RUTGERS/LEAP INITIATIVE

“A Preschool-to-16 Partnership”

The Rutgers/LEAP Initiative is a comprehensive partnership between Rutgers University and LEAP Academy University Charter School to provide holistic education, health and human services, parent and community development, and opportunities for advancement to children and families in Camden City. 

The Initiative arose from the pressing need to find new and more effective methods of reaching out to students and families in urban school districts.  In cities like Camden—where 45% of children live in poverty and only 51% of students earn high school diplomas—an entire generation of students is in danger of losing their greatest chance for future success. 

Created in 1993, the Rutgers/LEAP Initiative was designed specifically to confront this education emergency.  Led by Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago and the CSUCL, a committed group of university and local stakeholders devised a plan to establish a public charter school and opened the LEAP Academy in 1997. 

Now established as one of the premier charter schools in the state, LEAP Academy continues its partnership with the Rutgers CSUCL through contracted services like the Rutgers Centers of Excellence.  These Centers augment LEAP’s normal K–12 instruction with 1-2 years of preschool education, on-site medical care, and college preparatory learning that grooms students for post-secondary education. 

In addition to offering education and health services, Rutgers and LEAP have worked together to create the Rutgers/LEAP Alfredo Santiago Endowed Scholarship.  The scholarship provides financial aid to LEAP graduates attending Rutgers campuses and since 2005 it has helped 25 LEAP alumni pursue college degrees. 

In all, the partnership between Rutgers and LEAP has generated over $75 million in operational support for the school, close to $20 million in external support for special programs, and $18 million in capital funding.  With that revenue, the Initiative has created valuable opportunities for children and families in the city while serving as a service-learning-site for Rutgers–Camden students and advancing its strategic plan for expansion. 

The Rutgers/LEAP “Preschool-to-16 Partnership” is made all the more visible by the construction of two permanent school buildings within the city’s University District (and plans for a third), making it possible for a student to be educated from infancy through graduate school on Cooper Street.