While many inner-city Catholic schools struggle to survive, and more than a few shut down, three innovative models of Catholic middle and high schools are spreading across the country. In Cristo Rey high schools, which now exist in four cities and will soon expand to six more sites, students earn much of their tuition by working in banks, law firms, and other businesses needing clerical help. At Nativity and San Miguel middle schools, now found in several dozen cities, the school day has been lengthened and instruction has been intensified. While all Catholic schools face shortages of priests and nuns and others willing to teach for very low salaries, these new models often raise support from outside benefactors to make ends meet.
"Lifting Hope, One Job at a Time," by Jay Mathews, The Washington Post, March 25, 2003.
"Finding a way out," by Mary Ann Zehr, Education Week, March 19, 2003.