Federally funded programs in nonpublic schools are only as stable as the partnerships behind them. When the agent administering the funding changes, teacher contracts can be interrupted and intervention programs can take months to get started. Saint John Paul II Catholic Academy in Dorchester, Massachusetts has been through two of those transitions in eight years. However, their Title I program has run on schedule every year.
The Academy is the largest accredited Catholic elementary school in New England, with more than 1,000 students across three campuses. Roughly 400 students qualify for free or reduced lunch every year, which means every dollar of federal funding has to do real work. Government and State Programs Coordinator Kristyn Joy has helped oversee the partnership with FACTS Ed since the beginning, along with the leadership team and Regional Director Kate Brandley.
How Do You Keep Title I Teachers When the Funding Structure Changes?
The teachers in Saint John Paul II’s Title I program are not interchangeable. Each campus has a full-time, state-licensed, Wilson-trained teacher providing direct intervention to K through 5 students. These are the kind of teachers who could leave to take a more stable public school job at any time. Losing one would be a setback that would take time to recover from.
So when the Academy’s previous fiscal agent lost its contract with Boston Public Schools, Saint John Paul II had a decision to make. The new fiscal agent could deliver equitable services directly, or the Academy could request that FACTS Ed stay on as their third-party provider, working through the new fiscal agent.
They asked for FACTS Ed.
Why? Continuity for their teachers. Having FACTS Ed as a partner in the federal Title program, Joy says, allowed the Academy to maintain their Title I teachers, who “may have, and likely would have had to, choose to look for a job elsewhere.” Working with FACTS has allowed those teachers to remain on staff, maintaining benefits and some amount of job security year over year. “This sets FACTS apart from other educational partners when working with federal programs.”
In practice, that means two things: Title I teaching contracts are as protected as possible through funding transitions. And the Title I program starts in September when school begins, instead of waiting weeks or months to ramp up.
What Can a Title I Partnership Grow Into?
Eight years in, the partnership has expanded well beyond the original instructional services arrangement. FACTS Ed now supports Saint John Paul II across:
- Title I direct instruction and intervention services for 175 to 190 students each year across three campuses
- Title I summer tutoring and family engagement nights
- A Title II teacher boot camp series each summer that gives teachers focused training between school years
- Year-round access to FACTS Ed professional development for Title I instructors
- A Title II-funded mentor program for new teachers
The growth has been intentional. Title I instruction, Title II professional development, and the supports around both were designed to work as one program.
What Does the Partnership Look Like in Student Growth?
Eight years of partnership shows up most clearly in student growth. In 2024–2025, the Academy’s Title I students outpaced NWEA national growth norms in both reading and math.
Growth rates are one measure. Gap closure is another. Each campus exits between 5 and 7 students from the Title I program every year because the gap that brought them in has closed. Title I is not a destination. It is a bridge, and students are crossing it.
And because FACTS Ed runs the Academy’s Title II professional development as well, every classroom teacher in the building is sharpening their craft. So every student benefits, not just the ones receiving direct intervention. Joy puts it this way: although Title I students are the ones receiving direct intervention, “by using FACTS to continue our overall Title II professional development, every student across the Academy is receiving the benefit.”
What Separates a Service Provider From a Real Partner?
Federal funding is rarely simple. Title I, Title II, and Title IV each carry their own rules, deadlines, and reporting requirements, and a school may need to coordinate funding sources to make a single program work. The Academy needed a partner who could think through a Title I program, a coaching plan, and a summer tutoring proposal in the same conversation, and design something that fit the school instead of asking the school to fit the design.
What Joy has found over eight years is a team that shows up that way. FACTS Ed has been, in her words, “a legitimate thought partner, not just the buzzword thought partner,” particularly around federal funding, “because that is a big, big challenge.”
It is what she would tell another school leader considering FACTS Ed.
Considering a Change in Your Federal Funding Partnership?
Whether your school or diocese is navigating a fiscal agent transition, evaluating your current third-party provider, or building a federal funding strategy from scratch, we would like to hear what your students and teachers need.
