A flood of teenagers adjust their ties and smooth their skirts as they uniformly ascend the stairs for the 7:30 start of classes.  Their pristine outfits, however, are perhaps the least significant feature differentiating these teenagers from their peers. Many have risen as early as 5 a.m. to commute to this campus.  Most will not return home until after 7 p.m. and all will be expected to complete at least three hours of homework per night. On top of these expectations, each student must maintain a high profile part-time job. This lifestyle, however demanding it may be, is one these students cherish, and fought to obtain.

For the past few years, Atlanta has been in the process of obtaining and creating a Cristo Rey Network school. The Cristo Rey Network is a web of 28 Catholic charter college preparatory high schools designed for students with the motivation to receive a good education spread across 27 cities across the United States.  The network model combats that problem with a unique work-study program that aids the students with their tuition and opens their eyes to the professional world.

On July 14, two years of hard work paid off when Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School opened its downtown doors to its inaugural freshman class.    

“It’s really amazing to see students learning in the classrooms … after we’ve been imagining it happening for a long time,” principal Rev. James Van Dyke said.

Instruction began with a two-week summer academy where students were introduced to the unique ways of Cristo Rey, ranging from the tight dress code to the expectation that every student be admitted to college.

During the Summer Academy, the students were observed and subsequently matched with one of the 41 corporate partners of Cristo Rey Atlanta, including sponsers from Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola and Northside Hospital. Five days a month, each student goes to work in the offices of their corporate sponsor, with four Cristo Rey students creating the equivalent of one full-time position. They have the same duties and expectations as any regular employee of that company.

The students learn through the responsibilities and tasks required of their positions, and collaborate with a spectrum of people they’ve never been around before, all of whom serve as both collegues and role models.

“[The goal of the work-study program] is for our students to have the confidence to go out into the adult world, regardless of race or background, regardless of economics, and know that they’ll have the intelligence and capability to function well, and even excellently in that setting,” Van Dyke said.

The money the students earn from their work study covers about 60 percent of their tuition.

The administration marketed to potential students through church Masses at low-income parishes and through organizations like The Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA. The number of Atlanta applicants set an all-time record for any Cristo Rey Network school.

“I knew if I came to Cristo Rey, I would have a brighter future,” freshman Andrea Galvan-Tavera said.

After undergoing the intense and extensive interview and evaluation process, Galvan-Tavera was one of the deserving 163 students admitted to the class of 2018. According to Van Dyke, the students come from communities inside the greater Atlanta metro area and are roughly 50 percent Latino and 50 percent African-American.The average family income is under $30,000 per year.

Cristo Rey plans to cap its number of students at 500, once the school serves ninth -12th graders, to maintain the close relationship of the students and teachers.

Teachers at Cristo Rey Atlanta went through a three-to-four-month application and interview process. Once hired, they completed Cristo Rey Network Training where they were taught how to best communicate the principles of the school to their unique student population.

“It sounds corny, but we really are a family,” biology teacher Marcia Pecot said. “This is the most caring environment I’ve ever worked in, and the students prove every day that they fought to be here.”

Students at Cristo Rey come from heavily variant educational backgrounds. While this disparity in academic levels could be seen as a negative, the teachers at Cristo Rey embrace it as a positive. This gap is countered by an extended school day, peer mentorship and group learning.

Because of its religious foundings, Cristo Rey emphasizes the importance of giving back as it stresses strongly as academics. Students are expected to participate in regular community service to strengthen their sense of character.

“We aren’t interested in manufacturing academic drones,” Van Dyke said. “We want first and foremost for our students to be good people with good hearts.”

Well-dressed and good-hearted, these students can look forward to the long-term effects of their investment. They understand that the hard work and determination associated with a Cristo Rey education transforms lives. A college education is the first critical step to securing a high-paying job. According to the school website, Cristo Rey Network students graduate college at a rate twice as high as their peers from the same income bracket.