en English
en Englishes Spanish
 

About Us

About Us

Vision:

Cristo Rey San Diego’s vision is to transform San Diego one student at a time.

Mission Statement:

Cristo Rey San Diego High School’s mission is to educate young people of limited economic means to become men and women of faith, purpose, and service, who are prepared for life.

We provide a rigorous college preparatory curriculum, integrated with a relevant work study experience and community service. In the finest tradition of Catholic outreach, we welcome students of all denominations. Students graduate prepared for college and service to their communities.

History

In 1996, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School opened in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, a Latino neighborhood of working-class families with very limited options for giving their children a high-quality education. Father John P. Foley, S.J. was the founder and first president, leading the new school in its groundbreaking Corporate Work Study Program. News of the remarkable success of the original Cristo Rey school spread to educators and others throughout the country and in 2000, the Cristo Rey Network was formed to facilitate replication of the school model and support all Cristo Rey schools. Today, 38 schools are in the Cristo Rey Network. Every school shares the mission of providing a college preparatory education to students with limited economic resources, uniquely integrating rigorous academic curricula with four years of professional work experience and support to and through college.

In early 2017 a Feasibility Study was launched to assess the need and support for Cristo Rey San Diego. With the help of many community volunteers and donors, the school opened in August 2020. Cristo Rey San Diego is the 37th school in the country and the 6th in California.

Cristo Rey San Diego High School is an independent Catholic school. While leadership positions are held by lay people, the school works in close partnership with the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (also known as the Eudists), which serves as the school’s religious sponsor. Father John Howard, CJM, reflects:

 

“The Cristo Rey motto of ‘Transforming San Diego One Student at a Time’ seems to be a natural for us. We voted unanimously to serve as the Religious Sponsorship of the Cristo Rey San Diego High School. We are not very numerous, but we have a long educational tradition and a very rich spirituality to share. The spirituality of Saint John Eudes focuses on the love and mercy of God. It challenges us to be “Missionaries of Mercy” making that love real especially for those who need it the most.”

The Cristo Rey Network of 38 high schools delivers a career focused, college preparatory education in the Catholic tradition for students with limited economic resources, uniquely integrating rigorous academic curricula with four years of professional work experience and support to and through college. Cristo Rey partners with educators, businesses and communities to enable students to fulfill their aspirations for a lifetime of success: students are two times more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree by age 24, compared to the total U.S. low-income population. Learn more.


Cristo Rey San Diego is a member of the Cristo Rey Network of high schools delivering a career focused, college preparatory education in the Catholic tradition for students with limited economic resources, uniquely integrating rigorous academic curricula with four years of professional work experience and support to and through college. We partner with educators, businesses, and communities to enable students to fulfill their aspirations for a lifetime of success. The Cristo Rey movement empowers students to fulfill their life’s dreams.

Cristo Rey Credo

We all have to be about changing the way things are. Our mission is to make the Kingdom of God concrete in the here and now, in other words, not merely to make things slightly better but to effect transformational change at every level. At Cristo Rey, no one has ever taught that we should be content with doing something small. Our world doesn’t need a touch-up; it needs total renewal! 

 

We believe that God’s grace leads us not only to holiness, but also to greater intelligence, creativity, and resourcefulness in making the Kingdom come. And through the Spirit who lives in each one of us, we should expect, if we follow Jesus, to accomplish absolutely novel and startling things. The God we have studied in the Bible is one of boundless creativity, who wishes to communicate this same grace to each one of us. Made in His image, we are called to be co-creators of a totally new world. May we have faith in a dream so ambitious as to border on the delusional with a healthy disregard for conventional thinking. May our hope be so outrageously bold that we are afraid people will laugh at us if they knew what we hoped for! May our love lead us to fly in the face of human logic and make us instruments in helping our King establish His reign, to transform all things, to bring true and lasting happiness to all of America. The plan our King always said he would set in motion is indeed moving forward in the Cristo Rey Network. This movement is the work of our King, taking away the sins of frustrated potential, lack of opportunity, and paralyzing poverty. Our world is awash in grace. Grace makes us excited about the future. The Kingdom is coming and we are an essential part of that dream! 

 

Viva Cristo Rey!

 

-Father John Foley S.J.