Success Stories
Since the Cristo Rey Network of schools was founded in 2001, it has inspired many success stories in the lives of its students, their parents, corporate partners, and the faculty and staff. Below are stories of some of these successes.
Success for Students
Verbum Dei High School, Los Angeles, CA
In a recent interview, the principal sat across a table from a prospective student named Christian. Christian was nervous, shy, and had some well-rehearsed answers. “Why do you want to be here?” the principal asked. “So I can get a good education,” he said. “Christian, where do you live? What is your neighborhood like?” “I live at 85th and … that’s gang territory.” “Why do you want to be here, Christian?” the principal asked again. “I want to make my mom proud of me, to be someone my family can look up to, to go to college,” he said. As their conversation continued, Christian shared with her that he is in a program that helps youth deal with anger management. When Christian was asked what makes him angry, he said innocently, “Sometimes, when someone says something to me, I just get mad.” “Christian,” the principal began to lecture, “if you become a student at Verbum Dei, there are a lot of adults who are going to be on you – six teachers, the dean, me.” He never looked away. The principal continued, “…and we’ll be on you not because we don’t like you, but because we love you.” As they stood to leave the table, the principal extended her hand to Christian; he extended his arms to hug her.
Providence Cristo Rey High School, Indianapolis, IN
The school had interviewed a student who was dead honest during his interview about how hard he would study, etc. So at the end of the interview, he asked what he thought his chances were at acceptance. They told him probably pretty good. As he left the school, one of the faculty members who had interviewed him happened to be watching out the window as he and his mom walked down the sidewalk. He took a cell phone out of his pocket. The interviewer thought the student would call a friend to tell him about the interview. Instead, he turned around, pointed the phone toward the school, and took a picture
Success for Parents
Cristo Rey Kansas City High School, Kansas City, MO
This school gives out yard signs to a family when a student is accepted. Printed with the message “A Cristo Rey KC student lives here,” they have the phone number of the school on them, and have been very well received. One mother came in to drop something off and was told her that her daughter had been accepted and she received a yard sign. She went home and placed the sign. Then, the mom told her daughter to go look in the front yard. The girl came running back in saying “They did accept me!” and they both cried for joy.
Success for Corporate Partners
St. Martin de Porres High School, Cleveland, OH
In May, the school invited the corporate work-study partnership sponsors to a thank you luncheon at the school. They had over 100 people from the sponsoring companies come and sit with the students who had worked with them for the year. When one faculty member went up to the microphone to thank them for coming and looked out over the room, they were overwhelmed by what they saw. The teacher had been in schools for years, and realized that normally when students were put with adults, the kids talk amongst themselves or huddle in the corners just waiting for the thing to be over. What the teacher saw here was absolutely mind-boggling. The students and the adults were sitting together, engaged in animated conversations about work! It was like lunch hour at the company cafeteria. “Where else in the entire world could this be happening?” the teacher thought. “Law partners, business executives, supervisors and fourteen-year-old, center-city young people actually having something in common that excites them! We really are blessed!”
Success for Faculty and Staff
St. Martin de Porres High School, Cleveland, OH
One day a faculty member was cleaning off a desk when the doorbell rang. At the door was a young boy with his backpack. He asked for the principal, but was told that she had just left. “How can I help you?” the teacher asked. The boy said that the principal told him he could come by anytime and do his homework, so the teacher invited him in and set him up at a co-worker’s desk. The boy's name was Kevin. He informed the teacher that he takes a yellow bus to school. He sat down and worked diligently on his language arts homework. He then showed the teacher an award he had received for creativity. Then about five minutes later, he gave the teacher the award, to which he added his name and some information about himself, and asked if the teacher would give it to the principal. When the teacher asked him if he was going to come to this school, he smiled and gave a big “YES!”