REV. JOHN P. FOLEY, S.J.
John P. Foley, S.J., is the President of the Cristo Rey Network, an association of Catholic high schools that serve urban young people through the innovative work-study model. Rev. Foley founded Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago in 1996, offering a college preparatory education for the children of immigrant families of Chicago’s near southwest side.
A native of Chicago, Foley entered the Society of Jesus in 1954 and was ordained a priest in 1967. Fr. Foley spent part of his thirty four years in Peru working in three of Peru’s five Jesuit-sponsored K-12 schools, serving as President in two of the schools. During the 70’s, Fr. Foley launched a program that brought Jesuit high school students from the United States to Peru for several weeks each summer. This program was instrumental is deepening the faith of these young people.
In 1995, at the request of his Provincial, Fr. Foley returned to Chicago to be part of a team planning a new Jesuit high school that would serve Mexican immigrant children on Chicago’s south side. The school, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, opened in 1996, and Father Foley served as its first President. Father Foley embraced the corporate work study program because it engaged the business community in education and because it made college prep education relevant to students. Referring to the Cristo Rey project as a “beacon of hope for the immigrant community, “ Fr. Foley became instrumental in creating this new model for central-city education. Today there are 12 Cristo Rey schools nationwide, with plans to open eleven new schools in the next two years.
John Foley’s charismatic personality and infectious energy have helped raise support and awareness for the Cristo Rey program across the country. Today, Fr. Foley oversees an organization that helps ensure the quality and continuous improvement of each Cristo Rey school. He helped write the national standards for the schools, manages the central team that oversees the launching of each new school, and is the spiritual leader of this growing national network of new Catholic high schools. Dr. Ronald Valenti, Superintendent of Catholic Schools in Baltimore, said in his endorsement of John Foley, “In a time where Catholic education is suffering and so many challenges of keeping schools open, Fr. Foley has presented a vision and sense of hope demonstrating that the creativity and outreach of Catholic education is alive and vibrant.”
