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NCNWR 16th Annual Conference 
SEPTEMBER 21-24, 2010
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News

Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Select President of New Cristo Rey High School

May 18, 2009
Region 6

DELHI TOWNSHIP, OH -- The Leadership Council of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati has selected Sister Jeanne Bessette, OSF, Ed.D. as the president of the newly forming Cristo Rey high school in Cincinnati. De Paul Cristo Rey High School is named after St. Vincent De Paul whose dedication to the underserved inspired St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the foundress of the Sisters of Charity. The school is set to open in 2010; the site is still under consideration.

Sister Jeanne Bessette is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate, Joliet, Ill., where she served on the leadership team from 2000 until 2008.

Prior to her ministry in congregational leadership, Sister Jeanne served as principal of Trinity High School in River Forest, Ill., from 1992 until 2000. As principal, she established the International Baccalaureate honors curriculum as well as initiated multicultural programs in the fine arts and curriculum. During that time, Sister also chaired the High School Executive Committee, representing all 48 Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Sister Jeanne sees the career move to head up De Paul Cristo Rey High School in Cincinnati as an opportunity "to focus on what is ideal for [De Paul Cristo Rey High School] students so that they can become their best selves." She added, "The responsibility for education does not rest solely upon parents, but on the entire human community. Institutions must participate in the educational process: churches, social services, businesses and government. All of these have resources far beyond the means of many parents."

After a one-year feasibility study, the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, the Cristo Rey Network board of directors, and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk approved a new model of secondary education in Cincinnati. The newly approved De Paul Cristo Rey High School, based on the Cristo Rey model, will offer extraordinary opportunities for economically disadvantaged high school students to afford a college preparatory education.

The Cristo Rey (which means "Christ the King" in Spanish) model provides for students to attend school four days per week and work one day per week in a local business, earning more than 70 percent of their tuition. The students fill entry-level clerical positions in local companies and non-profit organizations.

This work component uniquely enriches the students’ education by engaging them in learning environments that they normally would not experience. This theory of education enlists the business community in empowering highly motivated, economically disadvantaged young people with professional skills and the initiative needed to be successful in college.

Across the country, the Cristo Rey high school model is known as "the school that works." Within this model, the Corporate Work-Study Program ensures each school’s long-term success and financial sustainability. By collaborating with local businesses and not-for-profit organizations, Cristo Rey schools are changing the face of urban education in the United States. 

As the new president of De Paul Cristo Rey High School, Sister Jeanne looks forward to providing the resources for students to "grasp and apply knowledge from different systems at work in the world: mathematics, sciences, language, history, government, economics and religion." She added, "There is nothing typical about a Cristo Rey high school; no two days are the same. The enterprise of educators is both a technical and creative one. It is a vocation and a career. It requires practitioners -- teachers, aides, administrators, counselors -- to be scientists and artists, humans and wizards, creators, coaches and counselors, challengers and consolers. It is one of the vocations that call for the greatest self-sacrifice and the humblest self-confidence."

Sister Jeanne summed up her educational philosophy: "Great education, for both the student and the educator, is never for the timid, but it is always for those with the profound hope that people can change the world and the sublime faith that every individual has the right and responsibility to try."

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The Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, whose Motherhouse is located in Delhi Township, a western suburb of Cincinnati, is an apostolic Catholic women’s religious community that exists to carry out the gospel of Jesus Christ through service and prayer in the world. Sisters, using their professional talents as ministers of education, health care, pastoral and social services, currently live and serve in 17 U.S. states and in Guatemala and Mexico. They also sponsor institutions to address education, health care and social service needs, with particular concern for direct service to the poor. More than 450 Sisters are joined by 172 Associates.

Visit the Sisters of Charity Web site at www.srcharitycinti.org.

Contact: Donata Glassmeyer, Director of Communications
513.347.5466
donata.glassmeyer@srcharitycinti.org