Knight Foundation Provides $2 Million Grant to Launch New Rutgers Institution Seeking to Transform Early Childhood Learning in Camden

CAMDEN -- The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will provide a $2 million grant to help Rutgers launch an institute designed to transform early childhood education in Camden and elsewhere.

In a city dubbed the nations poorest and populated predominantly by residents under the age of 18, the John S. and James L. Knight Early Learning Research Academy at Rutgers-Camden will seek to apply Rutgers scholarly research toward the societal and educational issues challenging successful childhood learning.

The facility, which will be located on Rutgers property on the 400 block of Cooper Street, also will provide Camden families with an early care program designed to prepare infants, toddlers, and preschoolers for school; a research unit that will allow Rutgers professors and students to apply innovative new ideas toward resolving the issues confronting children; a health center for participating families; programs to help childcare providers earn appropriate credentials and training; and a resource center for parents.

The grant and the naming of the institute were announced during a ceremonial groundbreaking featuring such dignitaries as U.S. Representative Robert Andrews and New Jersey Assemblyman Lou Greenwald; Camden families and children; Knight Foundation officials; and members of the Rutgers community.

As New Jerseys public research university, Rutgers is uniquely invested in creating opportunities to transform the lives of the citizens of our great state, says Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick. We are grateful to the Knight Foundation for its truly visionary investment in Rutgers. The Knight Early Learning Research Academy will strengthen Rutgers-Camdens national reputation as a leading research center in childhood studies on behalf of the very youngest members of our community, here in Camden and across the state.

The John S. and James L. Knight Early Learning Research Academy at Rutgers-Camden will be affiliated with the LEAP (Leadership, Education, And Partnership) Academy University Charter School program, founded by Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, a Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of Urban Studies at Rutgers-Camden, where she also directs the Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership.

Launched in 1997 as one of New Jerseys very first charter schools, LEAP serves 870 children in grades pre-K through 12. Every student graduating from the LEAP Academy University High School has been accepted into college. The LEAP initiative has replicated its best practices in serving children and their families at schools across the state and region.

The relationship between Rutgers and LEAP will allow researchers at the Knight ELRA to track the efficacy of their programs as the student progress through elementary and high school.

We are enthusiastic about supporting construction of this new building and we are proud that the Knight brothers names will be permanently associated with this educational landmark. But above all, we are enthusiastic about supporting the transformative work that will take place within this setting, says Matt Bergheiser, Knight Foundation program director for Philadelphia and Camden.

The Abbott decision mandated state-supported pre-school in New Jerseys lowest income school districts. The creation of this academy represents one of the most significant steps to date in seizing the opportunity created by the Abbott decision, continues Bergheiser. This new venture will provide a great laboratory for developing the kind of programs that can make a real difference in terms of educational and community impact.

Bonilla-Santiago notes that the Rutgers center offers an ahead of the curve program to nurture the youngest minds in Camden. The partnership between Rutgers and Knight Foundation is exactly the sort of innovative thinking needed to advance public education for our children.

The new facility will serve everyone from children just learning to crawl to doctoral students conducting cutting-edge research that will define the childhood experience for years to come, notes Bonilla-Santiago.

Based in Miami, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and strives to improve the quality of life in 26 U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. The foundation emphasizes education, the well-being of children and families, housing and community development, economic development, civic engagement and positive human relations, and the vitality of cultural life.

In 2006, the Knight Foundation awarded $73.4 million in grants. In the Philadelphia-Camden area, the foundation has made 639 grants totaling more than $80 million since 1950.

The Camden campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, enrolls 5,350 students in 34 undergraduate and 13 graduate programs. Rutgers-Camden faculty are respected internationally for their significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge across many disciplines. The 40-acre campus is located in the heart of the University District at the Camden Waterfront.

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