North Las Vegas school sends students into corporate offices
Cristo Rey St. Viator College Preparatory High School places students in paid jobs at 78 local companies to cover tuition and build professional skills.
By Julia Wang ·
A high school in North Las Vegas places its students in paid positions at local businesses to pay their own tuition.
Cristo Rey St. Viator College Preparatory High School operates a work-study model that sends students to work in corporate offices, government agencies, and non-profits.
The Catholic school opened in 2019 and currently serves 255 students from families with modest incomes.
Students work five days per month for six to seven hours a day.
The average hourly wage is between $23 and $24.
Their salaries go directly to the school to cover most of the tuition.
Amanda Oddo, the director of operations for the corporate work-study program, said the school prepares students to be professional and responsible from their first day.
Evelyn, a junior who works at Steelman Partners, an architecture firm, said she enjoys the variety of her tasks.
She handles administrative duties, including managing vacation balances for 70 employees and preparing Halloween gift bags.
Evelyn said she has learned about human resources and building inspections during her work.
Melissa Varela, the human resources manager at Steelman Partners, said the company explains the reasoning behind tasks to the student.
The school transports students to and from their jobs via school vans on specific days each week, with Fridays serving as a rotation day for all grade levels from 9th through 12th grade, where students are typically between 14 and 18 years old, according to the school's structure described in the source text, though the text specifies 'from 14-year-old freshmen to 18-year-old seniors' and 'each grade level works the same day each week, and Fridays rotate', implying a specific schedule not fully detailed but the key facts are 5 days/month, 6-7 hours, $23-24/hr, and transport provided. Let's stick to the explicit facts: Students work five days a month, six to seven hours a day, earning an average of $23 to $24 per hour. School vans transport them to their jobs. Every grade level, from freshmen age 14 to seniors age 18, participates in the program. Each grade works on the same designated day each week, with Fridays serving as a rotation day for all students. Jason DiOrio, the school's director of business alliances, said gaining workplace experience at age 14 or 15 changes students' lives by teaching them how to interact with adults and manage time. The school requires families to have an income below 250% of the federal poverty line, which is a maximum of $82,500 for a family of four. The work-study program and scholarships cover the entire tuition, leaving families to pay between $25 and $250 per month. Admission requires interviews with parents and students, letters of recommendation, and proficiency in English if it is not the student's first language. The school is part of the Cristo Rey network, which includes 41 schools nationwide. It is the only Cristo Rey school in Nevada. The school reports 100% graduation rates and 100% university admission rates. Each student must apply to at least 10 colleges, with the average number of applications last year being 16. Most students are the first in their families to attend college. Of the 65 students in the class of 2026, all but two entered college directly. The remaining students attended a trade school for electricians or enlisted in the military. The school has grown from 20 partner companies to 78. Each student represents an investment of $9,250 for the employer. The school is located at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Pecos Road. DiOrio said the school is often described as a 'small secret' of North Las Vegas, and the administration wants to increase its visibility. The school maintains contact with students through their college graduation. A staff member stays in touch with each student until they complete their degree. The school has armed security personnel and requires visitors to pass through a locked access door and a second locked entry door after the gate is opened. Classes have small student-to-teacher ratios. Most jobs are administrative, including work at casinos, law firms, churches, car dealerships, social services, local governments, the Consulate of Mexico, and a veterinary clinic. Volunteers in Medicine allows bilingual students to work as medical interpreters. One student who did this last year is now studying nursing at UNLV with the goal of serving low-income women, according to Oddo.
