The Southern Jesuit Spring 2009
22
Education
By Susan Branda MartinFifty years after the founding of the
rst Jesuit school in the city of Houston,
the Jesuits and their lay collaboratorsare poised to found another school inthis city, targeting the poorest, mostat-risk children and preparing themfor college. Cristo Rey Jesuit College
Preparatory School of Houston, the rst
co-educational school sponsored by theJesuits of the New Orleans Province,will open its doors to 100 freshmenon August 10. This inaugural class of young men and women will participatein one of the most exciting educationalmodels in the country. It has been a longtime in the making.Once the Jesuits committed toopening a Cristo Rey school in the New Orleans Province and settled onHouston as its location, the Houstonadvisory group was formed in 2006. The
group conducted a feasibility study, rst
identifying neighborhoods with familyincomes averaging under $35,500 and ahigh level of student and parent interest,as determined through more than 1,300interviews with middle school students
and their families. The study conrmed
the need and the desire of the familiesfor a college preparatory school. Next, the advisory committee beganapproaching companies throughoutHouston, asking for their support. Morethan 30 companies signed letters of
intent to provide jobs to the rst class of
students. The advisory committee alsosecured over $2 million in donations,grants and pledges, with nine major
foundations committing nancial
support for the school.Cristo Rey Jesuit, located insoutheast Houston, near Hobby Airport,is in the midst of a very busy start-upyear. With the naming of the school’sfounding president, Fr. Antonio (T.J.)Martinez, S.J., the plans for the school
Cristo Rey:
Houston’s Future at Work
Cristo Rey Jesuit in Houston and Holy Family CatholicHigh School in Birmingham are part of the Cristo Rey Network of schools, which has its genesis in Chicago’sPilsen neighborhood, a low-income area largely populated by Mexican immigrants. The Cristo Rey model, the brainchild of Fr. John Foley, S.J., and his Jesuit and laycolleagues, emerged more than a decade ago. Foley realizedthat the expense of a Jesuit college preparatory educationwas (and continues to be) prohibitive for economically-disadvantaged families living in the Chicago barrio andother urban areas.Thinking creatively, Foley and his team subsequentlydeveloped and pioneered an economic and educational program that would be accessible to the poorest familiesin the city. The result was the innovative Corporate InternProgram, sometimes referred to as the Corporate Work-Study Program. Turning to corporations around the city, theCristo Rey staff asked them to provide paying, entry-levelcorporate jobs for the school’s students. The salaries wouldhelp pay for the cost of their schooling.The Corporate Work-Study Program allows students toearn approximately 70 percent of their tuition by workingfor corporations one day per week, with extended schooldays the other four. The students
gain rst-hand knowledge of
the professional, business worldwhile also attending a schoolwhich will provide them with theeducation and critical thinking skills needed to perform wellin college and in a professional career. While the students
benet both nancially and by garnering work experience,corporate sponsors also benet by adding to their workforce
a group of eager, enthusiastic students in entry-level positions at a reduced cost. In addition, they are helping toform the future corporate, civic and religious leadership of this country.There are currently 22 schools in the Cristo Rey Network with more than 1,250 Corporate Work-StudySponsors employing more than 5,000 students. Over 99 percent of the students who graduate from Cristo Reyschools have been accepted into two- and four-year colleges,including Georgetown University, Loyola University andBrown University.For more information on the Cristo Rey Network, please visit http://www.cristoreynetwork.org/.
History of Cristo Rey
Leave a Comment