Chicago Jesuit Academy: To Find God in All Things and Be Men and Women for Others

By Jae Rule
Development Officer

OUR MISSION

Chicago Jesuit Academy is a loving, academically rigorous, tuition-free Catholic elementary school for students and families from resilient communities impacted by historical disinvestment.

We use small class sizes, extended school days and a 10-month school year to give personal care to our students and help them develop as whole persons. CJA directly provides or facilitates access to year-round learning opportunities for our students and alumni including supporting access and scholarships to sleepaway and day camps during June and July.  We accompany our alumni on their unique paths to meaningful employment and support them throughout high school, post-secondary education and the start of their careers, always welcoming them back as leaders at CJA and in the broader community.

We call on one another to find God in all things and be men and women for others who seek intellectual excellence and are loving, religious, open to growth and committed to justice. 

EDUCATION IN ACTION

A few weeks ago, students in our Engineering and Robotics co-curriculars took a trip to The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. They saw demos inspired by modern physics, AR/VR and robotics; caught frisbees thrown by a robot in the quad; learned how to solder components onto a printed circuit board and won a teamwork award from the college students during a competition to optimize a balloon-powered car.

The highlight of the day, however, was a pizza dinner with CJA alumnus Luis Tenezaca (‘19). He is currently finishing up his junior year studying Electrical Engineering at U of I. These teams take trips to the school every year, and Luis has been adamant about always taking time out of his busy schedule to sit with the students following in his footsteps. He gets to know the students, explains the hard work that went into his journey to becoming an engineering student at U of I and gives them insight on what school looks like each day for him.

We think it is imperative that our students get opportunities to try new things and see themselves in the spaces they aspire to academically and professionally. We’re so grateful to Luis and blessed to witness our students grow and learn. 

NEW GROWTH AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Last September, a foundation invited us to dream boldly about what we could do in partnership with them to create even more educational opportunities for young people in Chicago. In response to this humbling invitation, we have begun exploring two avenues of significant growth.

The first is the creation of a second elementary-school campus in Chicago to help more students earn an excellent education, become meaningfully employed and grow as young people who are committed to being men and women for others. We know how to do that work well, and we have built strong relationships with high schools, colleges and universities that have helped our alumni pursue careers in finance, engineering, medicine, law and education with generous scholarship support.

The second is the development of an innovative vocational training program for high school students and recent high school graduates who want to pursue careers in the trades as industrial electricians or machinists.  Developing meaningful pathways into the trades has proven to be difficult despite strong industry demand and great interest among a subset of motivated and talented high school students. Our hope is to help destigmatize these career paths and give a select group of students the training they will need to access well-paying, in-demand jobs so they can have meaningful careers as they live as men and women for others.   

WHY OUR MISSION MATTERS

At the start of the 2024-2025 school year, 46% of our enrolled students were testing two or more grades below their grade level in Mathematics. These numbers were largely concentrated in our newly enrolled 3rd-5th graders. At the close of the school year in May, 91% of our students were testing above, at or within one grade of their grade level.

When you give students the resources, opportunities and consistency they need to succeed, they do precisely that. To speak from my own perspective as an alumnus, the intentionality that CJA brought to my life meant it quickly became a family I knew I could trust. Whether sending me to camps across the country or finding me summer opportunities to work in a law firm, this community helped me realize the importance of doing hard things and being uncomfortable, allowing me to see myself in spaces that seemed impossible to get to coming from the west side of Chicago. 

That network and the unconditional love CJA has given me and the many students that call this place home have built trust, relationships and opportunities for us all. 

THE KCCF IMPACT

As a tuition-free school for all of our students, our students’ families do not pay for them to attend CJA. This means we rely completely on the generosity of donors to provide our students with the resources they deserve. Our wrap-around services include meals and nutrition, a full-time nurse, a team of four full-time social workers, four full-time learning interventionalists and daily co-curricular activities. Your support would help us to continue to provide these services and hire more teachers to serve our students as CJA continues to grow.

This work would not be possible without good people who are passionate about it and who believe in the promise of the young men and women we serve. Please know we are grateful for your consideration of ways you might support these students. 

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