Atlanta Retreat
“Any genuine teaching will result , if successful, in someone's knowing how to bring about a better condition of things than existed before.” John Dewey
The motto of Atlanta is Resurgens, resurrecting in English. This past week, 19 presidents of Cristo Rey Schools from across the country met for a spiritual retreat at the Ignatius Retreat house in Atlanta. This was the first one in the history of the network and I can assure you it will not be the last. Our network began in 2002 but the idea was born in Chicago in 1996. I have been deeply involved since October, 2000.
In the urban school "business," secondary schools seem to be the ones that give most trepidation. Many charter management organizations shy away from high school. There are plenty of exceptional exceptions such as the Match School in Boston and High Tech High in San Diego and plenty in between the coasts most notably the Noble Street Schools in Chicago and an exciting newcomer in the Catalyst Schools with their first year school, Maria Catalyst. There are many more great examples, these are among the ones that I have visited.
The singular focus of Cristo Rey schools is to provide high quality educational resources to an urban population who has been left with little or no opportunity besides the occasional bright spot in a particular public school. So, in my mind, Cristo Rey schools are providing the service that once was provided by public schools in our cities. The economics of the Cristo Rey model is really the genius behind the whole idea.
But why am I in Atlanta at a Jesuit retreat house with 18 other pioneers? "The man behind the curtain" is my answer. The Wizard of Oz is familiar to all. The great success of our schools on so many fronts...college acceptance, persistence and graduation rates are well above national averages...the work experience that all our students receive is unparalleled and giving them something that even their elite private school counterparts can't get...all of this is not unlike the Emerald City. When the Wizard is revealed we hear, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" I am in Atlanta to get back to what is the essence of the driving force behind all Cristo Rey schools...the Gospel! Sometimes along the way, I think all of us need that to be resurrected within us.
Oh no! Immediately hackles go up...church and state...prosthelytizing...anti-Catholicism...anti-religion...on and on. When the surgeon who performs your by-pass with tremendous skill and success...do you question his motivation for becoming a doctor, do you wonder what religion he is? Do you begrudge him if he does the sign of the cross before operating? Our schools came as a response to the Gospel...the Samaritan did not care that the beaten man was Jewish and that their ideologies would make them enemies, he responded to another person's great need. That is what we are doing.
So in Atlanta we got back to those roots...we shared our common experiences...we shared our fears and our successes. We will all return to our schools today and get back at it. I will return with a deep confidence that we are not alone in this bold adventure of urban secondary education...we have each other, we have our students and families, we have our supporters and friends, and quietly behind that curtain we have God. Peace!
