A Beacon of Hope

On July 1, 2020, Governor Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Education returned local control of its schools to Newark and designated the district as high-performing. This historic day was 25 years in the making. And there would be more history made on that day; Superintendent Roger León launched the nation’s first-ever, ten-year, strategic plan that would set the course for the state’s largest school system on a new trajectory.

During the past two years, the district undertook an intense and aggressive transition plan, committed to restoring Newark’s public schools. Student achievement has increased, and attendance has been at an all-time high. Despite a structural deficit that forced superintendents to do more with much less, a global pandemic and civil unrest in the pursuit of justice would not delay the work we see today. In only the first 100 days, so much has already been accomplished: • • • • • • • • • The district received over $20 million in grants Developed new curricula in all content areas Implemented the Amistad Curriculum Hosted several virtual job fairs Participated in the Wallace Foundation Principal’s Pipeline Hosted District-wide Staff Convocation for 6,300 employees Hosted High School Student Convocation for over 10,000 students Hosted Student Convocation for over 2,500 eighth grade students Launched online enrollment portal that streamlined the registration process or students and families • • • • Digitized student health records in an effort to become 100% paperless Received generous donations from partners and constituents Successfully on-boarded more than 425 instructional staff virtually Hosted virtual college fairs for high school seniors to ivy league, HBCUs, and public/private universities • • • • • • Received a state-of-the-art science lab Installed the first mini-soccer pitch at a high school Installed the first wind/solar LED street light in Newark Participated in virtual town halls for families and community Served over 2 million meals Hosted virtual back-to-school night meetings in every school across the entire city of Newark

Superintendent Roger León speaks at the announcement

With only the first quarter of the first year of the strategic plan completed, the district has opened three new schools (one elementary and two high schools and will announce the opening of three more new schools (one in the Central, North, and West Wards) for next school year.