100% of Cristo Rey Richmond’s first senior class accepted to college
They come from Richmond and Petersburg, Chesterfield and Hanover, Henrico and Hopewell. From 30 zip codes, hundreds of teenagers travel each morning to Cristo Rey Richmond, an independent Catholic high school in the heart of Richmond’s Fan District.
Most of the students come from marginalized minority backgrounds with limited financial means. Each student is unique, but they all share the same dream: college.
Taylor Scott)
This year, all 54 of Cristo Rey Richmond’s first graduating class received college acceptance letters.
The senior class graduated on June 10, with Bishop Barry C. Knestout celebrating a baccalaureate Mass the evening prior at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond.
“This day was not only a celebration of completing high school, but a celebration of life, a celebration of creating new statistics,” remarked Cristo Rey’s Chief of Staff Tim Timmons.
“54 graduates, 500 college applications, 300+ acceptances, and over $4 million of scholarships and awards. This day was about resilience and finishing what was started,” he added.
Cristo Rey was first established in 1995 by a group of Jesuit priests in Chicago. They wanted lower income families to have the same access to quality education as those from more affluent backgrounds.
As word spread of the school’s mission-driven approach and academic success, Cristo Rey schools began popping up in more cities. They now serve thousands of students in 39 schools across the country.
In 2016, former Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo and the Sisters of Bon Secours began the process of establishing a Cristo Rey school in Richmond, seeing a need in the community. After years of planning, fundraising, and recruiting, Cristo Rey Richmond opened in August 2019, with Deacon Peter McCourt as its founding president.
“I think Cristo Rey is a unique expression of what it means to believe in the dignity and worth of every human person, regardless of the circumstances of their life,” said Deacon McCourt.
“Cristo Rey, Christ the King, will continue transforming Richmond, one student at a time!” said Timmons.
Realizing students’ potential
Everything went smoothly at first … then COVID hit. Students who were just getting acclimated to their new school soon had to return home to learn virtually.
Cristo Rey switched to a hybrid model by the fall of 2020. Full-time, in-person classes resumed in fall 2021 and haven’t stopped since. Despite this hurdle, the students continued to thrive through the pandemic.
Timmons said the school’s “mission is to educate young people to become men and women of faith, purpose and service.”
“That is not an easy lift or something that can manifest itself overnight, but by the grace of God, the work that is performed by school staff in collaboration with families and the surrounding community, scholars shift towards the hopes of God and not the world,” he said.
There are several steps to the Cristo Rey admissions process. Each student must complete an application, provide two teacher recommendations, send middle school transcripts and behavioral reports, sit for an interview with their family, and take an entrance exam to determine their literacy and mathematics skill level.
While many students are behind when they first enter Cristo Rey, the school works closely with each student to close that gap.
“We have 8th graders applying to be freshmen who are reading at a 4th grade level,” explained Deacon McCourt.
“Our dedication is to take those students on and pour every bit of resources we have into them because we think they have the potential, they just need the opportunity,” he added.
The Cristo Rey way
To do this, Cristo Rey utilizes the Reality Pedagogy, which Deacon McCourt explained is a teaching method that addresses each student based on their individual needs, cultural background, and lived experiences.
All students are enrolled in a specialized Success Class every year. This is centered on helping
students close the gap in their education by providing extra English and math instruction.
The school has a tailored summer school program, which Deacon McCourt said “isn’t only a recovery activity, but an acceleration activity” to help students gain more knowledge in between school years.
One of the highlights of a Cristo Rey education is its Corporate Work Study Program. Each academic year, all students are required to work at a local business one day out of the school week, with the school providing transportation to and from the job sites. The other four days are spent in the classroom.
They can work at an array of Fortune 500 companies, museums, healthcare providers, financial institutions, and other locations.
Cristo Rey arranges to have the company pay a fee directly to the school. Those funds are then used to help pay the students’ tuition. On average, students earn about $9,000 per school year. Scholarships and grants are also offered, and many individual donors help support the school’s mission as well.
Being the trailblazers
When the school found out that every single senior was accepted into college, they celebrated together. “Ecstatic is a good word. Proud is another,” said Deacon McCourt of his reaction to the news.
“They know they are the trailblazers. They are the first,” he said.
Xochitl Alicia Luis Aguilar is one of six children. She is the only girl, as well as the first in her family to attend college. She said the experience she gained through her Corporate Work Study Program directly influenced her future goals.
“My freshman year, I worked at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in their daycare. Working there made me realize I want my future career to have something to do with kids. It brings me joy working with them,” she said.
She earned a full scholarship to Catholic University of America, where she will study psychology in hopes of becoming a child psychologist.
Alfredo Martinez Vazquez spoke of the supportive community he found at Cristo Rey.
“Cristo Rey is a diverse school, though all of us come from a different background and school it never changed how at the end of the day we all became friends,” he said.
Carrington Jones felt at home at Cristo Rey from the very beginning, saying, “Since the first day, the community was accepting of me and helpful along this journey.”
He was awarded a full scholarship to Virginia State University, where he will major in mechanical engineering, with a minor in computer science.
“My family was ecstatic to hear about me receiving a full ride to the school,” he said. “I was excited, as it demonstrated all the hard work paying off from the past four years.”
Deacon McCourt explained that Cristo Rey’s focus on college is about more than just a diploma. “I think the untapped potential that these young people have can best be opened in a college setting, and I want that for as many young people as possible,” he said. “Having a college degree opens up more doors than simply having a job.”
Cristo Rey offers support long after students graduate. Alumni advisors will regularly check in on students during their time in college. The school will also help with financial aid applications, college internships, and job placement post-college.
There will be reunions in the summer and during Christmas break, as well as other opportunities to stay connected to their former classmates.
“We recognize these young people have limitless potential and everything we do here is an expression to advance, enhance, and uphold their human dignity as a child of God,” said Deacon McCourt.
“We surround them with love and attention, and great things happen.”
View more photos from Cristo Rey’s baccalaureate Mass and graduation.