Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2017-2018 | Page 92

cristo rey sacramento
C
risto Rey Sacramento
transforms lives by providing
a Catholic, college preparatory
education and professional work
experience to high school students with
limited financial resources. The school
has two characteristics setting it apart
from all other schools in the region:
No students are admitted unless
their family is at or below the federal
poverty level; and
All students spend five days a month
being mentored in a workplace – an
opportunity very few of their peers will
ever experience.
Cristo Rey’s Work-Study component
exposes students to a new world
of professionalism. Jan Scully,
Sacramento’s retired District Attorney
and a Cristo Rey board member says,
“Through their participation in the
program, students learn the work they
perform is valued. Further, Work-Study
inspires them to break the poverty cycle
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which is so familiar to them.” Another
board member, Dr. Alex Gonzalez,
President Emeritus of Sacramento State,
reports, “Cristo Rey graduates are four
times more likely than others in their
demographic group to complete college
and 80% of our students will be the first
in their families to attend college.”
Traditional private schools cannot
operate without significant tuition
income. Cristo Rey is different. Work-
study sponsors pay a fee to a 509(a)3
public benefit corporation which, in
turn, helps fund the school. Sponsors
choose if they want the student
assigned to their own work site or
to a community non-profit. Other
revenue comes from fund-raising
events, additional private donations
and a tuition that is more symbolic than
significant.
“We want to thank the business
community for supporting the Cristo
Rey model of education. We want
CRHSS.ORG
to serve even more students from
underserved communities, but we can’t
unless we have additional Work-Study
sponsors. Each student must have a job
assignment,” says Cristo Rey President
Sister Eileen Enright, RSM.
Work-Study sponsors know they
help unfold new and exciting futures
for their sponsored students.
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