Four years ago, ABC 10News visited Cristo Rey High School, where we put the spotlight on a new program which reached out to underserved communities.
It brought together the workforce to help pay for tuition.
Now in 2024, we’re following through back on campus, talking to the same students as they prepare to graduate.
These are the moments Alexa Jasso will never forget. As she prepares to walk on the stage with her classmates to accept her high school diploma.
Like many of these students Alexa’s journey started four years ago at Cristo Rey High School in South Crest.
It was a brand-new private school that offered students who can’t afford to pay catholic private school tuition, financial support through work study programs.
Students attend school four days a week and work once a week through an internship.
Mary Fanslow, the alumni advisor for Cristo Rey High School says, “It's really only for the students who are qualifying based on family income to make sure that we're helping with social mobility within San Diego and really getting ,these students to be prepared to join the middle class with a college education and work experience.”
Each year the class sizes got larger and they continued to add grade levels.
And now four years later Cristo Rey will have its inaugural graduating class.
Alexa says she’s proud of how much she’s grown something she credits the school for.
During our conversation, Alexa had aspirations of becoming a nurse. She was just getting ready to start her internship at Rady Children’s Hospital.
And now she’s been accepted into the nursing program at San Diego State, hoping to work in the oncology field.
Alexa says, “seeing the compassion they had for the patients and even when I was there, like playing with, playing with them like bingo and stuff and seeing the compassion they had towards me and I had towards them, it made me want to do it even more.”
And there are many success stories like Alexa’s 97% of Cristo Rey students have been accepted into colleges and universities across the country. Many have also been awarded scholarships like Citlali Pina who received a full ride to Loyola University Chicago.
She says, “the teachers don't pressure us, everyone supports us.
And I think like, there's just so much love and everyone is here for one another.”
Something Alexa says she’s miss most about this school as they prepare to move on to their new adventures. Graduation is scheduled for Friday at USD.
