No dropouts from this Camden, NJ, high school

... It's an extraordinary display of wisdom for students in a city where dropout rates are consistently among New Jersey's highest and test scores are among the lowest.

Neither is the case at MetEast, which graduated its first class of seniors on Friday.

It opened in 2005 as a laboratory for education in a city where the schools are part of an entanglement of problems.

It's one of about 60 schools nationwide established with the help of Big Picture Learning, a nonprofit with offices in San Diego and Providence, R.I. Three Big Picture schools are scheduled to open in Newark this fall...

[There's terrific and innovative ideas out there, but we need break the chains of our government run system to give them room to work...]

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