DREAMS COME IN ALL forms. They may seem hard to envision in the afternoon light slanting into a hollowed out former office building, but they are coming into focus.
By fall, the now cavernous 60,000-square-foot building will be bursting with the shouts, dreams and ambitions of the students and staff at Cristo Rey Orange County High School.
A little more than two years after it launched in 2023, the Catholic school is on the doorstep of a permanent campus. The inaugural class of students who enrolled as freshmen will have a chance to enjoy a senior year in brand-new digs.
As President Stephen Holte and Principal Karelyn Roberts went on an informal walkthrough, they let their imaginations loose.
Holte, who in college considered architecture as a possible future, could see the class and meeting rooms in his mind’s eye. He pointed out where light will flow into the lobby through stained glass windows once the school chapel is built.
“I can see it for sure,” Holte said. “This is beyond our wildest dreams. Our plans for the school were bold and audacious, and this exceeds them.”
Meanwhile, Roberts wandered over to a corner area.
“This is where my office will be,” she shared.
Although she can’t exactly imagine how the completed school will look, Roberts said, “I can hear it. I can hear the joyful noise of conversations and laughter.”
Although these were momentary fanciful flights, they won’t be for long.
CLEARING THE WAY
In November, the Santa Ana City Council unanimously approved plans to transform part of the SOCO Harbor office park in the city’s Southwest corner off Harbor Blvd. into a new permanent campus. By receiving a conditional use permit for the property, purchased by the school for $20 million, Cristo Rey cleared the last major administrative hurdle.
In the fall, the school will move from the cozy confines of its current 23,000-square-foot home, a former elementary school at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Santa Ana. In addition to the large building formerly occupied by INSPYR Solutions, a tech company, the school will occupy a floor in an adjoining building. The office park is a nine-acre campus with four buildings that are home to a wide array of national and high-end local businesses. This could be key, as Cristo Rey, whose motto is “The School That Works,” offers and requires students to be employed in work-study programs as part of its curriculum.
“This property is unique with possibilities,” said Holte, who will be surrounded by potential school partners for the student workforce.
Although the building that will house the school is only a husk right now, Bryan Ibarra of Slater Builders, which is handling the multimillion-dollar renovation, said work will “move quickly,” now that all debris has been removed.
A NEW BRAND
Cristo Rey Orange County is one of the newer members in a national network of 41 independently owned career-focused, college-preparatory schools that make up the Cristo Rey Institute. Launched in 1996, the network has become, Holte said, a “proven national brand with proven results.”
It was established under the authority of the pope to participate on behalf of the Catholic Church. Although not operated by the Diocese of Orange, the Santa Ana school works closely with the Church.
Open exclusively to area students from low-income working-class families, Cristo Rey offers a visionary educational model that combines a rigorous academic curriculum with a real world Corporate Work-Study Program. Through the extracurricular program, students report to part-time jobs at least five days a month. They use a portion of their earnings to help fund their education while gaining professional experience. Students are also mentored by professionals at work. With more than 60 corporate partners from fields including health, business, technology, law and finance, students are exposed to a vast array of practical and cutting-edge possibilities and career pathways.
Holte says the school plans to add 100 more partner companies by the time the 2026-27 class graduates to ensure every student has an opportunity for a high-quality work-study job.
Another school saying is, “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.” For many students the mere exposure to professional environments can open opportunities and concepts that were outside anything in their frame of reference.
As an example, Roberts and Holte tell a story of a student working at a hospital owned by a corporate partner. While at work, the student met a surgeon on site who invited him to view a surgery. Now, the student, who is considering nursing, has been exposed to another potential path.
For the time being, Cristo Rey Orange County, home of the Crocodiles, looks forward with unrestrained enthusiasm.
“This new campus will allow us to serve twice as many students, who will become the business and community leaders of tomorrow,” Holte said. “We are eternally grateful to our families, donors and the City of Santa Ana for believing in the Cristo Rey model and supporting our mission to empower young people by helping them attain the education and workplace experience they could otherwise only dream about.”