Immigrant Catholic School Educators: Working across Cultures, Opportunities and Perspectives

While the majority of our Catholic schools in the United States today are far from their roots as schools run by immigrants for immigrants, the stories of immigrant teachers in our Catholic schools remain. With the majority of immigrants coming to the United States today from Mexico and Latin America, the Hispanic educators in our Catholic schools are highly diverse. A striking finding from the "Cultivating Talent" report is that nearly 40% of Hispanic teachers and 27% of Hispanic leaders in Catholic schools are immigrants, proceeding from nearly every Spanish-speaking nation, mirroring the backgrounds of students and families in their communities (Ospino and Wyttenbach, 2022). Their presence enriches the Catholic educational experience in the United States with important global perspectives. This paper aims to tell the counternarratives of immigrant teachers and shed light on the contributions they continue to bring to Catholic school communities and the challenges they face. Keywords: Catholic schools, immigrant educators, Hispanic teachers, Hispanic leaders, Latinos, Hispanic ministry