When Alexiann Edwards moved to Florida from her native Jamaica early in 2023, she wanted to complete her high school career at a different kind of school.

Shamyiah Lewis is a strong student, but moving to a new city at the beginning of her senior year nearly derailed her plans to earn a high diploma and go on to study filmmaking in college.

Jennifer, Valerie and Dominic Amador are three siblings from a close-knit Texas family. When the trio decided they needed a different kind of high school, they took care of themselves and each other in the way they always do — together.

For Michael Demara, family comes first. When his family moved from a small, overcrowded apartment into a more spacious home after his junior year, it brought a welcome change to their lives.

The latest crop of graduates from Bethel Acceleration Academies in Spanaway, WA, recently strode across the stage and celebrated the diplomas they worked so hard to earn.

Kendall Mast had never felt at home in the hurly burly of traditional high school. Throw in a series of family moves and the challenge of finding a stable school environment became that much steeper.

Diago Harris ran with a rough crowd and, before long, lost interest in school. He dropped out, landed a job in construction and, for a time, felt like his life was on a positive trajectory.

For Bryce Dittman, a traditional high school with its bustling classrooms and hectic hallways proved an exercise in distraction. “It was a draining environment,” he says. “I couldn’t really learn.”

Pedro Suazo is 20. It wasn’t so long ago that he thought he’d never walk across the stage to receive his high school diploma. The seemingly mile-high obstacle in his way — geometry.