Dr. Katy Lichon
Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame
Dr. Katy Lichon serves as the Director for the English as a New Language (ENL) Program, the Director of the Catholic School Advantage (CSA), and is an Associate Teaching Professor with ACE Teaching Fellows. In addition, she serves as faculty fellow for five Notre Dame institutions: Institute for Latino Studies, Institute for Educational Initiatives, Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child, Center for Literacy Education, and Center for the Study of Languages and Culture.
Lichon is an educational linguist who focuses on the education of K-12 multilingual learners in Catholic schools and teacher education. This work has led to the publication of four books: English Oral Language Assessment (ACE Press, 2013), Our Legacy and Our Future: A Framework for Serving English Learners in Catholic Schools (NCEA Press, 2017), Supporting English Learners: A Diocesan Handbook for K-12 (NCEA Press, 2018), and Ten Days to Becoming a Better Educator of English Learners (NCEA Press, 2018), as well as numerous articles in diverse publications. She was honored with the Christ the Teacher award in 2020 by the University. She is passionate about linguistics, language acquisition, the role of maternal speech, Latino enrollment, and ensuring that culturally and linguistically diverse students thrive in our Catholic schools. Lichon has also helped to begin the two-way immersion program at Holy Cross School in South Bend, IN, which is now in its fifth year. At Holy Cross School, enrollment has grown from 190 students to 350 in 5 years! She resides in South Bend, Indiana with her husband and three children.
