Seton Teaching Fellows is a one or two-year postgraduate mission opportunity that brings the living Gospel and the beauty of the Catholic faith to children and families in underserved communities. Fellows rely on both time-tested and innovative methods that help the children and families they serve, as well as their peers, to evangelize with the love of Christ the Teacher. At the same time, they participate in their own holistic formation by accompanying, developing, and challenging each other, striving to serve with the mind, heart, and spirit of Christ the Teacher.
Seton Teaching Fellows is run by a national non-profit called Seton Education Partners. 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.
You will serve at a Seton network school with elementary and middle-aged children, sharing your gifts and talents to help them achieve their full potential. Your primary role will be to lead children to Christ by introducing them to the life-saving message of the Gospel. In your role, you will have an opportunity to grow as an incredible educator while helping your students grow in knowledge and virtue. Seton Teaching Fellows are devoted to ensuring that children in underserved communities make it to college and heaven. We can promise you that you will never be bored in your role as a Fellow!
Seton Teaching Fellows begin the year with a program and instructional orientation, which focuses on building community and sharing faith experiences with one another and an intensive introduction to the foundations, skills, and mindsets necessary to be an effective educator. Throughout their missionary year, Seton Teaching Fellows receive ongoing training to improve their service, learn new skills and be the best educator they can be.
Seton Teaching Fellows serve at Seton network schools in the Bronx, NY, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Mission, TX.
Your Seton Teaching Fellowship will begin in mid-July. Your official start date will be discussed during the offer process.
Yes, Seton Teaching Fellows are given a modest apartment or house in the community that they serve. Fellows live together in an intentional faith community, where they grow personally, professionally, and spiritually. Seton covers rent, including internet and utilities.
Fellows are not asked to “fund their mission” in order to be placed at a campus and serve as a Seton Teaching Fellow. If funding your role were required, that would mean you’d need to raise roughly $50,000! Instead, Seton Teaching Fellows are given a modest living stipend during the time of service.
Keep in mind that an important part of being a Fellow is sharing the mission, which allows for evangelization as well as increasing awareness of STF and our organization overall. All Fellows will participate in an initiative called Share the Good (STG). With STG, Fellows keep in touch with their friends, family and others in their network throughout the year with videos and email updates. A natural consequence of sharing the good is that we’ve seen greater awareness at colleges which makes recruiting more effective, in addition to friends, family members and other people in our Fellows’ networks wanting to become more involved and contribute financially. So we’ve set modest goals as an endpoint for our Fellows to shoot for and have built in lots of support around these goals.
Yes! Fellows are encouraged to live simply and to share communal costs. At the beginning of their year, Fellows work together to create a community covenant that will help you work together to live simply and on budget with the stipend.
No. In order to be most present to your community and your mission, we ask that you do not take an additional job.
Seton Teaching Fellows will follow the calendar and teacher absence policies of their Seton network school.
We recommend staying on your family’s insurance if it is an option; however, there is a possibility for you to obtain insurance through an outside partnership that we have with Notre Dame Mission Volunteers. Please note: Notre Dame Mission Volunteers receives funding for this through a federal grant program and is not guaranteed from year to year.
There is a possibility for you to obtain loan forbearance through an outside partnership that we have with Notre Dame Mission Volunteers. Please note: Notre Dame Mission Volunteers receives funding for this through a federal grant program and is not guaranteed from year to year.
We do! You don’t need any experience teaching, just a passion for working with children and a strong belief that every child can learn and grow in virtue. Fellows with a variety of backgrounds will only enhance our program!
As long as you’re done with your school by the middle of July, you are eligible to join next year’s cohort. The first few weeks of the fellowship are packed full between orientation and onboarding. Both experiences are essential to ensuring that you are completely ready for the start of the school year; thus, it is absolutely necessary for you to be fully present from the start. Prior commitments to school could prohibit this from occurring.
We cover your transportation to and from your placement site.
No—as long as you’re committed to a year of service and living simply in community, we invite you to apply. We cannot accept married individuals or those with any dependents.
Seton Teaching Fellows accepts students with various degrees; however, your stipend will be unchanged regardless of the degree or the experience that you have. The priority for the year is to serve the children at your placement school. So as long as an individual is prepared for this task, all graduates are invited to apply.
Yes, you will receive a modest monthly stipend. Additionally, we have partnerships that can offer you health insurance, loan deferment, full-time job opportunities, and even graduate school scholarships.