Rigorous academic training is the norm at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan like it is in most high schools where a college education is a given, but Cristo Rey adds something else.
For all of the Cristo Rey students like Abigail Marin and Gabriel Mendoza, the school’s work-study program is how nearly all of them get their first jobs, become part of the workforce and are exposed to an employer with the potential of starting them in a career.
At Cristo Rey, students spend four days a week in the classroom on campus and one day working for places like Walgreens’ corporate office in Deerfield, AbbVie in North Chicago, area governmental offices or countless other operations.
Marin, a senior who hopes to become a lawyer when she completes her education, worked in the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. It was her first job, and she said she grew comfortable with her surroundings.
“It was very scary at the beginning,” she said “They helped me, and I got a lot of support. It gave me a taste of the corporate work world.”
Cristo Rey began its 20th year educating youngsters in northeast Lake County on Aug. 19 in Waukegan, giving 428 students from low-income families an education school President Preston Kendall said is comparable to those provided by other private prep schools.
“We offer a curriculum designed like every other college prep school where the students go college,” he said. “For the last five years, 100% of our students were accepted into a bachelor’s degree program.”
Part of a network of 40 schools across the country, Cristo Rey St. Martin started in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood in 1996. Kendall said the group expanded from four to eight in 2004, making the Waukegan campus one of the first eight.
Open exclusively to youths from low-income families, Kendall said the sole entrance requirement is income. If a student qualifies for free lunch under federal guidelines, they are accepted. It is approximately 200% of the federal poverty level — $45,000 a year.
Though the families are considered low-income, Kendall said student earnings do not go home to assist the family or into the teens’ pockets. It goes to the school as their share of tuition.
“It’s like a work-study program,” he said. “This way, they have skin in the game. Their money goes toward funding the school, and we fundraise to get the rest.”
Going to Waukegan public schools through eighth grade, Marin said attending a high school with 428 students, rather than Waukegan High School with approximately 10 times the student body, was a welcome situation. She learned about Cristo Rey from a friend.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “There are so many opportunities and programs. When I need help, my teachers are always available.”
Mendoza, a junior, said he is the fourth in his North Chicago family to attend Cristo Rey. A brother graduated in 2021, another in 2022 and a third is now a senior. Working at local schools and the Waukegan Public Library, he has learned how to be a team member.
“They show me what to do, and they listen to me,” he said.
Viridiana Fajardo, the school’s director of finance, was part of Cristo Rey’s Class of 2010, entering the school in its third year. Working in Walgreens’ corporate office, she initially sought a career in the healthcare field.
Working at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Fajardo earned her undergraduate degree at the same time. Now looking at a management career, she returned to Cristo Rey in 2021 and is pursuing her MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
When the school first opened in Waukegan, Kendall said the academic performance of the students was near the bottom of the Cristo Rey network. Now it is at the top, he said. He credits Principal Mike Odiotti with changing the culture and enhancing performance.
Odiotti said he recruited teachers who he believed would be at the school for a long career, developing consistency. He let them know what was expected and guided them toward their goals.
“We wanted to match the teachers with the demographics of Waukegan,” he said. “We got the right people in place. They knew their expectations.”
Originally located in an old school building owned by Waukegan’s Most Blessed Trinity Parish, Cristo Rey moved into a state-of-the-art campus by renovating a one-time Kmart store on Belvidere Road in 2018. It was spacious, allowing for numerous amenities.
“The old campus was so tired,” Kendall said. “This gave us the environment our students were missing. This elevated our platform, and opened opportunities for the students.”
