Urban Catholic Teacher Corps
Since 1997, over 200 educators have completed the Urban Catholic Teacher Corps program,
earning a Master’s in Curriculum & Instruction while serving in 17 Catholic schools
across the Archdiocese of Boston—including Dorchester, Brockton, and Lawrence
Together, they’ve reached more than 2,200 students,
bringing dedicated, mission-driven teaching to urban Catholic classrooms
Founded in 1997, Urban Catholic Teaching Corps (UCTC) is one of three organizations incubated and shepherded from inception to maturity by The Lynch Foundation. It is a two-year graduate program in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College, founded on the core values of teaching as ministry, simplicity, community, and spirituality resulting in a Masters degree in education. UCTC members complete a two-year practicum experience in Catholic schools serving urban students of all faiths or no faith in the Archdiocese of Boston. UCTC teachers grow and develop as teaching professionals, with a specific focus on growth as urban educators for Catholic schools. UCTC members live together in intentional communities actively engaging in faith-based living and learning with their peers. To date, over 220 teachers have enriched their knowledge and dedication through UCTC, attending classes at BC one evening per week during the school year and for two summers to complete their Masters’.
Since Partnering with The Lynch Foundation
Over 30 years ago, Peter met with Patrick Ryan, the founder of the Chicago InnerCity Teacher Corp. Peter replicated the idea with UCTC, and he and Tom Flatley renovated St. Matthew’s Rectory in Dorchester to house Boston College Graduate Students to live in community and teach in urban Catholic schools. Beyond the incubation and launch year, the Lynch, Flatley, and McGrath families have provided crucial support for the program and have been instrumental in its expansion.
The Trustees were excited about the opportunity to utilize the best practices of the Chicago program to Boston and the benefit it would have on the children starting in the urban schools of the Archdiocese of Boston by bringing young, committed teachers into the classrooms for two full years each.
Since the program launch in 1997, the McGrath, Flatley, and Lynch families created an annual tradition of bringing together the UCTC teachers, program faculty, and executive director in a reception and dinner at the end of the school year to nurture the program’s deep sense of community and to learn from each others’ experiences.
Some of UCTC’s key accomplishments over the last two decades include:
Growing the cohort size from 3 teachers to 16 teachers (with two cohorts active each year and 32 teachers total per year)
Graduating over 220 teachers with a Master’s Degree to date
Serving over 2,200 students
Expanding its geographic reach from the first teacher residence in Dorchester to two additional locations in Brockton and Lawrence
Increasing the number of schools served to 17
The Lynch Foundation continues to support and expand the program annually.
To learn more about the program visit their website, Urban Catholic Teacher Corps.