This is great to see – kudos to Camden Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard and his team! Keep an eye on what's happening in Camden – it's a model for other cities.

Camden's graduation rate has increased for the fourth straight year, school district officials said Thursday, and stood at 64 percent for the last school year.

The graduation rate for the 2011-12 school year was 49 percent. The state took over the district the following year, with Gov. Christie appointing Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard to lead the city's schools.

Almost 80 more students graduated last year than in 2011, district officials said. Not only has the overall rate improved, but the graduation rate among Latino students has increased from 44 percent to 66 percent since 2012, Rouhanifard said Thursday at a panel discussion among students at Brimm Medical Arts High School, one of the city's three magnet high schools.

The graduation rate among special education students rose from 38 percent to 56 percent, he said. At Woodrow Wilson High School, the graduation rate has increased for four consecutive years since 2012, climbing from 46 percent to 63 percent.

"We need to acknowledge that we have a lot of work left to do," Rouhanifard said. "But progress matters. Growth matters."