Hip-Hop Artist and entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs has a new entry on his list of accomplishments: Charter School co-founder. The new school is in East Harlem, not far from where Combs was born. Our Michael Herzenberg has the story from East Harlem.

It will be hard to top the first day of school for these 6th and 7th graders who got to hang out briefly with music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.

"I love my community," Combs said. "I love New York I love Harlem and it's great to be able to do something for the community."

This charter school was Combs' idea. Six years ago he approached Steve Perry, founder of Connecticut's Capital Preparatory charter schools, about opening it.

"I said 'Good luck with that,'" Perry said. "He said, 'No, no, no I think we should do it together.'"

They quietly spent several years trying to make it happen. Combs donated money to the project, and they obtained licensing and state funding. Combs' involvement was revealed last spring, and on Monday, he welcomed the first students with a message about the value of hard work.

"You can have a dream to be a doctor, a rapper, an engineer," Combs said. "After you have that dream you have to actually open your eyes and handle the reality of what it's going to take to achieve that dream."

Capital Preparatory Harlem is the only new charter school opening in Harlem this year.

It's on 104th Street at Fifth Avenue, in the building that houses the Museo Del Barrio.

The kids got in through a lottery with priority given to those living nearby.

"Listen to your teachers, do your homework, study, support each other, be leaders," Combs said. "Be leaders, that's what this school is about. And always remember can't stop won't stop."

"He was pretty much just saying don't take this opportunity for granted," said one student.

Question: Does it matter to you that he said it, because I'm sure your mother has said that a million times?

"It matters more because it's from Sean Combs," the student said. 

"As long as someone is influencing him in a positive way I don't care where it comes from.

The school has 176 sixth and seventh graders now and plans to expand a grade a year until it is a sixth through twelfth grade school with 700 students.

Like other charter schools in the area, applicants far outnumber available seats.