn how to become good people.”
—Samantha Tyler, Teacher at Romero Academy at Resurrection
Why do you feel called to participate in the mission of the New Evangelization by serving as a Seton Teaching Fellow?
“My life has been transformed by God calling me through my experiences in a broken, immigrant Latino family, through a dramatic conversion and profound moral growth. However, while I found faith in my circumstances, so many similarly situated children in my community fell away from the Faith, have become…opposed to the Church, or have not fully embraced nor understood many of the Church’s teachings. I want to be a part of the solution going forward. I know that, given my experiences, I can be an ambassador for Christ to the underserved communities from which I came. I know the worries on the hearts of Seton’s disciples. They want to know the Truth deep inside their souls about love, their God, and His plan for them in a way that inspires them and strikes them to the heart.”
—Nico Silva, Seton Teaching Fellow
“It is through my discernment of religious life that I have come to know the way in which I am called to love and that is through sharing the love of Jesus Christ with everyone I encounter and being a spiritual mother to God’s children. I pray that with the Seton Teaching Fellows, I will be able to become a spiritual mother for the children that I encounter and that I can help them come to know the Lord.”
—Molly Jensen, Seton Teaching Fellow
“The universal and timeless mission of the Church is to bring the Lord and His teachings to all without exception; this mission is even more pressing in a world of widespread secularism and an indifference to Truth. Sainthood is possible for every human person because every person is created by and for God. I cannot think of a better investment of my time and talents than to serve the young people and families of our Church as a Fellow—to build up saints of the New Millennium through knowledge, faith, and the cultivation of virtue.”
—Emily Kling, Seton Teaching Fellow
“When I came across the Seton Teaching Fellows website, I saw that the slogan was “sign up to love.” I want to sign up for that. I want to be formed so I can form others and continue to grow and love every person and student I encounter. I feel called to serve in this way to become a better person and a better teacher and ultimately to help me to become a saint.”
—Jessica Marter, Seton Teaching Fellow
