Holy Family Cristo Rey High School (Birmingham, Alabama)
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Holy Family Cristo Rey High School is a private
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
high school in the Titusville neighborhood of
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
. It is located in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama and is sponsored by the
Passionists The Passionists, officially named the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, are a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720, with a special emphasis on ...
.


Background

Members in the Holy Cross Province of the
Congregation of the Passion The Passionists, officially named the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, are a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720, with a special emphasis on a ...
founded Holy Family High School 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 South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
was opened. Following the Cristo Rey model, 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. 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. As of 2018, 100% of HFCR graduates had 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 ...
.


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


Further reading

* Kearney, G. R. ''More Than a Dream: The Cristo Rey Story: How One School's Vision Is Changing the World''. Chicago, Ill: Loyola Press, 2008.


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 based in the United States 1943 establishments in Alabama African-American Roman Catholic schools Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama