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July 6, 2023NEW VIDEO: ‘These Students Will Change the World!’
That’s Jackie Lewis, a Board member of Central Jersey College Prep Charter School (CJCP), celebrating the students at the top-ranked public charter high school in New Jersey (according to U.S. News and World Report). On June 15th CJCP leaders, teachers, and students held their graduation ceremony and NJER-TV was there.
What accounts for this public charter’s high ranking? Here’s one clue: Last month CJCP announced that, for the thirteenth straight year, 100 percent of its senior class graduated on time this Spring and that every member of the class of ‘23 has been accepted to a college or university next Fall, continuing an unprecedented senior class streak for CJCP which began in 2011. This year’s graduating class will attend prestigious institutions such as West Point Academy, University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, University of Virginia, NYU, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Honors, NJIT, Indiana University, University of Pittsburgh, Purdue, RIT, Kelley School of Business (IUB), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Tech, Penn State Accelerated BS/MD Program, Northeastern, Boston University, Drexel, Virginia Tech Honors, Fashion Institute of Technology, and School of Aerospace Sciences/University of North Dakota.
In fact, CJCP is a “Blue Ribbon School,” the highest designation from the U.S. Education Department.
Senator Vin Gopal, the guest speaker at graduation, explained he was there “because of the incredible work this school does.” Indeed it does: on the 2022 standardized state tests, 49% of New Jersey students met expectations in reading and 25% met them in math. At CJCP, 67% of students met expectations in reading and 61% met them in math.
How do they do it?
Dr. Namik Sercan, CJCP’s Chief Education Officer, tells NJER-TV, “we meet all students’ needs and provide them with all necessary support.” English teacher Talia Bennett explains that the school runs tutoring programs on Zoom and in person, even at night, and students come into school on Saturdays to get help with homework. Graduating senior Eseoghene Ovwari says, “everyone here is dedicated to us all doing well. And the teachers just really care about you.”
Watch our three-minute video!
