Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the Finance Executives of International (FEI) Detroit Chapter Meeting at the Detroit Athletic Club. To answer the obvious question, no, I am not a Finance executive. However, the topic of the meeting was related to Diversity and Inclusion, so my host company, PwC, was kind of enough to give a few associates tickets to attend and hear from the various speakers.

At every one of their meetings, FEI gives a non-profit organization and an opportunity to speak about their organization and mission to garner more support and awareness.  Yesterday, Michael Khoury, the President of Detroit Cristo Rey High School, spoke to us about his school’s unique model. So I want to use this blog to also draw awareness over this unique school system.  

What jumped out to me about this school is that is somewhat similar to Challenge Detroit.  High school students spend four days each week in the classroom (i.e. Host Company), and participate in a Corporate Work Study Program one day a week (i.e. Challenge Fridays). These corporate partners allow the students to work jobs that contribute to paying for their education, while also getting real life work experience.  These companies utilize a job sharing model where a team of four students can work together to support a full-time entry level position. Whether that’s all four students working the same job on different days, or having a different areas (e.g Accounting, Human Resources) getting help each day of the week, the school works with the companies. There is a long list of corporate partners including several of our Challenge Detroit host companies like, DTE Energy, Clark Hill, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors, Edward C. Levy, and Beaumont Health System.

What differentiates Cristo Rey from Challenge Detroit is the students. According to Michael, they actually put income caps on the families that can attend the school, with majority of attending families earning less than $30K per year.  Approximately 90% of their students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The students have longer days in school to accommodate the missing work day, but the results are clear. Since 2012, they have a 100% high school graduation and college acceptance rate. Since Cristo Rey tracks students throughout their college career, they know that currently 80% of their students are still attending a college or university. Both of these figures are above the national average, and when you adjust for income, these rates are 2 or 3 times the national average.

At its core though, the most important thing about an school like this is that it not only offers a way to receive an elite college prep education, but also a way for young people to have experience working  and developing their leadership skills.

Just thought, I would highlight the school, and I encourage anyone to check it out. Detroit Cristo Rey is a part of a network of dozens of Cristo Rey schools in the country, so wherever you are look into supporting the local school.