Newly relocated high school ready to open its downtown Atlanta doors

The first day of school can be very exciting for students, with meeting new classmates and reconnecting with old friends.

For students soon starting a new year at Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School, there will be another layer to the excitement: The school is in a different building than before.

The private school has moved from a three-story Midtown location to a seven-story building in downtown Atlanta, the latter of which President Bill Garrett calls a "more appropriate academic environment."

The Jesuit-run institution, which only accepts children from low- income families, is ready to welcome more than 500 students in the new space come July 24. About 50 of them have already ventured into the building over the summer and loved what they saw, Garrett said.

“Many helped us move the furniture from our old building to the new one, but are happy to come back and see everything in place,” Garrett said in an email. “They are excited by the amount of space we have.”

The former Oxford Industries building at 222 Piedmont Ave. NE has 28 classrooms (including four science labs), a kitchen, a library, a teachers’ lounge and new technology in the building. The “gymatorium,” art and music rooms will be available next year.

Administrative staff has been in the new building for five weeks; faculty comes in next week.

Cristo Rey is a regional school with students coming from 42 cities across 10 counties — including Cobb, Gwinnett and DeKalb. The new building is located close to MARTA’s Peachtree Center station.

The majority of the students' tuition is underwritten by their participation in a corporate work study; they attend school four days a week and go to work one day a week. Participating companies, including Coca-Cola, UPS, Delta and Home Depot, pay the school a fee in exchange for the students' work.

Cristo Rey opened in July 2014 with a freshman class, and has added a new class each year.

Video: Previous Cristo Rey coverage