The South Carolina Public Charter School District posted a story with this attention-getting headline: ‘WE’RE HERE TO SHOCK THE WORLD AND WE’RE DOING IT’: LOWCOUNTRY ACCELERATION ACADEMY TEAM BUILDS TRUST IN COMMUNITY, RELATIONSHIPS FOLLOW.
The article, written by SCPCSD’s Campbell Mims, shines a light on the team effort of LAA Director Dr. Jacinta Mims and the Acceleration Academies enrollment team led by Erin Franey. By combining outreach to prospective graduation candidates and their families with a concerted effort to build partnerships with community groups, the academy that opened in August is off to a roaring start.
While many of the young learners had struggled in traditional schools, they are soaring with LAA’s personalized approach to high school education.
“We want to emphasize to our students and families that even though it may have been a slow start in the traditional school setting, we can begin a conversation of how to build you up to be successful from where you are right now,” Bryant, a Charleston native and veteran educational leader, said in the article.
Community partnerships are also key. The LAA team began working with a local resource center to host a meal for prospective GCs and their supporters in which they could learn about the non-traditional opportunity at the new charter school. “We work with community groups to tell their message while telling our message at the very same time,” said Bryant. “The impact is double what it could be if we were taking on this effort alone.”
The article also featured efforts by the Acceleration Academies network — including bilingual call centers, home visits and an extensive follow up system to support the “boots on the ground” strategy in South Carolina’s Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties. “We provide ample support to the kids because a lot of them don’t have adults in their corner to support them,” said Franey. “We take a lot of pride in this personalized support.”
Read the full article here.
