Diplomas in hand

A collage of photos of graduates Amy Arteaga, Paloma Rojas, and Amber Castaneda, first pictured as freshman students at Cristo Rey Fort Worth College Prep and later in their respective university/college graduations in 2026. (Courtesy photo)

The first graduating class from Cristo Rey Fort Worth College Prep is now graduating from college, a major milestone for a school with a powerful, innovative approach to education.

Cristo Rey FW President Dani Ray Barton said she’s been looking forward to the school’s founding class of 2022 graduating from college.

“This is a moment I’ve been thinking about for years,” Barton said.

When the school was first established in 2018 at the invitation of Bishop Michael Olson, it was located at a Terrell Heights property that once housed Our Mother of Mercy Catholic School. A year later, Cristo Rey Fort Worth moved to a 4.47-acre site on Altamesa Boulevard in south Fort Worth.

The student body and the campus continues to grow. This past fall, the campus opened a new STEAM Center with science labs, classrooms, and a theater.

“To see our students walking across college stages to receive their diplomas, it’s hard not to get emotional and feel good about what we do,” Barton said. “And we’re just getting started.”

The school graduated about 50 students in 2022 and now has 320 in four grades, with plans to grow to 400 - 425 students over the next several years.

Cristo Rey Fort Worth is part of the Cristo Rey Network of 41 schools across the country. Most students come from families with modest incomes and are usually the first in their families to attend college.

All students at Cristo Rey Network schools participate in a work-study program to help finance the cost of their education, gain real-world job experience, grow in self-confidence, and better understand the relevance of their education.

Cristo Rey Fort Worth has 75 work-study partners this year. Barton said the goal is to add another 10-15 partners for next year.

Every student takes rigorous college preparatory classes four days a week and works for a partner one day a week. Students are “drafted” by local businesses and organizations who employ them throughout the school year.

Support that lasts

Several Cristo Rey grads who just received college diplomas credit the school’s work-study program, rigorous academics, and strong support network for their success.

Paloma Rojas, 21, who just received a bachelor’s degree in business administration, economics, and marketing from the University of Texas at Arlington, said that Cristo Rey’s work-study program helped her “explore how it is in a corporate setting.”

Rojas worked at law firm Haynes Boone and at accounting and tax services company JTaylor while at Cristo Rey. A mentor at JTaylor helped her discover a career path. 

She began her college studies in music management but decided it wasn’t the best fit for her. Rojas reached out to her former JTaylor supervisor who connected her with a local marketing CEO to better understand opportunities in marketing with an emphasis on economics, a subject at which she excelled.

This fall, she will begin classes at UTA for a master of science in marketing research, one of the top-ranked programs of its kind.

Rojas said that Cristo Rey counselors also continued to provide help while she was in college, such as assisting her with filling out financial aid forms.

On the academic side, she said Cristo Rey required students to use a planner, and she’s continued that practice in college.

“That’s been really useful for me,” she said. “It’s a simpler way to organize assignments and homework, and you combine it with an app for reminders and appointments.”

She said her Cristo Rey experience did a great job preparing her for the future.

“I’d advise other students to take advantage of the resources Cristo Rey provides, like the corporate work-study program,” she said. “And reach out for help, if you need extra support.”

‘A perfect fit’

Amy Arteaga, 22, just completed her bachelor’s degree in marketing and graphic design at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and is working at the Fort Worth Club, which employed her in the work-study program her senior year at Cristo Rey and during the subsequent summers. She is considering future opportunities in marketing for hospitality or retail. Arteaga said Cristo Rey helped her a lot, especially with time management and organization.

“The college preparatory academics are very rigorous,” she said. “We’d have eight classes a day where we needed to stay on top of assignments. That prepared me for college.”

By comparison, three classes a day seemed easy, and Cristo Rey gave her skills to better manage her time in college.

Arteaga said Cristo Rey helped influence her decision of where to attend college. She looked for a small school because she wanted opportunities to connect with faculty.

“At Cristo Rey, the student-teacher ratio allows for personal connection and attention to growth. I wanted that in college, too,” she said.

She was searching for a small college with strong academics and a beautiful, walkable campus. Once she settled on Augustana College, she learned it was a Cristo Rey partner college, meaning they would provide extra financial aid.

“I think God wanted it to happen,” Arteaga said. “I was the only senior student to come, but since I came, more Cristo Rey students are coming here.”

She also appreciates the presentation skills she gained while in the Cristo Rey work-study program. At the end of every year, students are required to give a presentation to colleagues at their designated workplace.

“It made giving presentations throughout college that much easier,” said the Immaculate Heart of Mary parishioner.

Professors also commended her for professionalism in emails, something she gained in work-study.

She has advice for young students considering Cristo Rey.

“If you’re seeking to discover your personal strengths and find your calling, Cristo Rey would be a perfect fit for you.”

‘Investment in my future’

Amber Castaneda, 21, just received her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and a minor in sociology from the University of Richmond.

She had never been out of Texas when she and her mom visited the University of Richmond campus in Virginia her senior year at Cristo Rey.

Now she’s returning home to Fort Worth for her “dream job” in consumer marketing at GM Financial.

GM Financial employed her in Cristo Rey’s work-study program her junior and senior years and gave her an internship last summer, followed by the full-time job offer.

“It’s something completely different and unexpected compared to what I thought I’d do when I started at Cristo Rey at 14,” Castaneda said. “I knew it was an investment in my future, but it’s something completely different from my peers at other schools.”

At first, she wanted to go into architectural engineering, but a work-study year at an architectural engineering firm showed her that her strengths were more in math than engineering.

Cristo Rey counselors provided plenty of help while Castaneda was in college, from guidance on filling out FAFSA forms to advice on adding a major or minor.

While at the University of Richmond, Castaneda spent a year studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. She also volunteered at Cristo Rey Richmond and played tour guide when Cristo Rey Fort Worth students visited the campus.

Her advice for graduating high school students is simple.

“I talked to some seniors last week, and I told them to never stop dreaming, as cheesy as that sounds,” Castaneda said.

Cristo Rey also helped her develop perseverance.

Castaneda said, “In college I encountered so many bumps on the road where I thought this was the end of my college journey, but these are little hurdles we can overcome.”