New Book by Gloria Bonilla-Santiago Celebrates Success, Progress of Charter School
Vorhees, N.J. (PRWEB) April 16, 2014 -- Since its founding in 1997, LEAP Academy University Charter School, located in Camden, N.J., has been providing quality public education to inner city children, challenging them to reach greater heights. The school’s founder, Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, PhD, dedicates her life to her students and is constantly looking for new ways to improve education in one of the Unite State’s poorest cities. Her new book, “The Miracle on Cooper Street: Lessons from an Inner City” (published by Archway Publishing), shares the true stories of LEAP’s success -from its humble beginnings to its prominent role in Camden- featuring the stories of the children whose lives were changed through LEAP.
“The Miracle on Cooper Street” details the many obstacles and challenges LEAP has faced over the years as well as the resounding support that professionals have offered in order to make the school a success. Bonilla-Santiago believes that LEAP is a work in progress, but she cites many examples of success, offering sage advice for other charter schools.
More than a testament to LEAP’s role in its students’ lives, “The Miracle on Cooper Street” also provides snapshots from Bonilla-Santiago’s upbringing. As the daughter from a Puerto Rican working class family, Bonilla-Santiago was the first in her family to go to college and fought for respect in the academic world.
In February of 2014, CNN Money reported that Camden, N.J. had been ranked the country’s most dangerous city, according to FBI data from 2012. Despite this news, Bonilla-Santiago continues to work tirelessly to keep improving the school for the students who inspired her book.
“First and foremost,” writes Bonilla-Santiago, “this book is about the young people who inspired me, my amazing children at LEAP Academy, whom I love dearly. They are the most remarkable and resilient young people I have ever met. Their stories and mine are intertwined in mind and soul, and I see myself every day in them.”
“The Miracle on Cooper Street”
By Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, PhD
Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 336 pages | ISBN 9781480806252
Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 336 pages | ISBN 9781480806238
E-Book | 336 pages | ISBN 9781480806245
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, PhD, is a Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor at Rutgers University and the director of the Community Leadership Center. She is the founder of LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden, N.J. She has previously published “Breaking Ground and Barriers: Hispanic Women Developing Effective Leadership” and “Organizing Puerto Rican Migrant Farmworkers.”
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