The Diocese of Fall River Establishes Academy to Develop Partnerships with Higher Education Institutions

FALL RIVER – The Diocese of Fall River announced earlier this year the establishment of an Academy as a strategic platform for developing partnerships with higher education institutions as well as corporations and other organizations.

The Academy has also announced a partnership with Bridgewater State University, effective immediately, in order to impact the current academic school year.

The partnership with Bridgewater Stat University’s Center for the Advancement of STEM Education (CASE) will allow Catholic school students to be exposed to the many programs offered through the BSU Observatory, CityLab, and Watershed Access laboratories, as well as Geography and Earth Science activities and Project Earthview.

Bridgewater State’s Center for the Advancement of STEM Education will also provide professional development opportunities for Catholic school teachers and administrators.

“As the Director of CASE, I am excited to partner with the Diocese of Fall River’s Academy in order to expand the reach of these exciting programs,” said PhD Jennie Aizenman.

“There are so many interesting programs to offer students, including watershed, biotechnology, climate science, geography, and astronomy. We are excited about opportunities to offer professional development to teachers so they can provide state of the art curriculum in STEM related subjects.”

Steve Perla, Superintendent for the Diocese of Fall River, added, “Partnerships with higher education organizations such as Bridgewater State University are why we created the Academy.”

“These partnerships provides to our students so many practical learning experiences and opportunities that they would not otherwise have in a traditional program. Our overall goal is to give each of our school students an academically rigorous experience that successfully prepares them for college and for a career, within an internally Christ-centered atmosphere.”

Ellen Russell, Director of STEM Education for the Academy, said, “As a professional in STEM related fields, I could not be happier to partner with Bridgewater State University.”

The Academy was established to deepen and expand the Diocesan educational revitalization efforts.