With a 93% teacher retention rate, Cristo Rey St. Martin ranks number one in all of the Cristo Rey Network for this metric. Many members of our faculty and staff have remained throughout the changes in buildings, branding, leadership, and many other elements in the past 20 years. Patricia (Pati) Ferrer has been a Spanish teacher at CRSM since 2006, just two years after the school opened; the school was still called St. Martin de Porres at this point. “I remember the challenges we faced,” Ferrer recalls, “but at the moment, we just knew we would figure it out- whether it was the neighborhood, the building, or the academic challenges. And we did (figure it out).”
Pati began her career the year the school moved into the former St. Joseph’s Parish building on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave in Waukegan. “We began classes a month later than usual because we spent significant time preparing the space, and all classes for our students. We cleaned and painted classrooms, sourced tables and chairs, and selected textbooks from donated books.”
During this time of setting up the school for students, Pati Ferrer recalls that “the initial month was truly unique; it was during this time that the strong sense of community, which CRSM is known for, began to form.” Community support and engagement were what the school was known for then and to this day.
Looking forward to how far we have come today at CRSM, Ferrer remarks on how “over the past 18 years, my colleagues and all my coworkers have been one of the greatest aspects of working at CRSM… [they] have become my chosen family, and I am incredibly proud of that.”
Teachers like Patricia Ferrer, who have weathered the school’s many changes, exemplify the commitment that has defined CRSM’s community for nearly two decades. Their steadfastness not only reflects the strength of the school’s mission but also emphasizes the deep bonds that have turned colleagues and students into family. As CRSM looks to the future, this sense of community will continue to be its cornerstone.