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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  Cristo Rey ready to 'rise'

by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 11, 2008

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Detroit Cristo Rey principal Susan Rowe and president Earl Robinson, Ph.D., stand in front of the former Holy Redeemer High School building in southwest Detroit. The building now houses Detroit Cristo Rey High School, which will open in the fall with a freshman class of 125 students.

Detroit — The Easter season is a time for Christians to celebrate new life in Christ — and new life is exactly what administrators of Detroit Cristo Rey High School are sensing. In fact, more than one person involved in the new coeducational Catholic high school have described the school as "a phoenix rising from the ashes."

"This is going to be a top-notch, Catholic, co-ed, college-preparatory high school that combines work with study," said principal Susan Rowe from an office in the former Holy Redeemer High School building in southwest Detroit. "You can't get any better than that."

Three years ago, burdened by languishing enrollment and a lack of funds, Holy Redeemer High School closed its doors. Because of other school closings, that was the last year a co-educational Catholic high school existed in Detroit.

That's about to change. Since Easter Sunday, a seven-person leadership team at Cristo Rey has moved into the former Holy Redeemer High School building. And all indications are that they will meet their goal of opening a new school with a freshman class of 125 students by this fall.

The school is part of a nationwide network which started in the mid 1990s in Chicago. The schools are exclusive to low-income families, are established in urban areas, and employ a work-study model to help students significantly decrease their tuition bills.

Detroit Cristo Rey will be among three new schools in the nationwide Cristo Rey network, and will be among 19 Cristo Rey schools in operation this fall. The schools are set up to accept students whose families have an income in or under the mid $30,000-per-year range.

"We see this as a very positive thing," said Earl Robinson, Ph.D., president of Detroit Cristo Rey who since January has hired the leadership team. "We're not closing a Catholic school, we're opening a Catholic school — and we're opening it in an area that really needs it."

Plenty of interest

Maria Valdez will attest to that.

A parishioner at Holy Redeemer Parish, Valdez has three sons enrolled in the parish's grade school. Her oldest, Andres, is in the eighth grade.

Shortly after the closing of Holy Redeemer High School, she received a survey asking her whether she would be interested in a new Catholic high school in the area. The survey was part of a years-long phase by the Cristo Rey network to determine feasibility.

"It looked very interesting," Valdez said. "All the things they provide for the students — and actually putting them on a job."

Last summer, the feasibility study came to a completion and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Congregation of St. Basil agreed to sponsor the school.

Valdez said she was glad that the school would open — and that it could provide her son with some work experience, as well.

"It's very important so I can provide that for him," she said.

So far, Detroit Cristo Rey has found no shortage of interest from potential students. As of last week, the school had 40 committed students, about 30 more applications and 200 of what Robinson called "active inquiries."

"I have no doubt we'll get 125 students," Robinson said. "My fear is — and it's a true fear — we'll have a waiting list and have to turn kids away."

Pamela Kelly Ford, director of admissions, said word-of-mouth advertising has led to a boon of interest from the community. The school also has made contacts with parishes, local Catholic grade schools, and through enthusiastic parents.

"We have a number of people who are just being ambassadors for us," Kelly Ford said. "We just keep speaking the word and the energy is just catching on, and people are responding to it."

Work-study appealing

Parents and prospective students aren't the only ones showing interest. About two dozen representatives from various businesses and nonprofits attended a mixer April 4 to learn more about the school's work-study program.

Several had signed letters of intent to provide a student with the work portion of the program.

As happens in other Cristo Rey schools, the students will spend five weekdays per month doing entry-level work — typically office work — with corporate partners.

For the students, the benefit is being in a professional environment and learning from adults what the workplace is like.

There's plenty of benefit for the companies as well, said John Sier, an attorney with Kitch Attorneys & Counselors in Detroit and also a member of the Detroit Cristo Rey board of directors.

"There is a lot of self interest, because for our companies and firms and organizations to survive in Detroit, we have to invest in Detroit," Sier said to the roomful of prospective work-study partners. "And the best way to invest in Detroit is to invest in its children."

Several at the event said they were looking forward to welcoming students into their places of business.

"It serves the community," said Ken Antczak, vice president of human resources for St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia. "It gives students a chance to see how healthcare really operates and whether or not it's a career option for them."

Involvement grows

Although it's months away yet from its first day of classes, Detroit Cristo Rey already has found a firm footing within the Church and the community. Robinson says having the IHM Sisters and Basilian Fathers at the heart of the effort, and even represented on campus if possible, is paramount.

Already, the school is well-connected:

• Its board of directors includes representatives of the IHM sisters, Basilian fathers, Catholic middle school leaders, and local business leaders.
• It's connected with the national Cristo Rey network — through which members of the school's leadership team keep in constant contact with leaders from other schools.
• Holy Redeemer Parish, on whose campus the school is located, and pastor Msgr. Donald Hanchon have been welcoming to the staff.
• The school is in good shape financially, Robinson said. Among donations garnered has been a $900,000 grant from the philanthropic Skillman Foundation.
• And through Rowe — who currently teaches at University of Detroit Jesuit High School, where over 24 years she's also served as principal, dean, and assistant principal — Cristo Rey has another connection to the Jesuit order, which founded and is heavily involved in the national Cristo Rey network.

The next step for the school, Rowe said, is to hire teachers who are as passionate about the mission as the administration is.

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Susan Rowe, currently a teacher at University of Detroit Jesuit High School in Detroit.

"We're probably going to work a little longer hours than the average school because we're giving birth to a brand new school, and we are embracing students from this neighborhood as well as other neighborhoods," she said.

And in an environment that has been all too ripe for bad news — school closings, layoffs, and high crime rates among them — she said the school is meant to show people the results of cooperation and dedication.

"I'm coming into a very rich culture and a group of people who have hopes and desires just like the kids in suburban Catholic schools," she said. "And to make their educational experience one of quality and excellence is at the heart of what I feel called to do.

"To be excited about Detroit and Southwest Detroit and the school — it just fills me with a sense of hope and direction that this is where God wants me right now. It's a wonderful opportunity."

• Cristo Rey High school on track for fall opening
• New Detroit Catholic High School to serve low-income city youth and prepare them for college
• Detroit Catholic co-ed high school to offer work-study, Gospel values