Eliane Hernandez knows what it’s like to work hard for your dreams. When she immigrated to the United States 15 years ago, the Cuban-born math instructor went from teaching university students at home to cleaning offices at night while she learned a new language in a new land.

These stories of surviving, of thriving amidst untold obstacles, remind me that what we are doing here is deeply human. The spreadsheets help us track progress, identify trends, but it’s the conversations that fill in the gaps and fill out the stories.

The path to graduation wasn’t easy, or fast, for Thelma Gomes. But she was determined to see it through and claim her high school diploma.

Each month, we take a moment to learn from the Academy Directors who are bringing the Acceleration Academies mission to life, day in and day out, by asking them to answer a simple prompt. This month, we focus on how personalized learning is used to help individual students meet their goals in a way...

Ashley Griffiths has always loved to read and write, and the English language arts coach wants to pass along that passion to her students.

An aspiring businesswoman, a future soldier, a student who had found a lack of support at her previous school, and the first member of a Samoan family to earn an American high school diploma — all were celebrated Thursday by a Bethel Acceleration Academy “Grad Caravan.”

Celina Barrios and Luis Mitra didn’t take the traditional route to earning their high school diplomas. Nor the fast route. And certainly not the easy one.

You wouldn’t know it from his 1,000-watt smile, but Stanley Cezalien has seen more than his share of trouble. The Haitian native lost family members in the devastating 2010 earthquake, grieved the unrelated deaths of his father and baby sister, and followed his mother to Florida only to find he...