NEWARK, NJ — There's something to be said about the drive of a school's students when 90 percent of its senior class gets accepted to a four-year college. That's the smile-inducing acceptance rate for 2017 at KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy, school administrators say.

According to a school news release, the academy will again rank as "one of the top schools in the state sending the most African-American students to college." To date, KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy's 135 high-school seniors have opened nearly 700 college acceptance letters, the school stated.

Schools that KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy's seniors will be attending include some of the most prestigious in the country: Duke University, Villanova University, Rutgers University, University of Maryland, University of Kentucky, Xavier University, Tuskegee University and Ohio State University. Don't forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page here.

Many students availed themselves of the school's free KIPP Through College (KTC) program which worked with students and families to coordinate more than 2,300 college campus visits for the class of 2017, administrators said. KIPP New Jersey also held its annual "Senior Signing Day" event on Friday, May 26th, to celebrate the accomplishments of its graduating seniors from KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy. The event, which has turned into an annual tradition that seniors and their families look forward to each year, was held at Montclair State University for 2017.

"Senior Signing Day is such a valued tradition at KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy and is something everyone looks forward to," said Armoni Foster, a graduating senior at KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy who will be attending Duke University this fall. "It's a day when we come together to celebrate each other's accomplishments and recognize the hard work that was put forth to get us to this point. To see the support from peers - many of whom you've been with since middle school – as well as teachers and of course, family, is such an amazing experience."

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