24 Catholic High Schools Work to Educate Marginalized, Low-Income Students

Wouldn’t it be great if there were an affordable school in your neighborhood that would enroll your son or daughter, even if he or she were three grades behind? What if that school were college preparatory and nearly all its graduates were accepted to two- and four-year colleges? Suppose it also exposed your high schooler to the world of the white-collar workplace by allowing him or her to work to earn a portion of his or her tuition.

This Corporate Work Study Program is used by the Cristo Rey Network–a network of 24 Catholic high schools across the country that were developed specifically to meet the needs of students in marginalized low-income communities. Although it isn’t public, and therefore not free, it’s designed to meet the needs of low-income parents by way of an innovative tuition model: Students work five days a month to earn 65% to 75% of their tuition.

Robert Birdsell, president of the Chicago-based Cristo Rey, says the schools serve a specific demographic. “We’re not here to serve the A student—that student can get a scholarship to a Jesuit high school,” says Birdsell. “We also can’t take the student who’s making all F’s—our students must be able to hold down a job, to alphabetize and do basic math.”

Although Cristo Rey’s work study program is unique, it was established to address the financial reality that low-income parents could not pay what Catholic high schools normally charge. But no one anticipated the coronal effect that working downtown at prestigious companies, exposure to the work world, and adult responsibility would have on the students.

“Working has taught the students things they might not have learned in the classroom—like tenacity and grit,” says Birdsell. “It’s given them hopes and dreams. They understand in a tangible way that college and things like a firm handshake are what lead to jobs like the ones downtown.”

According to Birdsell, the typical Cristo Rey student is two to

three grades behind, not because they’re incapable, but because they’ve been failed by the system. “I asked a student in our school in Baltimore what he liked about Cristo Rey, and he said he liked having the same English teacher. I asked him what he meant, and he said, ‘Well, last year I had nine English teachers.’”

Birdsell says the mission of Cristo Rey is “propelled by faith.” “When the Jesuits wanted to serve Chicago’s South Side community in some way, Father Gartwin knocked on doors and canvassed the people. How could they best serve them? Did they want a resource center for the elderly? An after-school center? But overwhelmingly the residents wanted a college preparatory school for their children.”

A college preparatory school that accepts students who have been academically under-served is unique. Teaching these students is a challenge, because they have to learn one and a half years of schooling while also holding down a job at which they work

five days a month. It isn’t easy, but Birdsell says the teachers he looks for are “dynamic, energetic, experienced, talented.” He prefers that they pursue ongoing training and have master’s degrees in the subjects they teach. Birdsell says his most effective principals meet with teachers weekly, and that evaluations are ongoing, not a formal, annual affair.

Birdsell describes the program as “collaborative and rigorous,” and he says “It’s exciting to witness educators from LA to New York sharing best practices, data, and writing a curriculum together.” The teachers do not have tenure, so they can be asked to leave if they’re not considered effective. “It’s about the kids, not the adults,” says Birdsell. Students can also be dismissed if they can’t hold onto their job, and there’s zero tolerance around gang involvement or violence.

But of the students who stay and graduate from Cristo Rey, more than 85% go on to college, which is 15 points higher than the national average and

twice the average of the population Cristo Rey serves; 85% of those students stay for their sophomore year, which is about triple the national average. “They are going to college and staying in college at rates that surpass expectations,” says Birdsell. One of the organization’s goals is to track its graduates’ college graduation rates.

Birdsell says the Cristo Rey Network’s national breadth brings people together from all over the country in a shared movement to help young people succeed in school and in life. And he suggests that there’s a higher reason: “People often talk about the cycle of poverty, which inherently means it can’t be broken.  If we believe that all young people can learn and be productive citizens, then we believe that the cycle can be broken, and when it is not, we as a community or culture are committing a collective sin.”

For more information about Cristo Rey, go to CristoReyNetwork.org.