Washington Archdiocese to open new high school next year

Published: 2006-01-27

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Washington plans to open its first new high school in more than 55 years in fall 2007, and it will replicate the work-study model of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School that opened in Chicago in 1996. The coeducational school primarily for low-income students will be co-sponsored by the Washington Archdiocese and the Eastern province of the Salesians of Don Bosco, a part of the national Cristo Rey Network. The school will be on the site of Our Lady of Sorrows School in the Washington suburb of Takoma Park, Md. The parish school is closing at the end of this academic year because of declining enrollment. The initial Cristo Rey enrollment of 100 students is expected to grow to 500 students. Students attend classes four days a week and work in a local business one day a week through a job-share arrangement. The businesses pay a nonprofit internship corporation for the students' work and those funds cover most tuition costs.

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