Steve Adubato, Sr.
Steve Adubato, Sr.
Founder of the North Ward Center
bronze, 1 1/6 life-size
Newark, New Jersey
Steve Adubato, Sr. served on the executive board of the Newark Teachers’ Union and worked as their legislative representative and he was a consultant to the New Jersey chancellor of higher education.
In 1970, he founded The North Ward Educational and Cultural Center in a small office on the second floor of a storefront on Bloomfield Avenue in Newark. The name was later changed to The North Ward Center. In 1973, The North Ward Center purchased the Clark Mansion, which previously housed the Prospect Country and Day School, a financially troubled private school that could not restore nor maintain the historical integrity of the facility.
In 1997, The North Ward Center founded the Robert Treat Academy Charter School, one of the first charter schools authorized by the New Jersey Department of Education. The school has 675 students in grades K-8. In 2008, Robert Treat was named a Blue Ribbon school by the US Department of Education. In August 2009, Robert Treat opened a second campus in the former St. Mary’s school on the campus of the Newark Abbey.
Watch Mr. Adubato’s Founder’s Message at the North Ward Center website