Broward County Public Schools has taken a big step to expand opportunity for students in need. The district is opening a new school site offering an alternative pathway to earning a high school diploma. The new tuition-free program, the Broward County Acceleration Academy (BCAA), has been operating at a temporary site since January this year and has already awarded its first diploma.
The result of a partnership between the district and Acceleration Academies, BCAA is for at-risk students and those who have already dropped out. It offers a blended self-paced program on a nontraditional school schedule. The Academy is open year round, evenings, and most weekends to accommodate students who juggle jobs, family obligations, their own children, and other challenges that can make traditional school difficult for them to manage.
The need for alternative pathways to a diploma is clear. A typical high school graduate will earn 25% more than a non-graduate and is less likely to be unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Students who do not earn a diploma are also more likely to be involved in criminal activity, rely on welfare, and have poor health, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
“Every additional student we help across the finish line is not just an economic win,” said Mark Graves, executive vice president and chief engagement officer at Acceleration Academies. “It’s a win for social rights, a win for civic justice every time a young person overcomes adversity to become a contributing member of society who’s able to give back. It’s a second chance at realizing their full potential. These kids can do it. They just need the right environment and the right support around them to be able to rebuild their confidence, to be able to bulldoze some of the non-academic barriers that are in the background, like homelessness, food scarcity, teen pregnancy, or taking care of sick parents, among other challenges.”
In addition to the flexible schedule, the Academy supports the whole student well beyond their academic needs. Acceleration Academies provides transportation, food, mentors, and success coaches to help students navigate their curriculum and the challenges in their lives that might interfere with school. Touted as being “more than just another school,” BCAA is an opportunity for the 10,000 students in Broward County who have dropped out of school, but who are still eligible for a diploma, to get a new lease on life by investing into their own untapped potential.
“These students, many of whom have been failed by traditional schooling and even society more broadly, have a real champion in Broward Schools Superintendent Howard Hepburn,” said Graves. “He came in as the new superintendent, looked around at the existing programs, and saw an opportunity to remove barriers for thousands more students. He had a vision to bring students back into the fold and to support them through completion of a Broward County diploma—not a GED or a certificate of completion, but a ‘real McCoy’ diploma—no matter how tough the challenges in their personal lives.”