Photo: Lucas Schroeder, Kate Schulte, and Mayra Gradilla

Ahead of the 2022-2023 school year, Cristo Rey says goodbye to several beloved employees, and welcomes new faculty and staff. For the first time, we are proud to advance two Cristo Rey alumni into school administration roles on the Academic Leadership Team.

Lucas Schroeder leaves Cristo Rey after four years of service as Principal. Former Dean of Students, Mayra Gradilla, will step forward as Interim Principal. President Antonio Ortiz has always seen Mayra’s potential to be a school leader. He recalls, “After much prayer and discernment, Mayra responded to me, ‘If I’m called to serve our community in this way, then I’m honored to do so.’ What I love about her response is she sees this as a call to serve.”  

We give a heartfelt thank you to Kate Schulte, Assistant Principal for Student Services and former mathematics teacher, who served the Cristo Rey mission for 15 years. We extend our gratitude to the employees and Jesuit Volunteers who are leaving us this year to pursue other opportunities: Paul Bubash (Campus Ministry), Citlally Delgado (College Counseling), Angel Rodriguez (Jesuit Volunteer), DiAnna Santillan (Jesuit Volunteer),  and Mary Ellen Toth (Librarian).

Cristo Rey welcomes a number of employees into their new or promoted roles including the promotion of two longtime teachers into administrative roles. Maria Luevano-Salazar ‘02, Spanish teacher, will now serve in a new role as Director of School Mission. Freshman biology teacher and assistant Athletics Director Jenn Swanson moves into the role of Director of Student Services and Educational Support. Karen Laureano ’11, counselor, will now serve as Director of School Culture. 

Additionally, Cristo Rey is pleased to announce the following additions to school staff: Lauren Bell (Advancement), Daisy Castillo (Alumni Relations), Jessica Cervantes ’07 (CWSP, Admissions), Jorge Escobar ’18 (Advancement), Isabel Hernandez ’16 (College Counseling), Jaqueline Romo (Campus Ministry), and Sahrish Russell (CWSP). We are excited to welcome back three alumni who will join Cristo Rey as Jesuit Volunteers this fall: Ailyn Cortez-Saldivar ’17, Patrick Reyes ’18, and Rachel Romero ’18. Fernanda Balderrama will also be joining Cristo Rey this year as a JV. We are especially proud to keep on two former Jesuit Volunteers as full-time Cristo Rey employees, alumna Lizbeth Delgado ’16 (Teacher) and Joanna Mena ’16 (College Counseling).

As of July 11

Photo left: Diego and Beverly with Mrs. Gilliat; Below: CR student leaders on tour at Christ the King Jesuit College Prep.


Student leaders from Cristo Rey schools came together in June for the third Cristo Rey Network Student Union for Mission Alignment (SUMA) student leadership conference. The purpose of the conference is to increase student leader voices in the future of the Cristo Rey Network, and to connect students across the Network on a different topic each year. The topic of this year’s SUMA conference focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives at Cristo Rey schools. Each network school nominated two student leaders to attend - a rising junior and rising senior. Eleven schools were represented this year. 

Through SUMA, Cristo Rey student leaders can participate in driving the continued growth and success of the Cristo Rey Network. Rising junior Beverly V. and rising senior Diego R. were nominated to represent Cristo Rey Jesuit. 

Prior to the conference, Beverly and Diego conducted research to make sure they had the tools they needed for productive and meaningful discussions. They spent time talking to different faculty, staff, and students to answer questions about ongoing DE&I issues at school. During the conference, the student leaders collectively made a presentation to the Board of the Cristo Rey Network from their discussions. 

Rising junior Beverly shared, “I think SUMA was a good experience for all of us. It was amazing to see how we would all bond over the places we lived in and over the differences between schools. I was really happy to be able to share the joy and the beauty of being a Cristo Rey community, and I hope that the change we discuss will be the change our future Cristo Rey students enjoy.” 

It was not all work for the student leaders at the conference. In addition to meeting new friends from other Cristo Rey schools, the group toured Cristo Rey Jesuit, as well as Christ the King Jesuit College Prep in Chicago and Cristo Rey St. Martin in Waukegan, and had a great time together on an outing to Navy Pier.

"SUMA was a great experience, it allowed me to meet other student leaders from Cristo Rey schools all over the country,” rising senior Diego said. "We discussed the initiatives that our schools have regarding DE&I. I met lots of cool people and thanks to this conference me and my peers were able to come up with new ideas for our school. I am glad the Cristo Rey Network offers these opportunities to students.”