This article originally ran Jan. 4, 2007 in The Star-Ledger
In a city with struggling schools, the Robert Treat Academy in Newark is an oasis.
Its test scores are higher than any other K-8 school in the city. School days are longer, as is the school year, and students go on to attend the most prestigious secondary schools in America.
Children from all over the city apply for entry and are selected by lottery. The waiting list is 1,000 students long.
It's no wonder the charter school is the only school in New Jersey and one of only eight nationwide that will be featured on the U.S. Department of Education's website in 2009 as a "high poverty, high achieving" model school. The others are in Texas, California, Illinois, Virginia and West Virginia.
Principal Michael Pallante said high expectations for students, parents and teachers is part of the school's formula for success. Parent meetings, a requirement, boast an 80 percent attendance rate, he said.
"We want parents to understand this charter fully. They need to know what their participation in their children's education should be," Pallante said.
Longer school days, coupled with an after-school program and Saturday classes is just what kids need, he said. Some 70 percent of students stay for the after-school program.
"In inner cities, children really don't have the type of experiences that wealthier children have. When they're off from school, they travel, have experiences. Kids in the city don't have that much to do," Pallante said.
Robert Treat was picked from among 329 schools named 2008 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Education Department. The school is part of The North Ward Center, a community service center that includes an early childhood development program, a charter school, adult medical day care and other services.
Stephen Adubato, the school's founder, said Robert Treat defies all odds because it is guided by principles other schools should model. He believes throwing money at schools will not solve the nation's educational crisis, and Robert Treat helps make the point.
Its per-pupil spending of $11,067 is about 40 percent less than the $18,580 the public schools spend in Newark, according to the New Jersey Department of Education Comparative Spending Guide. Statewide, the per pupil cost is $12,720.
The average class size of 25 at Robert Treat is larger than the state average of 19, yet that has not resulted in a negative outcome, as some may have predicted, he said.
"We're so far ahead than any school in Newark," said Adubato, adding there are plans to open another school in the city's Central Ward. "People are used to hearing how Newark can fail," Adubato said. "There's an answer, and it can be duplicated."
Adubato said better hiring practices and accountability of teachers is key to success.
"We have to have educational institutions, not employment agencies. That'll change everything," he said. "If a teacher here shows disinterest, they stick out like a sore thumb."
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings commended Robert Treat during a 2007 charter schools conference.
"I've been to Robert Treat Academy in Newark, where students attend school six days a week, participate in community service, and 100 percent of third-graders are proficient in math and reading," she said. "These schools are breaking apart the myth that some children can't learn. By acting as laboratories for best practices, they are changing attitudes about education and they're getting great results for kids."
