Gracelyn Rouleau is wrapping up her time as a high school student at St. Lucie Acceleration Academies, but not long ago, she wasn’t sure she’d make it to graduation.
Back at her old high school, social anxiety and crowded classrooms made learning tough. “It was never one-on-one so I never understood what was going on,” she says.
That all changed when she came to St. Lucie Acceleration Academies (SLAA), an alternative high school option in Port St. Lucie, Florida, that partners with St. Lucie Public Schools.
Now, instead of feeling lost in the crowd, Gracelyn works closely with teachers like Orlando Ashah, her social studies coach, who takes the time to break things down in a way that actually makes sense.
“I don’t get history at all and he breaks it down into small pieces,” says Gracelyn.
At SLAA, the learning is flexible and personalized. Students move at their own pace — and take tests once they've mastered the material they're learning. “If you think you need more help, you go to that teacher, ask them to help you.”
Even test day feels different.
Gone are the big, noisy classrooms that used to spike her anxiety. “It was a whole bunch of people in one room,” she says, explaining that anxiety would overcome her and make it hard to recall the material she had worked so hard to learn. Instead, at SLAA, tests are taken in quiet, uncrowded rooms. And before they begin, there’s plenty of time to practice and gain the confidence needed to succeed.
Another big win? Only focusing on one class at a time. “My brain holds it better than if I had all those classes I had to remember stuff for.”
With every class she passes, her confidence grows.
“I thought I was going to be a dropout, but now I’m going to be a graduate,” she declares. “I used to hate coming to school. Now I love it.”