100% of seniors at Detroit school get college offers

Cristo Rey High School senior Teojineya (Teo) Tomlin applied to 13 colleges and has been accepted at 13 colleges, including Fordham University. (She just applied to a 14th, Loyola, and is awaiting word.)

The 17-year-old who lives on Detroit's east side knew she was batting a thousand. But what she was happy to learn this week is that her senior classmates were all hitting home runs, too.

Every senior at Cristo has been accepted to college for the fall, hitting 100% for the fourth year in a row.

Its 58 seniors filled out more than 500 applications and received 260 acceptances. Seniors also have earned $2.5 million and climbing in merit-based scholarships during the past four years.

And the schools? They range from Michigan State, Western Michigan and Wayne State to Fordham, Tuskegee and Howard University — 27 colleges in all.

That track record is important to the small Catholic school in southwest Detroit that has three mandates: To serve low-income families across the city of Detroit; to provide neighborhood children the same education they would get at an expensive, private, school; and to ensure that graduating seniors get into college.

All year, Principal Sue Rowe posted a list of all seniors on the door next to the school gymnasium. Every time a student got an acceptance letter, she put the school next to the student's name. And the seniors checked the list every day.

"I was probably toward the middle (of the pack a few weeks ago)," Teo said. "I was a little worried because I saw so many other people had gotten their college acceptances. But I knew mine would come in."

When a name on the list had a school beside it, it was cause for celebration, said Teo, who plans to become a pediatrician.

And that is what the school did Thursday at a cake and picture-taking ceremony in the gym.

"It's a good feeling and exciting," Teo said of the accomplishment. "I knew all of my friends are on the right track for their lives."

As people across the state analyze how Detroit children are taught, Detroit parents are looking at options themselves: charter schools, a district comprising previously failing schools, private schools and parochial schools. But guess who else is paying attention? Their children. Many of the seniors at Cristo Rey chose the school because of what they had learned about it.

"My grandpa read about the school in the newspaper and encouraged me to go to a Catholic school. He went to a Catholic school," said Dominic Barash, 17, who was accepted to Eastern, Wayne State, Bowling Green State, Toledo and Cleveland State universities and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Dominic said all seniors should consider Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson's motto: "The separation is in the preparation."

Cristo Rey, on the campus of the Most Holy Redeemer Church in southwest Detroit, is sponsored by the Basilian Fathers and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It also is part of a network of schools whose mission is to provide a college-preparatory experience to students without the means to attend private prep schools.

Rowe said her goal isn't to criticize public or charter schools, but Cristo Rey has gotten some students "who have been underserved educationally, yet they have potential."

"When we get them, they might be a grade or two below grade level," she said. "Our program helps improve their reading writing, math and English. ... It doesn't mean we don't have right kids. We just have to free them to feel they're valued, to feel they can compete, to feel they can get into the college of their choice, and that they have choices."

Tuition is about $12,000 a year, said President Michael Khoury. But $7,000 is covered by a unique work-study program: Each student works five days a month for school sponsors, such as General Motors. Their salaries go toward tuition; school staff raise most of the rest.

Teo, for instance, works at the GM Tech Center in Warren.

At a cake-filled celebration of the seniors' accomplishments Thursday, Khoury told the students that sometimes people forget that Cristo Rey is there. But the staff has a new mission: Make sure more people get to know the school and the impact it has on students.

"I get teary-eyed once a day hearing the kids' stories, good news, family updates," said Naomi Howrani, the school's director of development. "They deal with so much, but they're so hopeful. You hear so many negative things today about schools in Detroit, whether it's public, private or charter. But this school is really special. When we ask kids why they like it here, they said it's because they feel safe.

"I'm so proud of what they've accomplished."

So should we all.

Contact Rochelle Riley: rriley99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @rochelleriley.