About
From the President’s Desk:
DCR in 2026-27:
New Year, New Partners & New Traditions
As I settle into my first academic year at Detroit Cristo Rey High School, I want to take the opportunity to update our DCR stakeholders on our key priorities and what exciting things are and will be happening at our school this year.
Let’s start with Draft Day. If the NFL can have a Draft Day — why can’t we? On Sept. 1 we made DCR history with the first-ever Draft Day for our incoming seniors. It was thrilling and rewarding to watch students hear their names called and learn which Corporate Work Study (CWS) partner they are going to spend their final school year with.
Draft Day exceeded our expectations and I want to thank everyone who participated and worked to make it a success. Bringing our students together in one room with employer representatives was a powerful reminder of how these partnerships provide our young people with real-world experience, professional confidence and a clearer path to success in college and beyond.
Just as Draft Day spotlighted the celebration side of CWS, we are also growing our number of partners. Over the past several months we have added 13 new companies and organizations, bringing our total to more than 70 across southeast Michigan and ensuring that our students have a myriad of options to explore in diverse industries and roles.
I am particularly excited about a new partnership we created with Huntington Bank’s operations in southeast Michigan. Working with Regional President Mike Land and his team, we developed and launched a new program this fall where eight juniors are part of a unique and customized rotation. Over the course of this academic year students will spend time in regional banking, technology, finance, marketing, treasury management, commercial banking and community development.
This type of comprehensive exposure to the financial services industry is a new area for our students, and I am so pleased at what they will be learning about the many career pathways available at Huntington and other organizations like it.
We have also added significant resources to our academic team by naming two full-time assistant principals.
Sydney Redigan is now Assistant Principal of Academics. Sydney joined Detroit Cristo Rey in 2015 as an English teacher and has served as department head as well as Dean of Academics while continuing to teach.
Hillary Sesi is now Assistant Principal of Student Life. Hillary started at Detroit Cristo Rey in 2014 as the school counselor for all grade levels. She led the Social Emotional Counseling Department for 10 years and has served as the Director of Student and Family Life for two years.
These changes enabled us to streamline our reporting structures and provide stronger support for faculty, staff, students, and families while remaining focused on our mission of forming young people of faith, purpose, and excellence. They are already paying off. I am proud to report we have expanded and elevated our academic offerings to include six honors courses, eight advanced placement courses, as well as college-level dual enrollment courses at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Whether it is continuing to elevate our robust and rigorous academic programs to support and challenge our students or ensuring that we are incorporating what our CWS partners are seeing in emerging skills and knowledge base, DCR will continue to look for ways to ensure that our students are both college and career ready.
Looking ahead, I want people to know DCR is dedicated to ensuring that our students have the resources and opportunities to help foster their academic success, career readiness and spiritual development. We also continue to provide additional resources and programs to help not just our students, but their families, as well as our surrounding community, ensuring that DCR is a beacon of hope and support throughout our Southwest Detroit community.
Un Salud–
Bill McGrail
From the President’s Desk:
DCR in 2026-27:
New Year, New Partners & New Traditions
As I settle into my first academic year at Detroit Cristo Rey High School, I want to take the opportunity to update our DCR stakeholders on our key priorities and what exciting things are and will be happening at our school this year.
Let’s start with Draft Day. If the NFL can have a Draft Day — why can’t we? On Sept. 1 we made DCR history with the first-ever Draft Day for our incoming seniors. It was thrilling and rewarding to watch students hear their names called and learn which Corporate Work Study (CWS) partner they are going to spend their final school year with.
Draft Day exceeded our expectations and I want to thank everyone who participated and worked to make it a success. Bringing our students together in one room with employer representatives was a powerful reminder of how these partnerships provide our young people with real-world experience, professional confidence and a clearer path to success in college and beyond.
Just as Draft Day spotlighted the celebration side of CWS, we are also growing our number of partners. Over the past several months we have added 13 new companies and organizations, bringing our total to more than 70 across southeast Michigan and ensuring that our students have a myriad of options to explore in diverse industries and roles.
I am particularly excited about a new partnership we created with Huntington Bank’s operations in southeast Michigan. Working with Regional President Mike Land and his team, we developed and launched a new program this fall where eight juniors are part of a unique and customized rotation. Over the course of this academic year students will spend time in regional banking, technology, finance, marketing, treasury management, commercial banking and community development.
This type of comprehensive exposure to the financial services industry is a new area for our students, and I am so pleased at what they will be learning about the many career pathways available at Huntington and other organizations like it.
We have also added significant resources to our academic team by naming two full-time assistant principals.
Sydney Redigan is now Assistant Principal of Academics. Sydney joined Detroit Cristo Rey in 2015 as an English teacher and has served as department head as well as Dean of Academics while continuing to teach.
Hillary Sesi is now Assistant Principal of Student Life. Hillary started at Detroit Cristo Rey in 2014 as the school counselor for all grade levels. She led the Social Emotional Counseling Department for 10 years and has served as the Director of Student and Family Life for two years.
These changes enabled us to streamline our reporting structures and provide stronger support for faculty, staff, students, and families while remaining focused on our mission of forming young people of faith, purpose, and excellence. They are already paying off. I am proud to report we have expanded and elevated our academic offerings to include six honors courses, eight advanced placement courses, as well as college-level dual enrollment courses at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Whether it is continuing to elevate our robust and rigorous academic programs to support and challenge our students or ensuring that we are incorporating what our CWS partners are seeing in emerging skills and knowledge base, DCR will continue to look for ways to ensure that our students are both college and career ready.
Looking ahead, I want people to know DCR is dedicated to ensuring that our students have the resources and opportunities to help foster their academic success, career readiness and spiritual development. We also continue to provide additional resources and programs to help not just our students, but their families, as well as our surrounding community, ensuring that DCR is a beacon of hope and support throughout our Southwest Detroit community.
Un Salud–
Bill McGrail
From the President’s Desk:
DCR in 2026-27:
New Year, New Partners & New Traditions
As I settle into my first academic year at Detroit Cristo Rey High School, I want to take the opportunity to update our DCR stakeholders on our key priorities and what exciting things are and will be happening at our school this year.
Let’s start with Draft Day. If the NFL can have a Draft Day — why can’t we? On Sept. 1 we made DCR history with the first-ever Draft Day for our incoming seniors. It was thrilling and rewarding to watch students hear their names called and learn which Corporate Work Study (CWS) partner they are going to spend their final school year with.
Draft Day exceeded our expectations and I want to thank everyone who participated and worked to make it a success. Bringing our students together in one room with employer representatives was a powerful reminder of how these partnerships provide our young people with real-world experience, professional confidence and a clearer path to success in college and beyond.
Just as Draft Day spotlighted the celebration side of CWS, we are also growing our number of partners. Over the past several months we have added 13 new companies and organizations, bringing our total to more than 70 across southeast Michigan and ensuring that our students have a myriad of options to explore in diverse industries and roles.
I am particularly excited about a new partnership we created with Huntington Bank’s operations in southeast Michigan. Working with Regional President Mike Land and his team, we developed and launched a new program this fall where eight juniors are part of a unique and customized rotation. Over the course of this academic year students will spend time in regional banking, technology, finance, marketing, treasury management, commercial banking and community development.
This type of comprehensive exposure to the financial services industry is a new area for our students, and I am so pleased at what they will be learning about the many career pathways available at Huntington and other organizations like it.
We have also added significant resources to our academic team by naming two full-time assistant principals.
Sydney Redigan is now Assistant Principal of Academics. Sydney joined Detroit Cristo Rey in 2015 as an English teacher and has served as department head as well as Dean of Academics while continuing to teach.
Hillary Sesi is now Assistant Principal of Student Life. Hillary started at Detroit Cristo Rey in 2014 as the school counselor for all grade levels. She led the Social Emotional Counseling Department for 10 years and has served as the Director of Student and Family Life for two years.
These changes enabled us to streamline our reporting structures and provide stronger support for faculty, staff, students, and families while remaining focused on our mission of forming young people of faith, purpose, and excellence. They are already paying off. I am proud to report we have expanded and elevated our academic offerings to include six honors courses, eight advanced placement courses, as well as college-level dual enrollment courses at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Whether it is continuing to elevate our robust and rigorous academic programs to support and challenge our students or ensuring that we are incorporating what our CWS partners are seeing in emerging skills and knowledge base, DCR will continue to look for ways to ensure that our students are both college and career ready.
Looking ahead, I want people to know DCR is dedicated to ensuring that our students have the resources and opportunities to help foster their academic success, career readiness and spiritual development. We also continue to provide additional resources and programs to help not just our students, but their families, as well as our surrounding community, ensuring that DCR is a beacon of hope and support throughout our Southwest Detroit community.
Un Salud–
Bill McGrail
Our Mission & Vision
Our Mission
Detroit Cristo Rey High School provides an excellent college-preparatory Catholic high school education, in the Cristo Rey model, to students with limited economic resources in Detroit. The school emphasizes faith, morals and service to the community. Through its Corporate Work Study Program, the school fosters skills and attitudes important in the workplace, such as responsibility, determination and respect for self and others.
In the finest tradition of Catholic outreach, we welcome families of all denominations. With a challenging and supportive college preparatory program, we equip students with the core knowledge and competencies needed for college and the workplace. Our ultimate goal is to enable students to gain the skills to be successful in life and the commitment to make a difference in their families, their neighborhoods and the world.
Our Vision
Creating access to and participation in life-changing experiences in faith, academics, professional work, service and personal growth that help Detroit’s youth realize a lifetime of success on their journey to, through and beyond college.
God, grant us the grace to dream wildly, act boldly, and love generously. Teach us goodness, discipline, and knowledge that we may grow in love, faith, and courage. Empower us to take the gifts you have given us out into the world in service to all for your greater glory. Immaculate Heart of Mary, intercede for us. Cristo Rey, hear our prayer. Amen.
Mission Effectiveness Standards
The Mission Effectiveness Standards articulate the shared mission and identity of the Cristo Rey Network of schools. Taken as a whole, these Standards establish the intent to which schools agree to operate, and by which they can fulfill their mission and empower students to succeed in college and life as productive, faith-filled individuals.
A Cristo Rey School:
Core Educational Beliefs
The Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Congregation of St. Basil foster excellence in education by urging commitment to these deeply held beliefs:
