National Coalition of Girls’ Schools, OESIS, One Schoolhouse courses, Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education, People of Color Conference, Bard College, EE Ford Santa Fe Workshop(s), Stanford D-Design, DMA Arts and Letters Live, Mindful School Workshop(s), Dallas Institute, National Council of Teachers of English, Independent Schools Association of the Southwest, American Name Conference, University of Dallas lecture series, St. Mark’s Humanities Workshop, Gilder Lehrman Social Activism, Learning and the Brain Conference(s), Western History Association, University of Dallas ministry conference, Pycon Conference, Science and Technology Symposium, National Council of Teachers of Math, TI Summer Workshop, T Cubed Workshop, ACT Workshop, LLI Conference, Summer Programs and Auxiliary Programs Collaborative Conference, National Association of Independent Schools Conference, ACTFL Conference, Confucius Institute Conference, Educational Theatre Association Conference, SECAC Conference, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Momentous Inst. Conference, Folio Collaborative Inst., National Association for College Admission Counseling Conference, Association of Independent School Librarians Conference, Texas Library Association Conference

Teachers teach each other through educator showcases on topics ranging from strategies for a hybrid classroom to learning about learning.

Past topics included:

• Best Practices in Technology
• Building Class Relationships
• Creating Opportunity for Reflection

Ursuline’s Teacher Mentoring Program provides support to new teachers.

Prior to the program, new teachers attended group meetings but lacked a designated mentor to turn to for guidance during their first year. The program's goal was not only to facilitate the transition of new teachers into the school but also to cultivate their proficiency as Ursuline educators.

Presently, new teachers are matched with experienced mentors and engage in regular meetings, classroom observations, attendance at events, and specialized sessions featuring guest speakers discussing various aspects of the UA community.

Ursuline teachers also have the opportunity to participate in a shadow program pairing a teacher with a student for a full A and B school day.

The teacher “shadows” the student for those days, participating in class (even taking tests), joining them for lunch, attending class meetings/advisory, and basically spending two days as a student.

Teacher participants are expected to identify a goal (or goals) for the experience and provide a reflection. For those new to Ursuline, it’s a great opportunity to learn about Ursuline’s culture, students, and fellow teachers.

All Ursuline faculty, administration, and staff go through Fierce Conversations training, based off the book by Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations, which has turned into an organization that trains people across the country on how to enrich relationships through conversations, even difficult ones. Ursuline has been trained in Coaching, Team, Feedback, and Confrontation.

Fierce gives us ways to have honest and direct conversations in a loving and kind way. The conversations help us watch our tone when we speak and check our context before talking. The training will cover four conversation models: Team, Coaching, Feedback, and Confrontation.

In a Team conversation, the goal is to have every perspective heard so that an organization can make the best possible decisions for an organization, a community, or a family.

In Coaching conversations, we ask questions to get people to come up with their own solutions. For teenage girls, this is incredibly important since we cannot continue to give them advice and tell them exactly what to do; their brains are wired to fix their problems by coming up with their own solutions.

Everyone is taught skills on how to give Feedback - negative and praise. In businesses today, this is the most important type of conversation. It cannot happen once a year at a performance review. We need to be giving feedback 365 days a year, when needed.

Confrontation is one of the hardest models, and the one that participants love the most. I think most of us could say that we don't enjoy confrontation so to have tools that give us the opportunity to tackle tough conversations while also, enriching the relationship, is something we all strive for.

Ursuline introduced Innovation Time Grants in the 2018-2019 school year, providing up to three grants annually. Acknowledging that “time” is a commodity hard to come by, selected teachers are granted a "release" period during the school year to pursue innovative educational projects.

Applicants describe the proposed innovation, demonstrate a clear link to the UA strategic roadmap, and offer suggestions as to how the idea or project could be shared with other teachers in their department and beyond to benefit even more students. Applicants must also identify how they will evaluate their success.

Innovative Time Grants are unique to UA—it is time set aside for teachers to research and develop a particular innovative idea. The time grants focus on innovative practices, and many of these have been linked with student-centered/driven learning. The grants are great because they give faculty time to research and implement shifts in education, specifically toward a more student-driven learning model.

Past topics included:

• Teaching Writing with Student Well-being Competencies
• Best Practices in Catholic High Schools: Accompanying Students on their Journeys of Faith
• Personalized English Classroom: Book Clubs, Choice
• Building Student Agency through Self-Assessment

One Schoolhouse

100% of Ursuline faculty took an online course in 2020 from One Schoolhouse titled, “Designing, Building & Teaching for Hybrid Learning.”

One Schoolhouse helps Ursuline offer flexible, on demand learning experiences that give faculty more choice: choice in how they learn, what they learn, and when they learn.

Most of the faculty have also taken the personalized learning courses offered by One Schoolhouse, which also offers support for professional learning related to wellness, student choice, and online learning.

A regular resource for faculty development, One Schoolhouse also provides online classes for Ursuline students.

Microsoft Hubs

At the start of the 2020-2021 school year, Ursuline acquired 60+ Microsoft Surface Hubs, which allow remote learners to engage with in-person classes in real time. The hub is an amazing, fully integrated Windows 10 device optimized for distance learning. Using the hub technology, our teachers can provide students with as close to an in-class experience as possible.

Founded in 1874, Ursuline Academy of Dallas is an independent Catholic, college preparatory school for young women sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters.

The mission of Ursuline Academy is the total development of the individual student through spiritual formation, intellectual growth, service to others, and building of community.

Ursuline Academy educates young women for leadership in a global society. Read more. 

Ursuline’s Heritage

What is the Angela Retreat experience at Ursuline Dallas?

• Two days set apart for faculty and staff members to “go away” and rest awhile.
• Two days to learn more about Angela Merici, Foundress of the Ursulines.
• Two days to enjoy each other, have some quiet time for reflection, share together in creating delicious meals, and let laughter ring out from sharing stories and dreams.

There are around 8-12 participants each time, plus a facilitator/presenter, Sister Diane Fulgenzi, OSU; a coordinator (Sister Lois, Director of Mission and Heritage), and a member of the Mission and Heritage Committee to assist the coordinator. For the last eleven years Sister Diane Fulgenzi, OSU, has graced us with her expertise on the life and spirituality of St. Angela, and her gift of presence as our Facilitator and Presenter. She shares reflections, power points, and information about St. Angela. The retreat takes place at the Nazareth Retreat Center in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Potential participants are invited to attend by the Director of Mission and Heritage. Usually those invited are newer teachers and staff members, a mixture of co-workers at the school. The school arranges for subs for them. Ursuline in Dallas offers two Angela Retreats each year and takes care of the expenses. We now have over 120 members of our Ursuline faculty and staff who have made an Angela Retreat.

Comments from participants:

“My experience on the Angela Retreat was very delightful. Learning more about Angela makes me realize that we live the spirit of Serviam as we guide the girls on their path towards success.”

“The Angela Retreat was a truly rejuvenating experience for me. I appreciated the time that was taken to get to know each other, to learn more about St. Angela, and also, to remember how blessed we are to be teaching amazing girls and hopefully making a small impact on their lives.”

“Thank you for a lovely, relaxing, and spiritual Angela Retreat. It was truly a calming experience and a great opportunity to get to reflect and grow with members of the Ursuline staff I might not necessarily have the chance to otherwise.”

Purpose: During the school year, Ursuline employees are broken into small groups. The small groups engage in a creative, holistic way to strengthen the bonds of being members of Angela Merici’s global Ursuline family.

Plan: Our Ursuline family of employees gathers five times yearly, on a designated Wednesday, to reflect more deeply on our mission and heritage, to strengthen the relationships among our campus-wide Ursuline Family, and to solidify our appreciation of St. Angela’s call to service.

“Be of one mind and heart, united together in one will…” - St. Angela Merici

Microsoft supports a thriving community of passionate educators who are constantly learning, growing and working together to change students’ lives and build a better world. The Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert program is a premier program created to recognize global educator visionaries.

Ursuline Academy is a school with a technology focus.

It embodies this focus through the meaningful integration of technology into the academic curriculum and in the active shaping of its students as digital citizens. Students and employees are educated in the appropriate use of technology and principles of responsible digital citizenship are reinforced through school policies. With a strong commitment to technology training for all teachers, Ursuline encourages creative and innovative uses of digital resources in the classroom. Learn more.

The Service Learning Experience class takes students’ individualized passions about world issues and encourages them to work with a local, non-profit partner to create a sustainable program or permanent impact project.

Under the direction of Service Coordinator Gabi Merani ‘04, students use the UN’s Goals of Sustainability to narrow down their projects into areas they wanted to focus on and utilized technology programs that allowed for flexibility outside the classroom. The blended-learning format provided a foundation for communication with professionals across the Dallas metroplex and Teacher Service Mentors from Ursuline.

Sister School Partnerships:

Ursuline students engage with and learn from a worldwide network of sister schools and global partnerships. All sister schools share formal agreements with Ursuline to engage in reciprocal, mutually-beneficial educational and cultural exchange on an annual or bi-annual basis. Students grow and benefit from these exchanges in many ways:

Ursuline students engage with and learn from a worldwide network of sister schools and global partnerships. Learn more.

Ursuline Academy commits to educating global leaders focusing on the Ursuline mission through active service, intellectual enrichment, co-curricular programs (locally and abroad), sister school relationships, and other partnerships. 

Students engage in a variety of transformative experiences which help them grow in global competence. As they get to know and touch the realities of other cultures, they gain new appreciation for different perspectives and a better understanding of what it means to be a citizen of the world. They also have the opportunity to share a unique sisterhood with students around the globe. Learn more.

• 70% of full-time, returning faculty took some form of external professional development and 100% participated in the internal professional development cycle.
• 100% of new faculty took some form of external professional development.
• In five of 14 departments and administration, 100% of the full-time faculty took outside professional development; in eight of 14 departments, at least 80% of the full-time faculty took outside professional development; in 11 of 14 departments, at least 70% of the full-time faculty took outside professional development.
• All faculty participated in a workshop from George Couros on “Innovation in Education”
• Faculty and Administration were selected to present or serve on a panel at national and local conferences including International Coalition of Girls Schools, Folio Conference, Global Educators Conference, Western History Conference.
• Faculty attended 21 different National Conferences such as NAIS, POCC, ISTE, ICGS, Learning and the Brain; 89 different institutes, workshops, classes, and trainings such as Bard College Institute for Writing and Thinking, Exeter Harkness Summer Program, Stanford Workshops, Klingenstein Institute, CSEE Workshops; a dozen retreats and unique experiences such as the Women’s Lenten Retreat and The World Expo.

• 100% of our faculty took an online course from One Schoolhouse titled, “Designing, Building & Teaching for Hybrid Learning."
• Theology teacher Angie Jakubik and English teacher Kate Schenck. were the 2020-2021 Innovation Grant recipients and worked on topics related to personalized learning and wellness, respectively.   
• New faculty were trained in FIERCE Conversations, continuing our commitment to training the whole faculty in FIERCE conversations.

• Ninety percent (90%) of full-time faculty took some form of outside professional development and one-hundred percent (100%) participated in the internal professional development cycle. 
• All faculty participated throughout the year in workshops from nationally renowned consultants, Dave Mochel and Dr. Gene Batiste.
• Administrators and teachers presented at National and International Conferences such as The National Coalition of Girls’ Schools, OESIS, National Council of Teachers of Math (NCTM), and The American Names Society. 
• A couple of faculty published books. 
• The Faculty Shadow Program continues in which faculty shadow students for two full school days to get insight into the students’ learning environment.