THE NCAA has nothing on Cristo Rey High School in Savin Hill. Riffing off star basketball and football players who announce their college choice with great pomp, the Catholic school also hosts a “signing day” every year — except at theirs, it’s “scholastic superstars” who announce the college they’ve selected by donning that institution’s hat. What’s more, all 60 seniors from a school that serves only youth from low-income families are expected to attend a four-year institution, rivaling the track record of Boston Latin and Cathedral. It’s the school’s fifth straight year in which 100 percent of graduates were accepted to college. The 2013 class received acceptances throughout the UMass and state college system and at private colleges including Holy Cross, Georgetown, Smith, and Marquette.
Any similarity with college athletics ends with the signing-day festivities. Unlike too many college athletes, who may excel on the field but flounder in class and fail to graduate, Cristo Rey students enter college with a firm work ethic gained from working five days a month at corporations such as State Street, TJX, the Quirk Automotive Group, and Iron Mountain. The school also provides a network of alumni mentors to support them. Based on data from the National Student Clearinghouse, 85 percent of Cristo Rey’s 2010 graduates became college sophomores in 2011, and 85 percent of them became juniors in 2012. By contrast, the national freshman retention rate was 77 percent in 2010.
The more familiar version of signing day makes sports the pinnacle of the educational experience. At Cristo Rey, signing day is only the next step in the life of the mind.
