A new
class of achievers
State's charter schools are
proving their grads can make the grade
Thursday, May 26, 2005 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
Marilyn Herrera remembers the weekend
mornings the most, when her friends were sleeping in while
she was heading back to school.
Robert Treat Academy, across the street
from her home and a charter school in Newark's North Ward,
holds classes 11 months out of the year, six days a
week.
"There were definitely some moments when
I wondered if it was worth it, especially Saturday
mornings," said Marilyn, an eighth-grader. "But then I would
look into the future, and realized if I do this, I will be
in a better place."
Now president of the charter school's
first graduating class, Marilyn will start next year at the
Lawrenceville School, one of the country's top prep schools.
Financial aid will cover virtually the entire $35,000 annual
cost.
She and her 44 classmates at Robert Treat
are among the bright spots in what is a new test for New
Jersey's maturing charter schools: the fate of their
graduates.
Started in 1997 as alternatives to the
traditional public schools, the state's most established
charter schools are now being measured not only on what they
do in the classroom, but where their students go
next.
It's a measure -- and a mission -- these
experimental schools know well. Robert Treat is among
several devoting considerable time and staff to place their
graduates. For middle and elementary schools, it's
preferably not to go back into the public schools these
students hoped to escape in the first place. For high
schools, it's making sure college is in the
plans.
"The transition afterward is going to be
critical for these children to be successful in the long
run," said Mary Jo Kapalko, director of the Academy Charter
High School in Lake Como, which this month saw its first
high school graduate go on to earn a college
diploma.
"If you don't devote yourself to it as a
school," she said, "it's the children who will suffer ...
It's become a necessity."
Elsewhere, 43 of Academy High School's 44
graduates last year attended college. Every member of the
first graduating class at Camden's LEAP Academy this year is
headed to college. North Star Academy in Newark did the same
with its first graduating class last year, and expects to
see all of its Class of 2005 off to college as
well.
Not all are top-tier colleges or
high schools for these grads. But in the cities that charter
schools typically serve, getting into college or a selective
high school at all is as an accomplishment.
It was a dream for Nancy Jimenez, the
mother of Sabrina Santana, a graduating eighth-grader from
Robert Treat. Next year, Sabrina will attend Episcopal High
School, a private boarding school of about 400 students in
Virginia.
Almost all of the $30,000 tuition and
board is paid for, as well as round-trip airfare, a computer
and even an allowance.
"There was just no way we would say no to
that," said Jimenez. "I initially didn't want her going away
like that -- she's my baby. But what an opportunity. I wish
I had it."
There will be a few students traveling
out of Newark's North Ward next fall, thanks to Robert
Treat. The list of destinations includes a who's-who of top
boarding schools: Phillips Exeter, Andover, Choate, St.
Paul's.
Closer to home, students will attend
Peddie School, Newark Academy and St. Benedict's
Preparatory. The public schools on the list are all the
selective magnets in Newark, including Science, Arts and
University high schools.
Overall, Robert Treat's graduates have
won more than $1 million in scholarship offers for next year
alone, according to the school.
The admission process started in earnest
in seventh grade, when the students first toured some
private schools and Robert Treat's teachers talked about
high school beyond the city.
Some students went back and attended
summer sessions at the schools where they would apply. This
fall, private schools came to Newark to interview the
students. The school's full-time high school placement
officer said she knew early that she had a strong group to
work with.
"The challenge was to get them so young
to have the foresight to do what's best for themselves,"
said Vicky Martinez, a Princeton graduate. "The
seventh-graders now are seeing some of the eighth-graders
who are hitting themselves for not taking the opportunity as
seriously as they could have."
Once in high schools, the big question
for some will be in how well they adapt, both academically
and socially. Students and teachers weren't so much worried
about the academic part.
"The social part is always a concern,
even with the local schools," said Michael Pallante, Robert
Treat's principal. "For those not ready, we had those
conversations with their parents.
The school even did a little coaching on
stereotypical prep-school life, taking the students to a
Broadway show, a fancy restaurant, and their upcoming class
trip to Puerto Rico. "Just so none of this stuff will be a
first time for them," Pallante said.
"Of course, I'll still be nervous all of
next year, always checking up on how they are doing," he
said.
Leaders at Newark's North Star Academy
have a year behind them in placing their graduates into
colleges, their first graduating class commemorated in a
collection of portraits known as the "Wall of Success."
Almost all went to four-year schools like Rutgers, Spellman
and Mount Holyoke.
For some, it hasn't been an easy
transition. Chris Crockett finished his freshman year at
Boston College and admits he didn't apply himself as much as
he could have, with some lackluster grades to show for
it.
He also said the smaller program at North
Star -- no advanced placement classes, fewer electives --
hurt him going in. But he also said North Star, with its
daily academic demands, and its longer days and school year,
taught him a valuable lesson in perseverance.
"There were days I was tired of North
Star, just as kids probably there now may be getting tired,"
he said. "But they should appreciate what they
have."
North Star's next graduating class
includes Jay Martinez, who will get four years of full
scholarship at the University of Chicago. Frankie Reyes will
attend Syracuse, where he hopes to study
engineering.
"My family is happy for me, finally
somebody who is getting out of the cycle of just dropping
out of high school," Reyes said. "Without North Star, I
probably wouldn't have ever made it out of high
school."
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com, or (973) 392-1548.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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