Holy Family Cristo Rey High School is a private

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

high school in the Titusville neighborhood of

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. It is located in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama and is sponsored by the

Passionists The Passionists, officially named Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720 with a special emphasis on and de ...

Background

Fathers from the Holy Cross Province of the Congregation of the Passion ran Holy Family High School, founded in 1943. In 2007, with changing demographics in the Ensley area, the need was perceived for a school that would assist those in poverty. After contact with the

Cristo Rey Network The Cristo Rey Network is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2000 to increase the number of schools modeled after Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago, which was founded in 1996 to prepare youth from low-income families for post-seconda ...

the first Cristo Rey school in the South was opened. The school combines academic study and a corporate work-study program for students from economically challenged families to enable them to graduate from high school prepare for college. 100% of HFCR graduates have been accepted into college. In 2019, Holy Family moved from its original location in Ensley to the Titusville neighborhood, acquiring the former Center Street Middle School from the

Birmingham City Schools Birmingham City Schools is a public school district that serves the US city of Birmingham, Alabama. It is the fourth-largest school system in Alabama behind Mobile County Public School System, Jefferson County School System, and Montgomery Pu ...

. Cristo Rey Network schools employ a Corporate Work Study Program that provides students with work experiences. Every student works five full days per month to fund the majority of his or her education. Students work at law firms, banks, hospitals, universities, and other professional Corporate Partners, over 70 in all.

Activities

A select group of Student Ambassadors from the upper three years represents the school to the public and to prospective students, volunteering many hours of their time to attract, assess, and mentor prospective students. Nine sports are sponsored by the school: volleyball, basketball, track, baseball, soccer, softball, lacrosse, cheerleading and dance. Among the school's more successful extracurriculars is an investment club which teaches students how to save and invest for the future.

Notable graduates

Michael Choy
- Attorney
Annie Easley
- NASA computer scientist
Demetrius Newton Jr
- Communications Instructor at Miles College.

References

External links

School Website

- Cristo Rey Network

Fr. John P. Foley honored with Presidential Citizen's Medal60 minutes

Boston Globe - With sense of purpose, students cut class for a day

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - Success of Innovative Urban Catholic School Sparks Major Investment
{{authority control Catholic secondary schools in Alabama Educational institutions established in 1943 Cristo Rey Network High schools in Birmingham, Alabama Schools in Jefferson County, Alabama Poverty-related organizations 1943 establishments in Alabama African-American Roman Catholic schools Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama

Background

Activities

Notable graduates

References

Further reading

External links