Acceleration Academies_Spring2023_Pathways Magazine

92%. But what about the remaining 8, 10 or 15
percent, thousands of students who have not
been able to graduate?
Acceleration Academies educators found that
one-size-fits-all schooling didn’t meet the needs
of all young learners.
Students who must work to support themselves
and their families and can’t follow traditional
school hours, who are easily distracted, who
suffer from anxiety, depression and bullying, who
need more one-on-one time with teachers and
counselors, who work best when focusing on one
course at a time, or who simply want to accelerate
their studies and move on to the next chapter —
all cry out for a different approach.
“These are not academic barriers;
they are characteristics of real
people that don’t work well in the
educational factories of today,”
says Acceleration Academies CEO
Steve Campbell.
Getting to Know — and
Support — Each Learner
At Acceleration Academies,
educators deliberately slow the
pace down and get to know each
young learner as an individual.
For many students, academic progress only
comes once educators are able to establish
meaningful personal connections with the
students. It’s only once they understand their
unique life circumstances, challenges and
obstacles, are they able to craft an educational
strategy that flexes to their needs.
“We really take the time to get to know the
GCs one-on-one first, get a sense of who they
are, what they want to do in life,” says Hashima
Carothers, interim Director of Gwinnett County
Acceleration Academies in Georgia. “A lot of times,
it’s not really academic barriers that are leading
them to drop out,” says Carothers. Life barriers
are ones many have had to navigate alone. “Most
of them have never been listened to, have never
been heard.”
From day one, each learner is assigned a graduation
candidate advocate (GCA) who will serve as their
personal mentor, cheerleader and problem-solver.
Students — they’re called “graduation candidates”
(GCs) to remind them of their goals — only take
one course at a time, allowing for them to develop
close relationship with one teacher (called content
coaches) at a time. They meet with life and career
coaches who take stock of their needs and help
them map a personalized path to graduation.
That personal attention, says CEO Campbell, “is our
secret sauce.”
Chris Turner leads Wichita Acceleration Academies,
which has become a safe haven for some GCs who
are teen parents. “We have a community of young
mothers. In most cases, they would prefer to find
child care so they can focus.
But many can’t find it or they
can’t afford it,” says Turner.
“Knowing that they can
bring their child to campus is
a really big deal.”
From Trauma to
Renewal
A critical component of
the support Acceleration
Academies educators
provide to GCs is connecting
them with community organizations that can help
secure housing, provide food and other necessities,
and provide help in a crisis.
Wendy Thompson, Academy Director in Clark
County, NV, and her team developed a database of
community resources they can tap whenever the
need arises. “You don’t want to wait until you’re in
crisis to know what resources are available,” says
Thompson. “We’ve had kids in the middle of the
night saying I’m sleeping in my car.” A phone call or
two later, they have a place to rest their heads.
“You’re not going to be able to move from course
to course if you’re broken and shattered,” says
Bryant. Of the healing central to the mission
of Acceleration Academies across the nation,
Campbell adds, “There’s no more important work.”
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