Urban Education Reform

As a strong supporter of improving the quality of education for all students in New Jersey and especially in impoverished urban areas, The Norcross Foundation is committed to helping urban education reforms take flight.

In 2015, The Cooper Foundation, with the support of the Norcross family and in collaboration with the non-profit TEAM Schools of New Jersey, opened the KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, New Jersey’s first “renaissance school” that is delivering world-class public education to young people in Camden.

KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy will eventually grow to serve 2,840 Camden students in grades pre-K through 12 and provide guaranteed enrollment for children in the Lanning Square neighborhood. KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy offers a rigorous college preparatory curriculum beginning in the earliest grades, with the goal of at least doubling the number of Camden students who attain a four-year college degree by 2030.

The Norcross Foundation strongly believes that not only will urban education reform help create an entire new culture in New Jersey’s urban schools, it will also create a new culture in the cities themselves. A better education system will result in more and better job opportunities, lower poverty rates and decreased crime, and the hope to create a better future.

The Norcross Foundation is committed to building that future.