NEWARK -- High speed internet access is coming for more than 4,000 Newark high schoolers -- and their families -- with limited connectivity at home.

On Friday, Sprint announced it would donate cell phones, tablets and hot spot devices to students in 18 public schools who have limited or no access to the internet at home. Sprint will also provide free 3GB data plans for the devices until students graduate high school.

"It's important our students have the opportunity to excel beyond the walls of Weequahic High School," Weequahic Principal Andre Hollis said during a press conference at the school Friday announcing the initiative.

For the next five years students in grades 9-12 will be able to receive a free device that they can use as a hot spot to provide internet for their families at home, too. The hefty donation is part of a national Sprint initiative called the 1 Million Project, created to give 1 million high schoolers access reliable internet.

Karen Paletta, regional president at Sprint, said Newark is among the first school districts to benefit from the program. The goal is to distribute 180,000 devices this year around the country.

"Newark is on the cutting edge," she said. Paletta said there are more than five million households in the U.S. that don't have internet access and have a school-aged child in the home.

Zeinab Kone, Weequahic class valedictorian, said with her new tablet, she'll be able to more easily apply for college.

"This opportunity is significant for me and for those who don't have a phone," she said. "Having internet access is an opportunity many in the 21st century take for granted."

Matt Brewster, executive director of school operations for the district, said the devices will not only help students, but their families and siblings at home.

"The phones serve as hot spots," he said. "It's for internet access at home."

Sprint said about 70 percent of high school teachers assign homework that requires internet access. The 1 Million Project, which launched in January, hopes to make completing homework easier and encourage learning. Sprint will donate more than 3,600 smart phones, 350 hot spots and 350 tablets in the first year of the program.

"The goal of this program is to bridge the digital divide," said Raymond Persaud, the district's project manager.

He said Sprint will donate devices every year for the next five years. Ninth-graders who receive devices in year five of the program will have their data plans paid for by Sprint until they leave high school.

Students will be able to keep the devices even after they leave high school but will have to pay for their own data plans, Persaud said.

"As the city grows and technology becomes an important part of that, we need to make sure you have your hands on that technology," said Mayor Ras Baraka.

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.