One Alum's View of Cristo Rey and NC

Background

To begin with, I will admit that although it sounded exciting to me when I found out about the possibility of North Catholic staying open, or re-opening, as a Cristo Rey Network school, I was a little skeptical about the idea.

I was told that these schools are high caliber academic places at a fraction of the cost to the students’ families. With education costing around $10,000 or more per student in this area, how could someone provide a better education at a fraction of the $5,200 per year that it currently costs for an archdiocesan school? But, be the ever diligent guy that I am, I looked into this network myself. I visited school sites of other Cristo Rey schools, I read news reports, watched the 60 Minutes story, and I asked a lot of questions. What I found out was that this is a model that has worked in about 2 dozen other schools, so why can’t it work at Northeast Catholic?

Keep in mind that at this time, the Cristo Rey plan for North Catholic is not a “done deal”. But, the work that the team has done to date had me leaving the meeting last night with a very optimistic feeling that this is going to happen, and real soon. The expectation is that by mid to late February, the team will complete the feasibility study, which will then be presented to the Cristo Rey Board for approval. If all goes well, and the plan is certified, it’ll be all but a done deal. But, at that time, there will still be a lot of work to be done if this model is to be implemented by the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year.

Informational Meeting

I wasn’t able to attend the first meeting which was held on January 7, 2010, but that was mainly for current and prospective students and their families. I decided that I would attend the January 14th meeting and listen to what the Feasibility study group had to say. I have to tell you, I was impressed. The thing I liked the most was that this group dispelled many of the bad information that has been floating around. And, because of some of those rumors and innuendos, the group has launched an informational website (see link at the top of this page). My opinion changed from “can this happen?” to more of a “when will this happen”. I know most of the people on this team, either personally or through others, and I’ll tell you that these are some of the best and brightest people that North Catholic has produced. And, like many of us, they have an unwavering passion for our alma mater.

Myths and Other Bad Information

Since Cristo Rey option has been made public, I’ve spoken with many people about the prospects of this keeping North open. And, more often than not, I’m told things that sound less than promising, and some things that are downright depressing. Last night, many of those things were addressed. I’ll try to sum up what I heard at the meeting, and attempt to separate some of the fiction from the facts that I’ve heard over the past month or so. If anyone reads this and knows that I am writing anything that is not true, please let me know and I will make corrections.

Rumor - The new school would be called Cristo Rey.

Fact – The new school will be called Northeast Catholic, a Cristo Rey Network School. The colors will remain Red and White. The mascot will be the Falcon. Even the current uniforms will remain the same. Basically, the identity of the school will not change.

Rumor – The school would have to be purchased, and it’ll cost several million to do so.

Fact – The group is pursuing a couple of options. The hope is that the school would be purchased from the archdiocese, but before that can be done, an owner would need to be named. In many of the Cristo Rey schools, a religious order is named as the owner, but in some instances, a group of lay people, as a foundation, owns the building. At this time, no owner has been named, but work is being done to do so. As an alternative, in the unlikely event that a deal cannot be struck with the archdiocese to purchase the current building, the team is exploring other options, including other existing buildings and/or sites for a new North Catholic. This option would be more of a contingency plan, as the group stressed that their desire is to use the existing building. At this time, the cost of the school has not been made public.

Rumor – Some alumni only tried this “last ditch” effort to bring Cristo Rey to North Catholic after the archdiocese decided to close North.

Fact – This is absolutely false. Some of the members of the Feasibility board have been looking at the Cristo Rey model for more than two years. One of the board members mentioned that he actually visited a Cristo Rey school in Boston in 2007. The network was engaged about the possibility of coming to North long before the announcement was made.

Rumor – The income requirements for the new school would exclude most of the current students and their siblings.

Fact – The North Catholic group has worked out a deal with the Cristo Rey network to waive any income requirements for existing students. Basically, if a student is currently enrolled at North, they will be guaranteed a seat in the new school, regardless of family income. What should be pointed out is that this waiver only applies to current students. If a currently enrolled student has a younger brother who is not yet in high school, the income guidelines would be used for that not yet enrolled student to determine eligibility. As for the exact income requirements, that has not yet been determined. But, it should be pointed out that there is not a single requirement across the entire network. Each school in each community sets its own requirements. Those guidelines are based on the economic situation of that community. Finally, the income requirement is a “net” number, meaning it depends on income less expenses and size of family. The group is working to develop a formula and they expect to have more information in the next month or so.

Rumor – The new school will not have athletics, and if they do, they would participate as an independent school.

Fact – The expectation is that North will have the same sports and other extra-curricular activities that the school has now. Furthermore, the expectation is that the sports teams will continue to participate in the Philadelphia Catholic League and the PIAA. The PCL athletic board will not take up the matter until we know there will definitely be a school, but based on informal inquiries, there doesn’t seem to be a problem with the PCL accepting North as a member in the future. The PIAA may be another matter, but the board is confident that they will be able to convince the PIAA board to continue North Catholic’s membership in that organization.

Rumor – The jobs that the students will have are all meaningless minimum wage jobs, where the student will not get any real experience.

Fact – Based on what I heard last night, the jobs that the students will have are white collar clerical type jobs, and the responsibility of the jobs increases as the student moves from 9th through 12th grade. These jobs are expected to pay an annualized salary of $26,000 to $29,000. Of course, during the school year, the salaries for these jobs will be paid directly to the school to offset the tuition for the students. In other cities where Cristo Rey operates, many of these students are kept on during the summer, if they choose, and the money earned during the summer will go to the student.

Rumor – None of the current teachers will be offered jobs at the new school.

Fact – When it comes time to hire teachers, the school will do what any other private schools attempts to do; hire the best teachers they can find. What that means is that any current North Catholic teacher can apply for a teaching position at the school. Some may choose to do so, while others may not. From what the folks on the board said, the salaries will be comparable to the salaries of the archdiocesan teachers, and there will be benefits (medical, life insurance, LTD, 401(k) plan, etc) that go along with the position. But, those benefits may not be as good as a tenured teacher working for the archdiocese. That will be a personal decision made by each teacher.

Well, that's about all that I have to say at this time. I'm just one alum who is passionate about Northeast Catholic and interested in keeping the school open. This new school is an opportunity for the North Catholic community to come together and help the school and the community where most of us began our lives.