Read this article as it originally appeared on localtalknews.com | nj.com

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.”

This article originally ran in a special four-page section produced by the Newark Charter School Fund in Local Talk News.

Marilyn Herrera was a student in the first class of the Robert Treat Academy Charter School when it opened in 1997.

Today, she is balancing two jobs during her summer break — a clerical position at the Robert Treat Academy and teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at the North Ward Center. In the fall, she will return to Barnard College as a junior.

“After college, I want to return to the community,” said Herrera. “That’s the message they instilled in us at the school.”