A South Seattle high school known for combining classroom learning with real-world job experience is making room for more students.
Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle broke ground this week on its new Norcliffe Academic Center, a building school leaders say will expand academic opportunities while supporting a unique educational model that places students in professional workplaces throughout high school.
The school currently partners with 55 companies across the region, including Costco, Microsoft and Alaska Airlines, through its Corporate Work Study Program, according to Principal Dr. Nadia Despenza Guy.
“We are the only school in Seattle that sends 14-year-olds to the work setting,” Despenza Guy said. “They do a corporate work-study internship four years out of the years they attend our school, and then they also have a college prep education.”
One day each week, students leave the classroom and report to jobs at partner companies, gaining professional experience while helping offset the cost of their education through earned wages.
For 11th grader Meron Keleta, who works with Costco through the program, the experience has helped build both confidence and communication skills.
“I improved a lot over the years from freshman year to 11th grade year,” Keleta said. “I see a lot of improvement with me, education-wise and communication-wise.”
The expansion comes as the school looks to serve more students and provide additional learning spaces.
“We’ll have a state-of-the-art chemistry lab. We’ll have a huge amphitheater. We’ll have an indoor-outdoor space,” Despenza Guy said.
The current campus has nine classrooms. School leaders say the new facility will help create a learning environment that matches students’ ambitions while making private Jesuit education more accessible to working families.
Many Cristo Rey students come from under-resourced neighborhoods, and school leaders say the work-study program helps students build professional networks before they graduate from college.
“They need to make those connections so that when they go to college and graduate from college, they actually know someone so they can get a job right away,” said Despenza Guy.
The groundbreaking also comes as the Washington State Board of Education considers changes to graduation requirements that could be discussed during the 2027 legislative session. The proposed changes aim to provide students with greater flexibility as they prepare for life after high school.
Keleta said students who enter the work-study program should keep an open mind when exploring career options.
“It’s OK if you don’t find the right work-study program,” he said. “It’s better to know what you don’t like versus what you do like.”
The Norcliffe Academic Center is scheduled to open in July 2027.