Success Beyond Catalyst

Critical to Catalyst Schools' mission is to envision a life of meaning and purpose for all people in a world that is just and peaceful.  To advance this ambitious vision, our team is committed to supporting each of our scholars find success once they graduate from our schools. In addition to the mentoring relationship established between each teacher and his or her scholars, Catalyst dedicates staff members at our elementary schools and high school that focus their efforts on helping each scholar determine his or her best next step. 

At Catalyst Circle Rock and Catalyst Maria elementary schools, this effort is targeted around ensuring each scholar has an array of high school options from which to choose, and helps each family determine the high school that best matches each scholar’s aspirations and interests.  We then follow up with our graduates in high school and assist them and their families navigate their educational journey.

This critical component of the Catalyst mission is lived out at Catalyst Maria High School through the Director of Post-Secondary Success and Post-Secondary Counselors, in addition to the personal mentoring of teachers. Their role is to expose our high school scholars to an array of options after graduation, and to help them discern a path of meaning and purpose and make choices that help them achieve it. While many scholars attend 2- or 4-year colleges and universities, we also provide scholars with alternative post-secondary options.  These include a partnership with Urban Alliance (a job internship program linked here); the Chicago Police and fire Training Academy, a 2 year program that provides training for students interested in careers in public safety, law enforcement, criminal justice, and fire science linked here); and the armed forces.  To reach out to the Post-Secondary team, please visit the Catalyst Maria Contact page linked here.

The results from 2015-2016 demonstrate Catalyst's success in preparing our scholars for success beyond graduation:

 

• 100% Graduation for 8th and 12th Grade at Catalyst Circle Rock and Catalyst Maria

• 98% of Catalyst Circle Rock graduates remain in high school on track to graduate on-time (CMES had its first 8th Grade graduating class in 2016)

• 88% of all Catalyst Circle Rock graduates since 2008 have graduated from high school on-time

• Catalyst Maria's first 4-year cohort of high school graduates (130 scholars) earned 726 college acceptances and were awarded over $15.6 million dollars in scholarships