Cristo Rey Orange County: A Year of Growth: End of Year Mass and Awards Ceremony

It felt like a graduation. We ran out of seats. A standing-room-only crowd of families, donors, and Corporate Work Study partners crammed into the Parish Hall for Cristo Rey's first awards ceremony.

"My heart is full as I think about the incredible growth I've seen in each of our students," said Roberts.

We have high expectations and provide high levels of support to empower students to succeed. There is ample evidence that our students are on the right path:

§    95% of students were at a 2.5 GPA or higher, meaning students are on track for acceptance to a UC or selective college.

§    82% have a 3.0 or higher.

§    92% of students met or exceeded expectations at work.

§    5 students earned a perfect 4.0 GPA (pictured above)

The awards ceremony highlighted student achievements such as Scholar Athlete, Outstanding Performance in all subject areas, and the CROC of the Year awards.

The video below captured the spirit of Year One at Cristo Rey and emphasized how we actively foster our motto of "You Belong Here."

 To see more photos, click here.

June 26, 2024

Cristo Rey Institute Acknowledges Two Donations from Raskob Foundation

Cristo Rey Institute of Arlington Heights, IL gratefully acknowledges an in-kind and a $10,000 cash donation from the nationally renowned Raskob Foundation to provide Catholic sponsorship and formation work at two newly opened Cristo Rey schools in Miami, FL and Santa Ana, CA.

The Raskob Foundation has an almost 80-year legacy of grant making and philanthropic activities in service to the Catholic Church.  The Foundation provides resources in support of organizations, ministries, programs and projects associated with the Church throughout the world. Today, five generations of family members continue the vision established by its founders, John and Helena Raskob.

The Cristo Rey Institute (CRI) is a pontifical public juridic person (PJP) whose purpose is to offer another means of ensuring Catholic identity for schools within the Cristo Rey Network (CRN). All CRN schools must be Catholic schools. Most Cristo Rey schools ensure their Catholic identity by sponsorship through a Catholic religious order or congregation. CRI is another means to ensure the Catholic identity of CRN schools.

President Matthew Couture, president of Cristo Rey Institute stated “we are especially thankful to the Raskob Foundation for being the first national Catholic charitable foundation to recognize and encourage our Catholic Sponsorship and formation work for two new schools in Florida and California, and we intend to build on our successes there by sponsoring additional new Cristo Rey Network high schools in other areas of the country.

President Couture continued to explain the essential reason for CRI: “While having a religious order or congregation to sponsor a Cristo Rey high school is often the best choice, not all areas of our country have religious available to provide sponsorship. This is especially the case in those parts of our country where the Church is GROWING. In these places, the need for new Catholic educational institutions is especially strong. For Catholic education to flourish, the Church needs to develop new models to ensure Catholic identity for Catholic schools of the future. This is why CRI exists.”

 CRI Executive director John Dussman also thanked the Raskob Foundation team and noted CRI’s alignment to Raskob goals with a famous quote from Raskob co-founder, John J. Raskob, “Go ahead and do things, the bigger the better, as long as your fundamentals are sound.”

 The Cristo Rey Institute (CRI) is a permanent body of religious, ordained, and lay people established under the authority of the Pope to participate on behalf of the Catholic Church “in the teaching ministry of Jesus Christ and to continually implement His charism and values, especially to the underserved children and families.” It is specifically charged with providing the possibility of official Catholic religious sponsorship for Cristo Rey Network Schools. Cristo Rey Institute was founded by the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the Clerics of St. Viator and the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth.

 Information about the Raskob Foundation can be found here: https://www.rfca.org/  More information about the Cristo Rey Institute is available here: www.cristoreyinstitute.org or by emailing John Dussman at jdussman@cristoreyinstitute.org

June 20, 2024

Public Juridic Persons and Catholic Education: A New Governance Model for Catholic Schools


By: Rob Birdsell, President, Catholic Virtual

When I was leading the Cristo Rey Network, I would meet with Fr. Garanzini, S.J., then President of Loyola University Chicago, every fall to give him an update on the work of Cristo Rey. He often asked how the Cristo Rey schools were doing and he liked to have a pulse on the most exciting movement in Catholic education. At the beginning of this meeting in 2011, he asked me what was the greatest challenge we were facing? And I said, “we want to keep growing and opening new Cristo Rey schools as there are many more communities and young people to serve. However, we are running out of religious orders interested in being a religious sponsor.”

Given this reality – the orders were at capacity in most communities across the country – the Network faced a serious challenge to continue its growth. What was needed was a creative idea to continue to open and govern Catholic schools.  Read more: LinkedIn

Cristo Rey Miami announces the appointment of Amelie Ferro as new president

Cristo Rey Miami High School is proud to announce the appointment of Mrs. Amelie Ferro as our new President and CEO, effective immediately! Mrs. Ferro brings over 30 years of leadership experience and a strong commitment to our community. As President and CEO, she will oversee the financial strength, external engagement, program excellence, and spiritual leadership of our school. . Under Mrs. Ferro's leadership, Cristo Rey Miami High School has seen tremendous growth and success. Our students are thriving, with standardized testing scores in the 99th percentile for math and the 96th percentile for reading, and earning over $1.2 million towards their tuition while gaining valuable work experience through our Corporate Work Study Program. . Mrs. Ferro's dedication and vision make her the ideal steward for this pivotal moment in our school's history. Join us in welcoming Mrs. Ferro as we continue to empower hard-working students in Miami and provide them with a proven educational model for success! hashtag#CristoReyMiami hashtag#NewLeadership hashtag#EmpoweringEducation

The Cristo Rey Institute provides spiritual leadership and assures the Catholic identity of Cristo Rey Miami High School.

June 12, 2024

From Cristo Rey Orange County:

 Last Friday night, we hosted our first ¡VIVA! gala celebrating our first school year. We presented the Rey of Hope Award to Timothy Psomas and Alanna Psomas in recognition of their inspirational leadership in founding Cristo Rey.

A sold out VEA Newport Beach ballroom of friends and supporters cheered on our student speaker Valeria '27, and got a preview of the impressive alumni we will produce in a heartfelt speech by Diana Medina, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School '16.

Watch Valeria's speech here: https://lnkd.in/gXaY_9NH

Guests gave generously to empower our students to succeed and provided over $2million in support to ensure our school has the resources to double enrollment next year and remain affordable for our families.

A massive thanks to presenting sponsor WCM Investment Management, and all our sponsors, including Woodside Credit Collector Car Financing, CONTAINER SUPPLY COMPANY, INC., Northgate Market, Slater Builders Inc., Sperry Commercial, Sunwest Bank, Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach, Providence Mission Leadership Institute, and many more!

hashtag#TheSchoolThatWorks hashtag#VIVACristoRey hashtag#CristoReyOC

Cristo Rey Institute is the Catholic sponsor of Cristo Rey Orange County. The Cristo Rey Institute offers Cristo Rey Orange County robust support for its Catholic mission of serving families of limited financial means who would not otherwise have access to a quality, Catholic, college-and career-preparatory experience.

The Cristo Rey Institute provides spiritual leadership and assures the Catholic identity of Cristo Rey Orange County High School.

May 28, 2024

Wed., Feb 14, 2024 | Yass Prize staff

The School that Works: Cristo Rey, North Miami

The 5th Stop on the Roadshow for Opportunity

The newest high school in the Cristo Rey Network, the North Miami work-study focused, faith-based high school is giving students a college prep education and career experience that helps sustain their education.  The school, which began in 2022, serves 146 9th and 10th graders. By the time it is at full capacity and its new campus is built, Cristo Rey Miami will be able to serve 440 students.

Their innovative approach isn’t new but it’s impactful. Through a special authorization from the U.S. Department of Labor, every student in the 39 school network across 24 states works one day each week in a professional job during all four years of high school, helping to pay for their own education. These vital business partnerships supports a sustainable private education for students in the lowest income quartile not only for college but for work and life.  

As we toured with Amelie Ferro, Interim President of Cristo Rey Miami High School, Network President, CEO Kelby Woodward, board members and business partners, we could see how the model is transforming the lives of students who would not otherwise be exposed to such intensive work training and academic rigor.  

“A vital part of success is the mingling of our students with professionals,”
said Ferro.

Not only are students positively impacted by Corporate Work Study, but the partners rave about how it benefits their businesses and organizations, as well.  The students bring to work a resilient attitude they develop at the mission driven school where college-prep courses, the arts and religion condensed into four days to allow them to focus on their job the other day.

Stephanie Postero from CPA firm Kaufman Rossin, a proud Work Study partner, initially thought that hosting these young students would be hard work. She was skeptical about the benefit to either side.   "My biggest surprise was how much fun it is,” she said. It inspires them to give the students the best experience they can get. 

The success rate for these students speaks for itself. In the words of Aneisha Daniel, Deputy City Manager of the City of North Miami, "I've never seen anything like it."

When young people learn the value of work and the skills, attitude and ethic companies want, they jump the fast track to success. On course to open 50 new schools by 2030, Cristo Rey is not only impacting thousands more students, companies and communities, but is a model for countless other education providers seeking to transform the education landscape.

Read More: https://yassprize.org/updates/roadshow-for-opportunity-cristo-rey-network/