Cristo Rey Jesuit High School (Chicago)

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School
Image of School
Men and Women for others
Address
1852 West 22nd Place
Chicago, Illinois, 60608
United States
Coordinates 41°51′6″N 87°40′22″W / 41.85167°N 87.67278°WCoordinates: 41°51′6″N 87°40′22″W / 41.85167°N 87.67278°W
Information
Type private
Denomination Roman Catholic
Established 1996
Oversight Cristo Rey Network
President Antonio Ortiz
Principal Patricia Garrity
Grades 9–12
Gender coed
Enrollment 575 (2008)
Color(s) Maroon and Gold         
Nickname Cristeros
Team name Lions
Accreditation North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Tuition varies depending on your income
Affiliation Society of Jesus
Website www.cristorey.net

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School is a Jesuit high school on the near southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. It is the founding school of the Cristo Rey Network. It was founded in 1996 as a way to help low-income students get an affordable private college preparatory education. The school places students at entry-level jobs, which cover roughly 65% of tuition costs. Cristo Rey students work for five days a month and attend classes four days a week. The Corporate Work Study Program is part of the school curriculum, therefore if a student is dismissed from their job, they are considered to have failed in that course.[1] [2]


Cristo Rey Network

“The Cristo Rey Network comprises 28 Catholic, college preparatory high schools for underrepresented urban youth.” There are currently 17 states that educates about 9,000 students. The Cristo Rey Network schools include the Corporate Work Study Program, which provides students with a real world work experience. Each student works five full days a month to fund the majority of their education, gain work experience, and realize the relevance of their education. The impact the Cristo Rey Network is providing its students with college success. 90% of Cristo Rey students have graduated and enrolled in college. The Network advocates the education reform by proving that the most vulnerable and at risk youth in American can and will succeed in college. The Cristo Rey Network is a national voice and a leader in the movement of education reform. The Network transforms local communities by bringing a beacon of hope, safety, and stability into a community. Also, it is reviving inner-city Catholic education.[3]

2014 Snapshot
9,000 students nation-wide
28 Cristo Rey Network schools
27 cities in 18 states and D.C.
96% students of color
$34,000 average family income
2,000 Corporate Work Study Partners
46 National University Partners
100% graduates accepted to a 2 or 4 year college

[3]

The Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP)

In order to make private, college-preparatory education affordable to at-risk young people from Pilsen, an economically challenged area in Chicago, Cristo Rey developed an innovative work-study program for high school students called the Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP), which combines two commonly used business concepts, Employee leasing and job sharing. This program was implemented by Cristo Rey Jesuit High School's first president, Fr. John Foley, SJ, who saw similar work-study programs while stationed with the Society of Jesus in Peru. This initiative gives students the means of financing a private high school education that would otherwise be unaffordable for students in the Pilsen/Little Village area. Incorporated as the Cristo Rey Work Study Program, Inc., the CWSP allows each of our students to earn 65% of the cost of their education by working five full days (9AM to 5PM) each month in entry-level positions at businesses and non-profit agencies in Chicago. Over 90 companies participate in the CWSP – Chicago’s major banks, law firms, hospitals, and consulting firms. Students also work at several non-profit agencies. [4]

The Corporate Work Study Program has been incorporated to the school's curriculum and evolved into an innovative means of providing students with crucial hands-on, white-collar work experience, while simultaneously empowering them to take an active part in financing a major portion of their high school education. As a result of working in a business environment, students acquire desirable job experience and marketable skills, develop a network of business contacts, gain exposure to a wide variety of career opportunities, refine a strong work ethic, and increase their self-esteem.[5]

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Partner List: [6]

CWSP Bus


Chapel of the Sacred Heart

Chapel of the Sacred Heart

The 6,300 sq ft chapel was renovated by Newman Architecture and was completed on April 2010 with a total cost of $2,540,000. The Cristo Rey Jesuit High School’s Chapel is a landmark to the city of Pilsen yet it was not used and stood in despair. It was not until 2010 that the 1904 building lifts the spirits of the students, faculty, and neighbors. The chapel of the Sacred Heart is a tribute to the student’s background and incorporates two important symbolic people in the church, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Juan Diego. The colors used give a vibrant vibe and is similar to their culture. Throughout the chapel there are stained-glass windows that portray the Jesuit Order and the school’s community. One of them being Miguel Pro. The dramatic lighting and soft arcs frame lateral views which gives the chapel its focal point, the altar. Behind the altar, there is a grand retablo which includes Cristo Rey students in pivotal moments of the gospel. The new architecture highlights the main entry, created a access between the school and chapel, and made a secluded courtyard.[7]


Book about Cristo Rey

In January 2008, Loyola Press released More than A Dream: How One School's Vision is Changing the World. The book, authored by G. R. Kearney, a writer and former volunteer teacher for two years at the school as part of a Georgetown University postgraduation program, documents the development of the Cristo Rey model and the successes of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago and the Cristo Rey Network of Schools, with a funding model that Marvin Hoffman's book review in the Chicago Tribune described as the "genius of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School", in which clusters of five students each rotate working one day a week at a job gaining work experience, with the salary covering a portion of the each student's tuition.[8]


Sports

Masot

"Cristo Rey’s athletic department is more than just a sports program." The school teaches their athletes the discipline of excellence and to be role models in school, family, and community. Cristo Rey sports vary from competitiveness and commitment levels including varsity, junior varsity, and intramural sports. Cristo Rey’s athletes practice at the local park district, Harrison Park, where the newly turf field was built for the school and community. 40% of the student body participates in an athletic program. Over the years Cristo Rey athletes have collected numerous trophies, league, regional, and sectional championships.[9] The school lion mascot. named “Pro,” is a tribute to Miguel Pro, S.J. The lion has Mayan and Aztec features that represents the roots of the students. The six flames on Pro represent the schools Graduate at Graduation which are loving, religious, committed to justice, open to growth, intellectually competent, and work experience. [10]



The Cristo Rey athletic department consists of:

Boys

Girls

Cristo Rey Championships

Sport Chicago Prep Tournament Chicago Prep Champions IHSA Regionals IHSA Sectionals
Boys Soccer 2013, 2012, 2011 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2007 2014, 2012, 2011 2012
Girls Soccer 2013, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 2013, 2009
Girls Volleyball 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 2014, 2012, 2011, 2009 2011
Boys Volleyball 2012 2014, 2013
Girls Volleyball 2009, 2008
Girls Softball 2005 2006 2013, 2012

[9]

Student Leadership and Activities

Cristo Rey provides various student leadership and activities, so their students can develop leadership skills, work with others, and grow emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. Through these after school activities, students assume leadership roles in civic, religious, professional, and cultural life. Students who decide to be a part of the programs have the opportunity to hold positions in leadership, serve as role models to their peers, represent Cristo Rey’s community, and develop relationships with others.[11]

Cristo Rey offers the following activities

[11]

Volunteering

Jesuit Volunteer Program

A volunteer program founded in 1999 that gives men and women an opportunity to work at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. The CRJV was created due to the limited resources Cristo Rey had, so the volunteer program became a vital part for the school. The volunteers are university graduates all throughout the United States and give their time for two consecutive years to students and families of Cristo Rey. These volunteers serve as teachers, driving the Corporate Work Study Program busses, and running/supervising clubs or activities.[12]

Cristo Rey Student Volunteer

As part of their mission to be “men and women for others,” Cristo Rey students are required to complete a minimum of 20 service hours in hopes they integrate with the community and enrich learning as well as strengthen communities. Students are encouraged to volunteer in communities facing these issues: youth and education, hunger, homelessness, poverty, elderly, ill, disabled, and religious education.[13][14]

¡VIVA!

VIVA is an annual event that brings together 1,000 of Chicago’s business professionals to support the students at Cristo Rey. Since 1998, VIVA has raised a cummulative of nearly 3 million dollars that has gone directly to the students scholarships and financial assistance. 90% of the students who attend Cristo Rey Jesuit High School receive scholarships and financial aid. The school distributes nearly $800,000 per year on scholarships and financial aid, and the funds raised at VIVA ensure that the students receive a college preparatory education. Each year VIVA raises nearly $350,000 which approximately helps 250 students. [15]


References

  1. ↑ Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, About Cristo Rey
  2. ↑ Our Mission is our Students. Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. 2014. PDF File
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cristo Rey Network. Cristo Rey Network. n.d. Web. 5 March 2015
  4. ↑ Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, The School that Works
  5. ↑ Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. 2015. PDF File
  6. ↑ Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Partner List
  7. ↑ School Designs, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Chapel of the Sacred Heart Chicago, Illinois
  8. ↑ Loyola Press More than a Dream
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Athletics
  10. ↑ Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Cristeros Pride
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Student Activities
  12. ↑ Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Jesuit Volunteer Program
  13. ↑ 2014-2015 Cristo Rey School Profile
  14. ↑ Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Service
  15. ↑ VIVA. Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. 2015. PDF File

External links