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For four years, they went to school from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., then completed two hours of homework each night. They attended classes on Saturdays. Their school years started in July, cutting one month off their summers. As a result, the class of fifth-graders who entered KIPP Inspire Academy in 2009, many with a third-grade understanding of reading and math, completed eighth grade last week, bound for some of the most prestigious college prep high schools in the region.

KIPP Delta, the group overseeing the network's Arkansas schools, won a $200,000 grant from the national KIPP foundation earlier this year to develop an SMS (Short Message Service) application that will allow them to send information to high school students and alumni about the college admissions and financial aid process through texts.

KIPP has demonstrated phenomenal success in providing educational opportunities to its students. Making significant academic gains while attending KIPP, its students have exceptionally high graduation and college entrance rates. On Oklahoma's 2014-15 A-F School Report Card, KIPP scored a grade of A+ and a rating of 99. KIPP's performance record has been recognized by its selection as a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School, as one of the 50 Best Middle Schools in the U.S. in 2014 and as one of the top four Oklahoma middle schools in 2014.

As CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, and later as the U.S. Secretary of Education, I had the good fortune to visit dozens of gap-closing charter schools. I always came away from those visits - as I do when I visit any great public school - with both a sense of hope and a profound feeling of respect and gratitude for the school's educators and school leaders.

The century-old building that housed Camden's J.G. Whittier Family School, which was closed last year after falling into a dangerous state of disrepair, will reopen this year as a new KIPP school, Camden City School District officials said Tuesday. KIPP, the nonprofit that operates the KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy in nearby Lanning Square, where Tuesday night's school board meeting was held, will invest in major renovations and open it as a charter-public hybrid "Renaissance" school, said Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard. "We heard from residents who said they want students back in the building," said Rouhanifard, who was appointed by Gov. Christie to run the district in 2013.

A month after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio blasted charter schools for focusing too heavily on test prep and excluding high-need students, he dropped by KIPP Infinity Middle School for a photo-op with students and the co-founder of one of the country's largest charter networks.

Haley Wilson, a rising senior at KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy, is spending days this summer in the law department at GlaxoSmithKline, learning about patents, trademarks, and what it takes to bring a new medicine to market.

After five years in office, the plight of black and Latino men and boys has the president's attention. His new initiative hopes to build on the successes of programs like KIPP High School in the Bronx. This year, 100 percent of its seniors have applied to college.

Mr. de Blasio went to KIPP Infinity Middle School in West Harlem, part of a large charter network, to show the value of collaboration between charters and traditional public schools. His warm conversations with students and educators there contrasted with his clashes with charters in the past.

Today, the national network of KIPP charters will announce Rutgers-Camden as the 12th partner on a growing list of universities committed to increasing college graduation rates among low-income students.