ATLANTA (September 26, 2022) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce its partnership with Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School’s Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) for the 2022-2023 school year. This is the eighth year SGR has served as a Job Partner with the program which helps students envision a future that includes a college degree and a successful professional career and equips them with the knowledge and skills needed to realize that vision. SGR is one of 137 companies serving as a Cristo Rey Atlanta Job Partner through the program, which welcomed its first class in 2014.
Through the innovative CWSP, students work five full days a month at top local businesses, called Job Partners, in a job share with three other students. Announced at a “Draft Day” event, students are assigned to their job sites by the CWSP staff at the start of each school year, with consideration to students’ particular interests and skills, and the requirements of the Job Partner. At SGR the students have exposure to attorneys and also the administrative side of a law firm including marketing, recruiting, accounting, information technology, records, and the library.
The earnings from the job share pay for a large percentage of each student’s tuition costs, giving them access to a rigorous, quality college preparatory education that otherwise would be too expensive. Cristo Rey students also gain valuable real-world job skills, contacts, and experience through this program, and go on to college in record numbers, in large part because of their early exposure to the working world.
Cristo Rey Atlanta welcomed its first freshman class of 160 students in August 2014, and those students became the first graduating class in May 2018. The four-year high school has grown to capacity with 484 students in grades 9-12 and boasts a 100% college acceptance rate.
Stephen Forte, SGR Chairman and Managing Partner, serves on Cristo Rey Atlanta’s Board of Trustees, and SGR Partner Mark de St. Aubin, a former board member, serves on Cristo Rey Atlanta’s Board of Visitors.
About Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School
Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School is a Catholic learning community that educates young people of limited economic means, of any faith or creed, to become men and women for and with others. Through a rigorous college preparatory curriculum, integrated with a relevant work study experience, students graduate prepared for college and life. Cristo Rey Atlanta is located at 222 Piedmont Avenue NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30308, and is part of the Cristo Rey Network®. Visit www.cristoreyatlanta.org for more information.
About Smith Gambrell Russell
SGR is a full service, international law firm that advises regional, national and global businesses on a wide range of legal matters. The Firm’s 270 attorneys provide legal counsel in more than 45 specialized practice areas, including corporate transactions, litigation, intellectual property, aviation, banking, real estate, construction, employment law, and employee benefits and executive compensation. Founded in 1893, SGR has offices in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Chicago, Jacksonville, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Southampton, and Washington, D.C.