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Health & Fitness

Robert Treat Academy Graduating Class Receives Record $6M in Scholarship Offers

Graduating eighth graders at Robert Treat Academy Charter School in Newark received a record $6 million in scholarship offers to attend private boarding and day schools in the fall.

Graduating eighth graders at Robert Treat Academy Charter School in Newark received a record $6 million in scholarship offers to attend private boarding and day schools in the fall.

The scholarship offers this year exceeded the average $4 million a year that previous classes have received since the first class graduated in 2005, said Theresa Adubato, the principal of Robert Treat.

“We are extremely proud of our students,” Adubato said. “The scholarship offers that this class received are a reflection of all the hard work they have put into their academics during their elementary school years.”

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Robert Treat, which was established in 1997 by North Ward Center founder Stephen Adubato, enrolls 450 students at its North Ward campus.  The second campus in the Central Ward, which opened in 2009, currently enrolls 100 children in grades K-3 and will eventually have 225 students in grades K-8 as it adds a grade every year. Robert Treat was nationally recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon school of excellence.

“The fact that these children are getting into the greatest high schools in America and on full scholarship shows that children in Newark can excel,” Stephen N. Adubato said.

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Students at the school have been accepted to some of America’s most elite boarding schools including Cheshire, Choate Rosemary Hall, The School at Church Farm, Deerfield, Groton School, St. Paul’s, Phillips Exeter, Phillips Academy Andover, the Peddie School and Lawrenceville. The boarding schools have offered students more than $4.6 million in scholarships.

Nicholas Scott-Hearn, 14, who received a full scholarship to attend St. Paul’s School, said the boarding school in Concord, N.H., was the first campus he visited on a trip in seventh grade.

“I visited a few other schools, but I found that St. Paul’s was my favorite,” said Nicholas, who grew up in Newark and attended The North Ward Center’s preschool program. “It’s a large campus with wide open spaces and nature. They have a lake in the middle of the campus. It’s just beautiful there.”

Nicholas, who is president of the student council and participates on the debate team and the chorus, said he believes Robert Treat prepared him well for the rigors of a boarding school.

“Robert Treat has taught me to be diligent, to work and try my best,” Nicholas said. “I’ve been here since pre-kindergarten. That’s all I know.”

Robert Treat students have also been accepted to some of the top private high schools in and around Newark, including St. Vincent Academy, Delbarton School, Lacordaire Academy, Montclair Kimberly, Morristown Beard, Newark Academy and Seton Hall Prep. The private schools have offered scholarships totaling $1.1 million.

Kaylah Lee, 14, who received a partial scholarship to St. Vincent Academy on West Market Street in Newark, said she wanted to attend an all girls school with high academic standards.

Kaylah, who is in the chorus and plays flute, said she hopes to play softball and volleyball in high school.“Robert Treat motivated me to never be shy about anything and to be independent,” Kaylah said.

Asia Moore, 14, who received a full scholarship to Newark Academy, said she fell in love with the school the first time she stepped on its Livingston campus.

“The school just fit me like a glove,” Asia said. 

Henry Negron, 14, who received a full scholarship to attend the Delbarton School in Morristown, said he was attracted to the brotherhood he found at the school as well as its high academic standards and athletics. He said he wants to play baseball in high school with an eye on one day making the majors.

“But if that doesn’t work out, I want to be an engineer,” Henry said.

The students said the high schools they are attending would have been out of reach if they had not attended Robert Treat.

“We wouldn’t even know about these schools if it wasn’t for the high school placement program at Robert Treat,” Nicholas said.

“They act as our agents,” Asia said of the staff in the high school placement office. “They know what we are capable of and what schools we should be able to get into so we aren’t disappointed.”

Adrianne Davis, the vice president of the Robert Treat Board of Trustees, said the school’s goal is to match every child to the best placement for them.

“Many of Newark’s public magnet high schools are a good fit for our graduates,” Davis said. “But for those who are ready for the challenge of a private or boarding school, Robert Treat has prepared them well.”

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