The Cristo Rey Network

​In 2007, Holy Family High School joined the Cristo Rey Network and became Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School. But what does it mean that we are a Cristo Rey school?

The Cristo Rey model is an innovative combination of rigorous academics and real-world corporate work experience which provides students from economically challenged families the tools needed to persist in college, flourish in life, and break the generational cycle of poverty. The first Cristo Rey school--Cristo Rey Jesuit High School--in Chicago, IL opened in 1996 under the leadership of John P. Foley, S.J. The success achieved there inspired educational leaders across the country to apply the model in other cities, and within five years other Cristo Rey schools began to open across the United States.

​Today, the Cristo Rey Network is comprised of 32 high schools across the United States that provide a quality, Catholic, college preparatory education to more than 10,900 young people ages 14-18, who live in communities with limited educational options. About 80% of Cristo Rey students qualify for the federal free or reduced lunch program, and 97% are young people of color. Member schools utilize a longer school day and year, academic assistance, and counseling to prepare students with a broad range of academic abilities for college. All students at Cristo Rey Network schools participate in a work-study program, gain real world job experience, grow in self-confidence, and realize the relevance of their education. Learn more at www.cristoreynetwork.org. 

The first day of operations in 1996 at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago, paving the way for Cristo Rey Network schools across America