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At Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle, we are moving with alacrity toward our opening in the summer of 2024, when we will offer our Summer Bridge (professional skills) program for incoming freshmen, followed by that dramatic day when we open our doors for the first time.
For now, the sun splashes on the waters, mountains, and trees of Seattle, as midsummer reminds us of the magnificence of God’s creation - and provides inspiration for our new school crest (see more below).
As tempting as it is to hop on a bike and head for the hills, however, our small-but-growing CRJS leadership team is working hard in our “classroom/office” space pursuing our mission to provide a top-notch, college-preparatory education and four years of professional work experience to all those beautiful young people preparing to enter eighth grade this fall.
We feel that sense of urgency even more strongly in light of a story published this week in the New York Times. On a federal standardized test called the NAEP given across the U.S. in the fall of 2022, eighth graders scored an average of 256/500 in reading, and 271/500 in math, down from average scores of 260 and 280 just three years ago, before the COVID pandemic. According to the Times, “Achievement declined across lines of race, class and geography. But in math, especially, vulnerable children - including Black, Native American and low-income students - experienced bigger drops.”
Despite the deleterious impacts of the pandemic, we are surrounded by signs of hope. Chief among them is our Next Gen crew, a collection of twenty and thirty-somethings who have rallied around our school. Many of the Next Gen are graduates of Jesuit/Catholic schools, and especially motivated to ensure that all students in south Seattle have access to the same excellent education they received.
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