The Stories & Insights That Matter
In Lee County, Christian Arenas Closes the Distance to His Diploma
For Christian Arenas, doing the work of high school wasn’t the issue. Getting there was. Christian, a senior, had been doing well at his former high school in Cape Coral, Florida. But his mom, who su...
Escambia Celebrates Class of ’23: ‘I Feel Like They Saved My Life’
Family, friends and educators gathered recently to celebrate the hard work, determination and bright future of the Escambia County Acceleration Academies Class of 2023. Each grad had a powerful story...
SLAA’s Ja’Lissa Leggett: From Dropout to a Future in Health Care
Ja’Lissa Leggett had always been a good student. But in a traditional high school, with its crowded classrooms and busy teachers, she fretted about requesting the help she needed. “It felt like I was...
ECAA Grad Devon Linhardt: ‘They Were There for Me at a Really Low Point in My Life
When Devon Linhardt moved to Pensacola with his father, a spell of hard times forced them to live in a van and made Devon uneasy about enrolling at a traditional high school to finish his diploma. He ...
At Marion County Academy, Best Friends Soar Together
Adrianna Wann and Leilani Brown walked very different paths to Marion County Acceleration Academies, but these besties have something vital in common: a drive to move past adversity into a promising t...
MDAA Grad Christian Johnson Tunes Up for Success
From the time he was young, Christian Johnson has been a gifted trumpet player. That spark grew into a flame when he was in fourth grade and got invited backstage to meet legendary trumpeter Wynton Ma...
ECAA Grad Nathan Godwin: ‘Personalization is Everything’
Even before the car crash, traditional high school wasn’t working for Nathan Godwin. A serious-minded young man, Nathan signed up for AP chemistry, calculus, physics, statistics and other challenging...
TV News Crews Cover Grand Opening of New St. Lucie Campus
Tuesday was a big day at St. Lucie Acceleration Academies, as the latest class of graduates strode across the stage to get their diplomas and educational leaders officially cut the ribbon on a spaciou...