Learn how a Newark prep school achieves near 100 percent college acceptance for inner-city boys.
This documentary tells a rare story of success. In Newark, New Jersey, where the average high school graduation rate is abysmal, St. Benedict’s Prep is the exception — with a near 100 percent college acceptance rate. Filmmakers Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno profile the school and the Benedictine monks of Newark Abbey to see how they achieve success among a vulnerable population of inner-city African American and Latino teenage boys.
“'The Rule' brilliantly connects multiple audiences from varying backgrounds and points of view to issues of urban school reform in the public sector.” − Dr. Anand R. Marri, Teachers College, Columbia University
“[The Rule] doesn’t flinch when it shows how the demographics changed Newark over the years, how the riots decimated neighborhoods, how poverty, drugs and the seventh highest murder rate in the country make it difficult to raise children. The core of the film shows how the school [St. Benedict’s Prep] confronts the lack of trust, neglect, deprivation, and violence.” − Barbara Backus, film festival review
"The Rule" was produced Bongiorno Productions in association with KTWU Topeka.
