Cristo Rey Strategic Plan 2015-20

BUILDING ON A FIRM FOUNDATION STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2020

MISSION: CRISTO REY JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL PROVIDES A CATHOLIC, COLLEGE PREPARATORY EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE TO STUDENTS FROM SPANISH SPEAKING FAMILIES WITH LIMITED FINANCIAL MEANS.

VISION: THE REASON FOR THE SCHOOL’S EXISTENCE IS TO ADVANCE THE HUMAN AND INTELLECTUAL CAPACITIES, AS WELL AS THE RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE, OF THE IMMIGRANT FAMILIES IT SERVES. THROUGH ITS CORPORATE WORK STUDY PROGRAM, FAITH-BASED COLLEGE PREPARATORY EDUCATION, AND SPANISH HERITAGE LANGUAGE CURRICULUM, THE GOAL IS TO PREPARE STUDENTS TO SUCCEED IN COLLEGE AND TO ASSUME LEADERSHIP ROLES IN THE CIVIC, RELIGIOUS, BUSINESS, AND CULTURAL LIFE OF OUR CITY AND NATION. AS COMMITTED ALUMNI OF A JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL, GRADUATES BECOME MEN AND WOMEN FOR OTHERS WHO ARE OPEN TO GROWTH, RELIGIOUS, INTELLECTUALLY COMPETENT, LOVING, COMMITTED TO JUSTICE, AND WORK EXPERIENCED.

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INTRODUCTION Cristo Rey Jesuit High School has achieved immense success over the last twenty years. Beginning as a small start-up in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, it has persevered and become the flagship school of the Cristo Rey Network: introducing an innovative educational model and affirming the cultural heritage of its students. During this period of immense growth, Cristo Rey set several goals throughout its development.

Founded in 1996, Cristo Rey was established to serve the Latino youth from low income, immigrant, Spanish speaking families who lived in the Pilsen/Little Village neighborhoods of Chicago. The school established its two distinct characteristics: the Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) and dual language curriculum.

CWSP has become a key learning experience for students, funding 70% of the school’s operating expenses. The dual language component was created to keep students connected to their heritage with the goal of forming leaders for their community.

To prepare for the school’s 20th anniversary in 2015-2016, Cristo Rey began a self reflection process. The school’s Catholic and Jesuit foundations infuse it with the principle of magis or “more” which aims to continually strive for excellence.

With this spirit in mind, Cristo Rey sought to address several key questions: - What has worked well for Cristo Rey over the past five years? What could be done differently?

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How has the external environment been evolving?

How is it likely to change in the future?

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Who are the major constituencies Cristo Rey aspires to serve?

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How do these groups view Cristo Rey today, what are their needs, and how could Cristo Rey better serve them?

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What are the key potential strategic investments for Cristo Rey?

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How should the Cristo Rey vision be updated to reflect the strategy?

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How should the refreshed vision be communicated and implemented?

To answer these questions, Cristo Rey began a process of interviewing and surveying a wide range of groups both internal and external to the school. In all, it heard from 90 voices. These findings were synthesized by a steering committee made up of Board members, school leadership, faculty, and alumni. Together, they identified four key areas to focus on over the next five years: academics, the Corporate Work Study Program, alumni, and external relations.

- Academics – Broaden the academic curriculum to offer more challenging classes and arts courses and provide more support for the transition to dual language.

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Corporate Work Study Program – Examine current employer trends and leverage academics to ensure students are more competitive in the work place.

- Alumni – Strengthen cohorts among current students

to create a stronger alumni culture and engage alums through mentorship opportunities and professional networking.

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External Relations – Better communicate and leverage the unique qualities of the Cristo Rey brand in the community and among key constituents, in particular colleges, potential donors, and corporate partners.

The following document is the culmination of the findings from the school’s self-reflection and planning. Prioritizing these areas, the goal of this document is to provide a plan to build on Cristo Rey’s successes through 2020.

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ENHANCING

A RICH ACADEMIC CURRICULUM

The strategic plan addressed two distinct elements of Cristo Rey’s academics: its college preparatory and dual language curriculum.

As a college preparatory high school, Cristo Rey has a strong curriculum that prepares students well for college. For more than a decade, 100% of the graduating class has been accepted to college due to the rigorous work done at Cristo Rey. All students take courses focused on literature, history, science, and math.

They currently are offered both electives and varying levels of difficulty for certain content areas. In addition to math classes of varying difficulty, all students are required to take the AP Spanish Language and the AP Spanish Literature exams.

Having a dual language curriculum, students must also take 7.5 classes in Spanish. Four are traditional Spanish language and literature courses. But additionally, students take classes such as history and religion in Spanish. Because of the curriculum’s rigor, many students face challenges in this transition. While having grown up in Spanish speaking households, many students need additional support when transitioning to academic Spanish since they may not be able to read and write in the language.

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KEY ISSUES The academic curriculum has done an excellent job serving students; the next step is to broaden Cristo Rey’s academic offerings. Broader offerings will build out the college preparatory element of Cristo Rey’s curriculum. These classes will offer more options for students who have a desire for a more challenging academic curriculum. With more choice of advanced classes, students’ college applications will be more competitive.

Create “honors” classes. The taskforce determined that some classes were more difficult than others, however, their titles do not reflect this. As a result, colleges did not fully value their difficulty.

Thus, departments will adopt new titles to improve the signaling of these classes to colleges.

Expand offerings of art programs for students. The taskforce also found that more artistic outlets were needed for Cristo Rey’s student body.

Support transition to dual language curriculum while identifying ways to better communicate the requirements and our successes as a school. The taskforce findings also revealed that a significant number of students were struggling with the dual language requirement despite speaking Spanish at home. As a result, the taskforce also prioritized developing a transition program for students.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Goal One: Broaden course offerings to meet needs for high performers.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Evaluate the current rigid schedule and determine ways in which to offer options to students within subjects. If it is possible to create a new scheduling system that allows for choice, this will be implemented. Offering differentiated courses is dependent on this first action item.

January 2015

2

Faculty will need to identify which class offerings will be taught in Spanish so that if student choice is offered, all students will be able to comply with the dual language requirements.

January 2015

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English Department a. Redesign the current British Literature to become AP British Literature for all students.

This will provide students with the opportunity to receive college credit for their work.

a. 2015-2017 b. 2016-2018

b. Design alternatives to AP British Literature for seniors and offer “honors” courses at other levels of English so as to broaden academics offerings.

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Science Department a. Explore offering differentiated classes in Science so as to provide additional opportunities for students to take these courses with different degrees of difficulty. b. Once the other science levels are differentiated, the science department will create an additional science elective for seniors to add breadth to the curriculum.

a. 2015-2017; add class each year b. 2018-2019

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Social Studies Department – Offer an optional AP History course/test. This may be done through the Jesuit Virtual Learning Academy (JVLA) to allow a broader selection of courses.

2016-2018

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Math Department – Design a summer school option that will help students advance in math and take requirements to free up time for electives during the academic year.

Geometry to be offered summer 2016

Offer more choices for students who have a desire for a more challenging academic curriculum.

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Goal Two: Better communicate with colleges the academic rigor of current curriculum.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

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The Spanish courses at Cristo Rey are very high level courses, more advanced than other high school Spanish classes. In particular, every junior prepares for and takes the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam and every senior prepares for and takes the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam. These facts are not clearly reflected in the names of the courses. To better communicate the rigor of these courses to colleges, the titles of Spanish classes will be modified.

2015

2

Determine what courses are to be weighted and by how much to express the additional academic demands from the curriculum.

2015-2016

3

Explore adding "honors" title and weighted grades for high level math courses so as to signal the additional academic load.

2015-2016

Goal Three: Expand opportunities in the arts for students.

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Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

Offer several extra-curricular programs focused on the arts including dance, percussion, and choral performance classes.

2015-2016

Goal Four: Support student transition to dual language curriculum while identifying ways to better communicate the requirements and our successes as a school.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Review interview process to better identify candidates who have the language base necessary for success.

2015

2

Require transfer students to take a summer course as an introduction to the program.

Summer 2015

3

Modify Spanish I curriculum to more smoothly transition all students into dual language program.

2015-2017

4

Research State of Illinois “biliteracy stamp” for transcripts to determine if we qualify.

2016-2018

5

Investigate opening a chapter of “Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica.”

2016-2020

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A POSITION OF

STRENGTH‌

- 87% of seniors passed the AP Spanish Literature Exam - 100% of graduating seniors have been accepted to college

for more than a decade - Cristo Rey graduates are earning bachelor’s degrees

at a rate six times higher than the national average for low-income, first generation students.

- Students hold 141 jobs at more than 136 companies in Chicago - 98% of student jobs were renewed for 2015-2016 - 95.47% of students met or exceeded employer expectations

- 2215 alumni by 2020 - 18% are ages 30-36; 38% are ages 24-29; 44% are ages 18-23 - The first graduates (19 in total) will be 40-41 years old in 2020

- 49 different colleges and universities accepted members

of the Class of 2015; 23 of the schools were out-of-state - Students come from 30 different zip codes;

68 different elementary/middle schools - 68% of class of 2019 came from public schools;

24% from Catholic/private schools; 8% from charter schools

Statistics are through June 2015 unless otherwise indicated

STRENGTHENING THE CORPORATE WORK STUDY PROGRAM FOR THE FUTURE

The Corporate Work Study Program is one of Cristo Rey’s most defining characteristics. It provides an important opportunity for students to develop the discipline from a job and exposes them to environments to which they otherwise would never have access.

Additionally, it is the lynchpin of Cristo Rey’s financial model, providing up to 70% of its operational funding.

During the strategic planning process interviews, it was revealed that the Corporate Work Study Program needs to leverage the academic curriculum further and to identify opportunities as well as risk going forward. As a result, the CWSP taskforce set out to conduct a thorough survey of all employers and to begin working with the faculty to integrate academics into the Corporate Work Study Program.

KEY ISSUES The CWSP taskforce identified an opportunity to use Cristo Rey’s academic curriculum to train students for their jobs.

The primary opportunity to better prepare students focused on strengthening the Summer Training Institute for freshmen and transfer students as well as finding opportunities in classes that could augment students’ work experiences. The taskforce identified additional opportunities in extracurricular activities and in engaging teachers to understand the work that students do in their CWSP jobs.

Additionally, shaping the curriculum will require identifying employment trends for our students. While CWSP has identified some preliminary hypotheses regarding the job trends going forward, more research is needed. Thus, CWSP will undertake an employer survey to identify emerging, stable, and at-risk jobs over the next five years.

Undertake an employer survey to identify emerging, stable, and at-risk jobs.

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IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Goal One: Leverage Cristo Rey’s academics and extracurricular activities to strengthen workforce training.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Determine what skills are needed for today’s jobs and jobs of the future by conducting an employer survey (i.e. Excel, business writing, public speaking, etc.). As part of this survey, identify the work students are currently doing and potential work that is open to them with identified training.

Winter 2016

2

Survey faculty and staff to determine how these identified skills are currently being utilized in the classroom and in extracurricular activities.

Fall 2015

3

Create a standing committee made up of teachers and CWSP staff that will identify ways to enhance the curriculum and skill training opportunities in order to improve skills for future jobs.

2016-2018

4

Increase opportunities for students to develop skills to increase their value to job partners.

Based on the input from the employer survey, the academic/CWSP standing committee will make recommendations for ways in which students can develop these skills in the Summer Training Institute and further enhance these skills through classroom projects and homework assignments that provide practical application and reinforcement.

2015-2017

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Improve understanding of the student worker experience by re-instituting the Teacherto-Work Day. Teachers will learn about their students’ jobs and gain an appreciation for what students do at work. This day will help teachers develop ways to reinforce in the classroom some of the important work students do with corporate sponsors.

2016-2017

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Partner with existing and new school clubs that help develop skills in areas as determined by survey (i.e. Coding Club, Finance Club, etc.). Meet with club sponsors to gain better understanding of club content and encourage students to join. Share stories about these clubs with corporate partners. Invite corporate partners to consider student positions in sustainable areas or introduce student workers to someone in the technology field at their place of employment.

2015-2016

Goal Two: Identify new potential internal jobs at existing companies as well as identify other industries for new partnerships.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Conduct employer survey identifying stable, emerging, and at-risk jobs over the next five years. This will build a fact base to strategize where to place students over the next five years.

Winter 2016

2

Create a plan to maneuver students into the new roles at companies and into new industries.

2016-2017

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CONTINUING TO INVEST IN ALUMNI

For several years, Cristo Rey has tried to reach out to alumni in a variety of ways. In 2009, it was determined that the greatest need was in the area of college retention. An intentional decision was made to hire a person to assist college-age alumni. The immediate issue was that students were not persisting or graduating from college at a rate that reflected their college preparation.

In addition to this role of college support, the College Retention Fund was created to provide students with access to emergency funds to help them persist in college. Recent graduates have found the support and encouragement they have needed as well as financial assistance to continue to persist in college, ultimately to graduate.

As the school approaches 20 years, Cristo Rey now has a critical mass of alumni. As a result, the taskforce identified the importance of continuing to invest in college-age student support, as well as give more attention to the growing number of alumni who are beyond their college years to build a network.

The taskforce recommended that Cristo Rey focus its efforts on two cohorts. First, with current students: it can use extra-curricular activities and other events such as “homecoming” to build a stronger identity while at Cristo Rey so that they are interested in staying involved as alumni. Second, with alumni: Cristo Rey will provide additional opportunities for alumni to engage with Cristo Rey, such as continuing to provide recent graduates with muchneeded college support, creating volunteer opportunities, building a job database and professional networking, and developing events to connect all alumni with the school.

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KEY ISSUES Encouraging alumni enthusiasm and engagement by investing in current student activities and increasing alumni visibility in the school community. Cristo Rey’s alumni are not as involved with the school as they could be due, in part, to the lack of coordinated effort to broaden the invitation to give back to the school. To increase their involvement and engagement, there is a need to identify events for Cristo Rey to connect with alumni and currents students.

Opportunities for alumni to give back to Cristo Rey. It is important for current students to have interaction with alumni whether as coaches, mentors, or participating in panel discussions.

There is a need to create systematic opportunities to connect students with alumni and to engage alumni in planning future alumni strategy.

Laying the foundation to begin a post high school alumni network. As Cristo Rey’s alumni advance in their careers, there is a need to build a robust career network by creating an infrastructure and providing networking opportunities.

Give more attention to the growing number of alumni.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Goal One: Encourage alumni enthusiasm and engagement by investing in current student activities.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Create a visible alumni legacy on campus. The visible presence of graduates and alumni history can help strengthen the importance and involvement of Cristo Rey students when they graduate. Explore the creation of a lasting area that stays visible and present for future Cristo Rey students and alumni.

2016-2018

2

Create a stronger Cristo Rey “identity” with current students by holding annual or habitual experiences that become “traditions.” Determine ways in which “traditions” can be created and begin to institutionalize these experiences.

2016-2018

Goal Two: Provide opportunities for alumni to give back and come back to Cristo Rey. Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Create ways to encourage alumni to attend and participate in current school events.

Determine which events will appeal to alumni and find ways to provide alumni-focused opportunities at these events.

2016-2018

2

Involve alumni with helping to grow alumni engagement. Create an “alumni committee” of alumni who are passionate and still involved with Cristo Rey.

2015-2017

3

Encourage alumni to provide some sort of financial contribution back to Cristo Rey. Develop ways to educate current students about giving back as well as develop strategies to engage alumni in giving to the school.

2016-2018

4

As involvement grows, hire an additional alumni relations staff member to focus on ways TBD to increase alumni involvement. This role will also interface with the Advancement and CWSP departments.

Goal Three: Build a foundation for a post-high school alumni network by building a robust database of all alumni, increase communications, and begin to hold alumni networking events.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Collect Cristo Rey alumni contact information to develop a working database.

Then develop a system to update on an ongoing basis.

2015-2016

2

Create a communications plan by determining the most effective ways/tools to communicate with Cristo Rey alumni (i.e. social media, newsletters, direct mail, etc.).

A focus will be on better educating Cristo Rey alumni about the school today.

2016-2017

3

Create opportunities for career networking and development. Cristo Rey’s distinct model and experience offers a great opportunity to connect alumni with one another to develop their careers. As a first step, Cristo Rey would create a LinkedIn Group/Portal on the Cristo Rey website. In addition, Cristo Rey will build a job board that provides alumni with access to postings for local jobs and positions open at CWSP partners.

2016-2018

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IMPROVING

COMMUNICATIONS WITH EXTERNAL AUDIENCES

The Cristo Rey model is one of a kind, but the findings of the research indicated that those who were not in close relationship with the school did not fully understand the mission and model.

In particular, colleges and universities were not clear on the uniqueness of the CWSP or the school’s dual language curriculum.

Community organizations, Corporate Work Study partners, and others were not clear on many of the aspects that make Cristo Rey unique. The external relations task force was asked how to leverage the Cristo Rey model and the fact that the school is the creator of that model to strengthen relationships and build a more robust donor base, raise its profile with colleges, and be more engaged with the community.

There are many groups with whom Cristo Rey interfaces, in particular current and potential CWSP partners, current and potential donors, the broader Chicagoland philanthropic community, and colleges and universities. The questions posed to the task force were to determine if there were additional groups and among all of the groups what are ways to improve branding.

For each group, what is the value proposition that Cristo Rey offers for education, students as employees, an innovative adaptive organization, and as a flagship school. And as such, what is the best message and method to use for communicating with each target group? The goal was to develop a core value proposition that could be tailored for each target group and develop specific outreach plans.

The task force determined these are the key issues with one overarching question: “How do we better communicate Cristo Rey Jesuit High School’s distinctive model, mission, and curriculum to external audiences?”

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KEY ISSUES Raise the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School profile with colleges and universities, in particular those that are out-of-state.

During the interview phase of the strategic planning process, representatives from colleges and universities were interviewed.

It was evident that these representatives did not understand the Corporate Work Study Program and the unique learning and experience that students obtain from this program. They saw it as “all students have part-time jobs.” Some also saw our dual language program as a negative, interpreting it as a bilingual education, not understanding that Cristo Rey students graduate with mastery of two languages. The representatives spoke of the need for the school to better communicate the unique model to help advance student access to colleges and universities.

Diversify the donor base for long-term sustainability. Cristo Rey Jesuit High School has a very generous donor base, many of whom are from the North Shore communities surrounding Loyola Academy. With other Cristo Rey model schools in and near Chicago (Christ the King, Cristo Rey St. Martin, and Cristo Rey Jesuit in Milwaukee), it is important for the school to diversify its donor base beyond the founding families and friends. With its unique standing as the first school, there is great opportunity to increase awareness for the mission and to invite new friends to be a part of the school.

Strengthen relationships with the communities in which our students live. There is a need to increase relationships with those in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, to better understand the school’s mission and for the school to be a better neighbor. But as the student body continues to be drawn from a variety of neighborhoods, it is clear that many in these communities do not know about Cristo Rey. To continue to have a thriving student body with high enrollment, it is important to reach out to parishes, schools, and community organizations in the communities in which our students live to encourage enrollment and active support of the school’s mission.

Build Cristo Rey profile in Chicago for potential job partners and additional donors. While Cristo Rey Jesuit High School and its unique model of education was created in Chicago, most people in Chicago do not know about the school or its mission.

It is important that the school find ways to increase its profile in the greater Chicago community and to strengthen its understanding in the Jesuit and Catholic communities.

Increase communications with Cristo Rey Alumni and Alumni of Jesuit schools to create advocates and donors.

Cristo Rey has matured and grown since its opening in 1996.

The best advocates for the school are its alumni. Therefore, it is important to communicate the growth and changes to those earlier classes so that they can be a part of the advocate base for the school as well as future donors and supporters. In addition, alumni of other Jesuit school are drawn to the mission of Cristo Rey and are a natural group to serve as advocates and potential donors.

Find ways to increase Cristo Rey’s profile in the greater Chicago community.

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IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Goal One: Raise Cristo Rey’s profile and better explain our unique model to colleges and universities, in particular those that are out-of-state.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Develop a communications strategy and plan directed at colleges and universities.

As part of the plan, determine the language of higher education and modify our communication tools to better reflect that language when speaking directly to them.

Create “college” focused messages about our students who are currently enrolled in college to advocates at colleges/universities.

2016-2017

2

Clarify the value of the Cristo Rey education experience for colleges. Assess the current tools used to communicate the value of a Cristo Rey education by working with college representatives. In particular, determine if the Cristo Rey school profile accurately reflects the strengths of the school and if a Cristo Rey “report card” similar to those of public schools would be beneficial.

2015-2016

Goal Two: Diversify donor base for sustainability by specifically focusing on Cristo Rey alumni, professional Latino organizations, young professional volunteers, and the greater Jesuit community.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Develop a plan to build relationships with professional Latino organizations in Chicago, including those at companies that are CWSP Partners.

2016-2018

2

Create a plan to educate and encourage Cristo Rey alumni to give back to the school. a. While current students, educate seniors about charitable giving, specifically those in leadership positions to provide future leadership in giving programs.

2016-2018

b. Create a communications strategy that will integrate alumni into current communication tools. c. Create specific alumni-focused giving campaigns that include peer-to-peer phone banks and identifying leaders in each class.

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Goal Three: Increase Admissions pipeline by strengthening relationships with the communities in which our students live to increase the number of students from these communities.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Create a community engagement plan to invite non-profit organizations, local parishes, feeder schools, and government officials from various communities to visit the school and meet with faculty, staff, and students.

2015-2016

2

Include parishes, government officials, schools, and non-profit organizations in school communications distribution lists.

2015-2016

3

Access city and neighborhood data to more intentionally target admission recruiting efforts in neighborhoods that more closely reflect our mission, especially those economically and educationally under-served.

2016-2019

Goal Four: Build and enhance Cristo Rey profile in Chicago.

Action to achieve goal

Timeframe

1

Create a media/communications strategy to share the Cristo Rey story as a successful education initiative.

2015-2016

2

Identify our strengths and find opportunities to communicate those strengths to various audiences, including the Catholic, Jesuit, business, Latino, and academic communities.

2015-2017

3

Strengthen our LAC/Advocates Program to include friends of Cristo Rey from CWSP companies, Cristo Rey alumni, and alumni of Jesuit schools. Provide them with the information and tools to serve as advocates in their organizations and communities.

2015-2017

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