  Eric Member Username: Eric Post Number: 864 Registered: 11-2004 |
New Catholic high school coming to southwest Detroit June 14, 2007 By KRISTEN JORDAN SHAMUS FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER UPDATED AT 12:20 P.M. Southwest Detroit will be home to a new Catholic high school in the fall of 2008. It will use a model that puts students from low-income families to work to help pay tuition. Announced at a news conference this morning on the city’s east side, Detroit Cristo Rey High School will open with 100 to 125 students — all freshmen — in the former Holy Redeemer Catholic High School in southwest Detroit. Each year, for the following three years, a new freshmen class will be added, with total enrollment after five years estimated to reach about 500, said Sister Canice Johnson, project director for the school’s planning committee. Church, community and school leaders hope Cristo Rey will offer a fresh, attractive approach to education in the city. The school is to open at a time when Detroit Public Schools and the Archdiocese of Detroit have been shuttering buildings as children flock to charter schools and other districts. To help defray the cost of tuition, the students will work one day a week at entry-level jobs established through partnerships Cristo Rey has built with 23 companies. At most Catholic schools in the area, students pay an average of $6,000 to $8,000 a year in tuition. At Cristo Rey, organizers say the tab will drop to $2,200 a year. “We know that some families won’t be able to pay that,” Johnson said, adding that many will receive help from private gifts and donations. “We have a lot of development to do.” The average family at similar Cristo Rey schools nationally earns about $33,000 a year, Johnson said. “Yes, we are an exclusive school,” she said. “If you make too much money, you can’t come here.” The Cristo Rey model has worked elsewhere. Eighteen Cristo Rey schools now operate across the country in such urban areas as Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Los Angeles. They boast graduation rates that exceed the public school systems in their communities. Chicago’s Cristo Rey school graduates 89% of its students, and 96% of Cristo Rey’s 2005 graduates went on to college. “Now, with the opening of Detroit Cristo Rey High School, we will have the opportunity to help offer quality education at affordable prices to boys and girls all over the City of Detroit,” said the Rev. Thomas Sepulveda, pastor of St. Anne de Detroit Parish, which is a cosponsor of the school along with the Sisters, Servants Immaculate Heart of Mary. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=/20070614/NEW S01/70614011 | ||
Quozl Member Username: Quozl Post Number: 749 Registered: 07-2005 |
I am surprised they are not going to use all the empty space that is not being used at St Mary of Redford. They already have a viable Elementary School that could feed the HS. The surrounding neighborhood is still in good shape. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2959 Registered: 02-2005 |
Great news. Thankyou, Archdiocese of Detroit, for doing something right in the city and making Catholic education available for the low-income people who cleary demand it in the SW. | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 9409 Registered: 10-2003 |
I say they close it within 5 years. While I am glad to hear it the recent track record of the AoD in the city proper has been less than stellar. | ||
Royaloakian Member Username: Royaloakian Post Number: 88 Registered: 05-2004 |
The Cristo Rey schools I believe were started by the Jesuits. http://www.cristoreynetwork.or g Thank the Jesuits who truly have a mission of education, not just at U of D but Loyola High School in Detroit as well. | ||
Bvos Member Username: Bvos Post Number: 2193 Registered: 10-2003 |
SW Detroit would be a far better neighborhood than NW Detroit for this model of Catholic H.S. 1. There is a large and growing Catholic community in SW Detroit, both made up of immigrants and multi-generational families. They will appreciate and desire the Catholic education there rather than the folks in NW Detroit who will just be looking for an option out of the DPS. 2. The income levels in NW Detroit are too high for this school. | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 846 Registered: 01-2005 |
The Jesuits came up with the model, but the Basilians and the IHM's are behind bringing the model to Detroit. By the way, Bill gates is a big funder of Christo Rey Schools. | ||
Nere Member Username: Nere Post Number: 55 Registered: 04-2007 |
Unless things are changed by 2008, from what I hear, the current program (not HRHS) is still going to be in control of half of the building, while Cristo Rey will have the half with the science lab, gym, etc. Fr. Joe, president of HRHS, is on the board for this new Cristo Rey school. quote: One could argue Holy Redeemer's elementary school is also viable. The families in this area that want to pursue a Catholic education can't afford Cabrini's tuition, so I'm sure this tuition policy would work better for them. The HRHS building is in great condition: new engineering lab (added just a fear years prior to the closing of the school), great gym, etc. The neighborhood surrounding the school is great, too: current development at the Vernor-Livernois intersection which should be finished by the start of the '08 school year, not many abandoned houses in the immediate area, quality of life is overall good. | ||
Chicagobureau Member Username: Chicagobureau Post Number: 36 Registered: 07-2005 |
This isn't an AoD school, but they have sanctioned its opening. The group that has been organizing its opening pursued grant money to get it off the ground. (Message edited by chicagobureau on June 15, 2007) | ||
Kevdog Member Username: Kevdog Post Number: 157 Registered: 10-2003 |
Loyola High School in Detroit (near Wyoming and Fenkell) already uses this model, albeit only with 11th and 12th graders. Students on those grades work at companies like Compuware, Ford, DTE, various law firms, etc. The school draws students from the entire city. Although the majority of students' families are not Catholic, parents send their sons there because of the emphasis on personal growth, small class sizes, and strong relationships between teachers and students. |
