Five Arrupe Jesuit High School Seniors – Alejandro Carrillo, Ximena Gonzalez, Alonso Martin, , Jennifer Ruiz and Karyme Sarmiento – have been named 2020 Daniels Scholars!
Arrupe Jesuit has the most recipients from any one school across the four states eligible for the program. “We are thrilled that the Daniels Fund has recognized the extraordinary accomplishments of these students and will support them through their college careers,” said Joanne Augustine, Director of College Counseling.
Arrupe Jesuit High School is a private Catholic high school in northwest Denver that very deliberately serves only low-income students. The overwhelming majority of Arrupe Jesuit’s 370 students are Hispanic, and most enter the school several grade levels behind their peers. By nearly any standard, these kids are the least likely to succeed. Statistics and probability have all but consigned them to failure.
The opportunity provided by Arrupe Jesuit pays off in a big way for its students. Nearly every one of the school’s graduates are accepted to a college or university of his or her choice. Ninety-two percent of these students will be the first in their families to attend college, and nearly half are the first in their families to graduate high school.
Augustine added “Please join in our thanks to our dedicated faculty whose work has positioned these students for future success as well as the CWSP staff for implementing a Work Study program that distinguishes our students from their peers.
This is a great moment to recognize our College Counseling team’s commitment to preparing all our students for success in the college placement process. Not only do they know each student individually, they seek to identify the opportunities that best meet the needs of each student, and they prepare them to succeed in the competition for those spots.
To our volunteers, thank you for helping students edit essays and conduct mock interviews; I hope we all enjoy a sense of accomplishment when considering what these young people achieved.
Know that three additional Arrupe seniors interviewed for the scholarship but did not earn one. During a time of great uncertainty and anxiety, this is a particularly disappointing decision for them. That they have to process this disappointment at home and without our immediate support complicates matters further. Please keep these students in your prayers as they manage this news” said Augustine.
Jesuit offers hope to these children. Their families would not be able to afford private school tuition on their own, and the school charges only a fraction of what it costs to educate a student. Even then, most pay only a portion of the lower amount.
To help cover costs, Arrupe Jesuit students work five full days a month in organizations of their choosing through the school’s signature Corporate Work Study Program. Roughly 65 percent of each student’s tuition costs are covered by the wages earned while building up a resume.
