Cristo Rey San José Jesuit High School

Recently attended a presentation by Matt Bell, director of work/​study at Cristo Rey, all sorts of employers participate in the program, law firms, tech, construction; students do primarly admin work in an office environment 1 day per week, the company pays the school, the school takes care of everything else, transportation etc. Great program! Here is how it works…

Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School is the culmination of a lot of hard work in bringing an Internationally acclaimed program to San Jose. The school partners with a coalition of businesses and civic organizations to hire a full time employee from their school. Each job is staffed by 5 students who each choose one day a week to work at their job, and spend the other four days a week at Cristo Rey High School. The salary that is paid helps the student cover the cost of their tuition, but the real value is in teaching high schoolers is the ability to build a professional resume so that when they go to college they can earn the degree that will allow them to continue to grow their professional career.
I hope more Silicon Valley companies, especially startups, can see the value of getting 5 high school students answering their phones, working at help desks, testing and giving feedback on iOS and Android apps all the while knowing they are helping to rebuild America.
Kudos to the Cristo Rey organization, Father Pabst for being the school’s first president and to City Councilman Sam Liccardo for supporting the school. For alums of the Five Wounds Portugese Catholic School that used to be here, know that your old alma matter is in good hands as San Jose’s latest, greatest private high school.