Robert Treat Academy is living proof that an “extraordinary education” is possible for all children, state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf told graduates of the Newark charter school.

“Robert Treat represents the incredibly powerful message that it can be done, and it can be done well, and that zip code and birth circumstances and what country your parents happen to be born in are not destiny in this country,” Cerf said.

“There are a lot of people who doubt that,” Cerf said. “What Robert Treat Academy does is tell people all over the world that a high quality extraordinary education is possible for all children.”

Robert Treat graduated its seventh class of eighth graders at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center June 24. Dressed in green and white gowns, the 48 graduates sat on the stage of the Victoria Theater as dignitaries praised them, the school and its founder, Stephen N. Adubato.

“Steve Adubato has done something very extraordinary,” Cerf said.  “People like Steve who use their influence, their power, their creativity and their imagination to bring people and resources together to make something happen that changes the lives of ultimately thousands and thousands of children deserve our deep heartfelt appreciation, congratulations and gratitude.”

Robert Treat was among the first charter schools in the state when it opened in 1997. The school has since earned a reputation as one of the highest performing K-8 schools in the state, being recognized in 2008 as a Blue Ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education. It opened a second campus in 2009 in Newark's Central Ward.

Editor's Note: Hector Santiago played for the North Ward Center's baseball team from 2002-06. Read related story on nj.com.

Hector Santiago sat in his apartment in Birmingham, Ala., around 10 a.m. last Sunday, idling time in the latest minor-league outpost during a career first imagined in Newark’s North Ward. Hours before members of the Double A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, the Birmingham Barons, were due at the ballpark for a 6:30 game against the Tennessee Smokers, Santiago received a phone call from his manager.

More than 315 preschoolers from the North Ward Child Development Center in Newark graduated before proud parents, grandparents, siblings and friends this week as part of an annual rite of spring at The North Ward Center.

“All of our 4 year-olds are either reading or ready to read,” said Child Development Center Project Director Michele Sceppaguercio. “We’re sending them in ready to go on a path of success.”

The Piratas Little League team traveled from its hometown of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico to get a taste of Newark this past weekend through the North Ward Center’s Little League Sports Exchange program, now in its 24th year.

The Piratas played the Roberto Clemente All-Stars on Friday, June 10, and the Project Pride and Newark All-Stars teams on Saturday, June 11 at the Stephen N. Adubato Sr. Recreational Complex in Branch Brook Park.