More Than a Dream: The Cristo Rey Story: How One School’s Vision is Changing the World

he Cristo Rey story is one of the more improbable and inspiring educational success stories in decades. Beginning with an audacious dream–to start a new college prep school for the children of Hispanic working poor–the Jesuits in Chicago set to work. But there were many questions that needed to be answered: Would parents support a demanding prep school? Could students overcome deficient academic backgrounds? How could such a school be financed?

Despite many real and potential barriers, the Jesuits persisted–and in 1996, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School opened its doors in Pilsen, an extremely poor, predominantly Mexican-immigrant neighborhood on Chicago’s Lower West side.

In More Than a Dream, G. R. Kearney shows how one daring vision became a reality and has turned into a resounding success. Through Cristo Rey’s innovative curriculum, creative financing model, and intense devotion to the needs of Hispanic students, the lives of thousands of families continue to be changed. In demonstrating how Cristo Rey has sparked an educational revolution in urban America, the book leaves every reader with a bold challenge: Attempt to change what seems unchangeable.

Cristo Rey is magical. What you see is that hope, that optimism.
-Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation,
quoted in Time magazine