Welcome to Cristo Rey St. Martin

Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep is one of the highest achieving urban schools in the Chicago area and in the Cristo Rey Network. Why?

COLLEGE READY

Our rigorous, supportive, college preparatory curriculum prepares all our students to enter and graduate from college.

We offer advanced placement classes for students looking for a challenge, tutoring and remediation for students who need it, and an intense college-counseling program that helps students select the right college, along with a range of extracurricular, service and athletic opportunities.

Inspiring Excellence
  • 98% of students achieved a GPA of 2.0 or greater
  • 76% of students achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher
  • 96% retention rate from freshman to senior year from 2019 to 2023
  • 79% of students graduate with at least one AP credit
Expanding Horizons
100% of our graduates have been accepted into four-year bachelor programs.
Transforming Communities
CRSM educates only 7% of all high school students in the area, however, 50% of bachelor’s degrees earned by local Pell grant eligible students are CRSM alumni.
To learn more about how the school helps students be College Ready, click here.

WORK PREPARED

We offer an innovative Corporate Work Study Program where students work five full days a month in area businesses to pay for a portion of their tuition and to gain professional experience.

Through this frontline work experience, students learn about the corporate world, connect academic coursework to the work they do at their on-the-job placements, are mentored by professionals in successful careers, and gain skills that will serve them beyond high school.

Inspiring Excellence
  • 95% of CRSM work-study partners expressed satisfaction with student performance, despite the challenges of remote work during 2021 and 2022.
  • Incoming freshmen each receive 50-plus hours of pre-job training.
Expanding Horizons
  • 84 Corporate Work Study Partners in the community, exposing students to a broad range of careers.

Transforming Communities
  • 25% of Cristo Rey St. Martin alumni currently work full-time for a business partner.
To learn more about how the school helps students be Work Prepared, click here.

COMMITTED TO FAITH AND JUSTICE

Our mission is to educate young people to become men and women of faith, purpose and service. We provide our students with the opportunity to develop faith in God and to understand that there is a purpose to their life. It is our responsibility to help our students discover and develop their unique gifts and talents.

We believe we are called to contribute to a better world, to serve others, and to be on the side of those who are left behind. Everything we do is based on these values. We strive to help our students and families build the type of community, the type of world, that they envision.

Inspiring Excellence
Students volunteered 2700-plus hours in the last year throughout Waukegan and North Chicago.
Expanding Horizons
100% of CRSM students participate by the time they graduate even though there is no service requirement.
Transforming Communities
CRSM alumni are returning to the Waukegan and North Chicago communities to make a difference. They are teachers in area schools, workers in local non-profit organizations, and employees of local corporations. Beyond that, they regularly volunteer to work with others in the community.
To learn more about how the school helps students live out their values, click here.