In its brief six-year history, San Miguel High School, located on the impoverished south side of Tucson, Arizona, has already attracted attention for its success. As a member of the Cristo Rey Network, the school adopted a corporate internship model and was closely followed by news outlets to see how the blend of work experience and college preparatory curriculum would serve its students from low socioeconomic populations with records of low educational performance. If this month’s news coverage is any indication—a perfect graduation record and recognition as a MetLife Breakthrough School--the school continues to exceed expectations.
     Fox 11 News, a local television station, broadcast a segment highlighting the school’s perfect graduation record, an accomplishment which distinguished San Miguel from all other Tucson area high schools. For the three years that it has had a senior class, San Miguel has seen every student graduate with a high school diploma. This year’s graduates added another perfect score: every senior was accepted into college.
     Principal Br. Nick Gonzales speaks of the school’s focused approach as “one flavor—college bound.” Many of San Miguel’s students are the first in their families to graduate from high school. The opportunities provided by a solid education give young people hope for a better life than the one their parents had. The corporate internship program, a defining aspect of the Cristo Rey model, demands hard work and commitment from its students, who each week integrate an eight-hour day of work at a local business with a full college preparatory course of study in the remaining four days. The high schoolers must also follow a strict business-dress code, but they seem to find a bright side even to that. Says student Arturo Sosa, “Sometimes I’m better dressed than my supervisor.” The Fox 11 segment can be viewed on the school’s website at http://www.fox11az.com/news/San-Miguel-High-Schools-perfect-graduation-rate-94840339.html
     Earlier, San Miguel was honored as one of ten 2010 MetLife/NASSP Breakthrough Schools. All of the ten awarded schools serve students in poor areas. Principal Leadership, a journal of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, carried a five-page article extolling the “culture of collaboration” among staff and teachers at San Miguel. The school was commended for the sense of purpose it instills in students, giving them “attitudes of self-confidence and determination.” To assist students in successfully integrating both the academic and business world experiences, the faculty collectively agreed to describe skill sets necessary for success using vocabulary common to both worlds. This vocabulary is consistently applied across all classes so that students always have a clear sense of expectations and performance.
     The complete article printed in Principal Leadership can be read here. [Copyright National Association of Secondary School Principals. For more information about NASSP programs and services, visit www.principals.org.]