Sister Kathryn Camacho is thinking it doesn’t get much better than this.

The principal of Sacramento’s new Cristo Rey High School has met with nearly 100 students who have already applied to become the school’s inaugural freshman class for the 2006-2007 school year.

“They’re just extraordinary,” said Sister Camacho, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. “This is the most exciting part of the job — meeting these students, so filled with hope and excited about the possibilities here.”

The college-prep school is planned for students from low-income families and features a distinctive work-study curriculum allowing students to participate in entry-level clerical jobs off campus to partially cover the cost of tuition.

Cristo Rey High School Sacramento will serve urban and rural communities in Sacramento County and seven neighboring counties.

Open to Catholics and non-Catholics, the school will start with 100 freshmen and then add another class annually until it reaches full four-year enrollment.

Cristo Rey is sponsored by three religious communities: the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, the Sisters of Mercy of the Auburn regional community and the California Province of the Jesuits. The three religious orders, along with the Diocese of Sacramento, will share oversight of the mission of the school.

As part of the Cristo Rey Network, it will be one of 13 high schools nationwide in operation or opening this fall. Among high schools in the network, daily attendance rate is 98 percent, school dropout rate is less than one percent, and 82 percent of school graduates pursue post-secondary degrees.

Sister Camacho said she has been impressed with student families she has met, calling them people who are “ready to do whatever they can” so their children can be part of an exceptional academic environment.

“We had one young man who told us he wanted to be here because he wanted to go to Harvard,” she said. “We better do this right.”

A key component in the success of the Cristo Rey model is the requirement that students spend four days a week in class and one class day at work through the school’s corporate internship program.

Jesuit Father John Foley, who founded the Cristo Rey Network in Chicago in 1996, said the “lifeblood” of the school is providing jobs where students experience “working for companies where they feel at home.”

With a per pupil cost of $9,225 per year, students earn $6,625 at their internship assignment, lowering the tuition paid by families to $2,600.

Father Foley said corporate response to the diocese’s new Catholic high school has been extraordinary, with 25 companies offering jobs next year.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for the kids. Their whole future opens up to them,” he said.

Many families, however, find the annual tuition cost beyond their reach. To assist in meeting this need, Cristo Rey organizers are planning a scholarship dinner on April 25 at the school site, located at the former St. Peter School at 6200 McMahon Dr.

The event, which begins with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the dinner, features a presentation by Father Foley.

Kelly Brothers of radio station KFBK-AM will serve as emcee.

“Our goal is to raise $50,000 to go toward the scholarship fund,” said Sister Camacho. “We know at least 60 percent of our families will need some assistance.”

Tickets for the fund-raiser are $65 per person and sponsorship of a table for 10 is $1,000. For reservations and more information, call (916) 733-2660.

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