This School Works

Cristo Rey Community Helps Students Dream Big

When the alarm goes off in the morning, Kate Coulouras has good reason to get out of bed.

“The kids are my purpose,” says Coulouras, in her third year as principal of Cristo Rey High School at Jackson and Florin-Perkins roads.

“These kids work so hard and face obstacles I can’t imagine having to face in high school. Their work ethic is phenomenal. Their families are also fabulous and committed to wanting to learn and support their kids. They’ve made huge sacrifices for them to be able to be here. That really drives me to be creative and solve problems. The students deserve the absolute best education.”

Cristo Rey is a private, Catholic high school that serves low-income students with a combination of traditional college preparatory academics and a work study program that trains for careers in local businesses. The work study piece helps offset tuition, and earned Cristo Rey the moniker “The School that Works.”

“The work study program allows us to exclusively serve kids who come from very low financial circumstances,” says school President Dave Perry. “Families can’t afford to pay $16,000 a year for tuition, so the kids work five days a month in corporate jobs, and that pays about 60 percent of our operating budget.”

Cristo Rey’s Sacramento campus opened in 2006, one of 37 Cristo Rey schools across the country. The local campus has graduated more than 780 students, with 96 percent accepted to colleges and universities.

JLBy Jessica Laskey Meet Your Neighbor