Family, friends and educators gathered recently to celebrate the hard work, determination and bright future of the Escambia County Acceleration Academies Class of 2023.

With only three months left until the first day of school at Carolina Shores Acceleration Academy (CSAA), we’re excited to share the first look at our space in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Ja’Lissa Leggett had always been a good student. But in a traditional high school, with its crowded classrooms and busy teachers, she fretted about requesting the help she needed.

When new graduation candidates arrive for orientation at Gwinnett County Acceleration Academies, Jamaal Hickman greets them at the door. “I tell them, ‘I meet you right here and I’m going to be there when you get your high school diploma.’ ”

A mom trying to make a good life for her baby boy; a young man who needed a push to get back on track; a group of young men and women for whom traditional high school was simply not the right fit — all were celebrated recently as the newest class of graduates fromBethel Acceleration Academies. ...

For Zamaria Farris, there were so many reasons to leave her traditional high school behind: sweaty hallways, teachers who lacked the time to help her, a social life that led her to the shopping mall rather than study hall.

Of all the challenges that teenage parents face, finishing high school shouldn’t have to be one of them.

While many students lost ground when the Covid pandemic temporarily shut down schools, Alivia Angelina Erbella Apodaca found her sweet spot studying remotely.

When Devon Linhardt moved to Pensacola with his father, a spell of hard times forced them to live in a van and made Devon uneasy about enrolling at a traditional high school to finish his diploma.