When it comes to describing her experience at Lowcountry Acceleration Academy, LaDayshia Tavelle doesn’t mince words.

Cassius Murray is a quick study — so quick that they can lose ground when asked to move at the same pace as most of their classmates. “I almost ended up failing 8th grade math because I knew all the stuff and lost focus.”

Archie Jackson Jr. and Nick Porter are friends who go way back — and have helped each other find a better way forward with support from the caring educators at Lowcountry Acceleration Academy.

Since opening its doors in August 2020, Lowcountry Acceleration Academy has attracted more than 250 students, a number that grows by the week. Many of them learned about the school from a passionate enrollment coach, LaTosha Walker.

Lowcountry Acceleration Academy student Jamari Green plays a starring role in a new video project launched by Discovery Education and Boeing to encourage young learners to pursue STEM careers in aerospace.

The educators at Lowcountry Acceleration Academy work hard to create an environment where all feel welcome. From the gender-neutral bathrooms to the question “Which pronouns do you prefer?” — graduation candidates who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer feel instantly at home.

Lowcountry Acceleration Academy celebrated its first graduates in a joyful, tearful and at times boisterous celebration Thursday. Family, friends and educators crowded the brightly painted Academy to honor the grads who pushed through adversity to claim their brighter futures.

Montana Ferrell was a good student. But like many, he wrestled with math — a hurdle made even higher by the Covid pandemic and the lack of access to in-person support from teachers.

Good things come in pairs, says the Chinese proverb. That’s certainly the case at the newly opened Lowcountry Acceleration Academy in Charleston.