Why Now

7,000 young American students drop out of high school each day in the U.S.

This translates to about one student dropping out every 26 seconds, or the time it took you to read this paragraph. Now is the time to partner with us to help these students in your community.

Students share how our program provided them with the flexibility, support, and coaching that worked for them.

Pre-pandemic, if a school district had a dropout-prevention program, or they had an alternative school in their system, once they set students up, they just kind of left them there.

Raymond McNulty

President | National Dropout Prevention Center

The $650,000 Bottom Line

The benefit of earning a high school diploma is clear. Throughout their lifetime, each graduate earns at least $305,000 more than a classmate who dropped out. According to federal data, economic and societal impacts are more than double that number. Each grad also saves society $345,000 in reduced reliance on public assistance, lower health care expenses, and lower incarceration rates.

Our flexible model can be implemented within a few months.

District-created nontraditional options have barriers that fail to give students what they want - a more flexible, less punitive alternative.

Acceleration Academies provides:

• Consistent communication between school staff and families.
• Teacher and team-level monitoring and problem-solving around student attendance.
• Strategies that address food insecurity and mental/physical health issues.
• Case management with community partners to support.

Flexible Scheduling

“I have to get this finished so I can go into full training and get committed... Having more flexibility and that goal made me more ambitious toward getting my diploma.” ~Hailee

Staff Encouragement

“Acceleration Academies did not give up on me, even when I wanted to give up on myself.” ~BriYanna

CONFIDENCE TO SUCCEED

“I used to hate coming to school. Now I love it.” ~Gracelyn

A Safe Environment

“I always felt like I was in a space where I could be me,” she says. “I’m a better person because of Acceleration Academy.” ~Ann

ONE CLASS AT A TIME

“My focus here completely changed. I didn’t know I could focus like this. I have a better understanding now because I was given the time to really understand and grasp it.” ~Gabriel

The Impact of Re-Engagement

Our White Paper explores how re-engaging high school dropouts and disengaged students creates life-changing benefits for young people, while also strengthening communities and economies.

1. +$305,000

   Average increase in lifetime earnings for each young person who completes high school versus dropping out. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023)

2. $345,000

   Average increase in social savings from reduced reliance on public assistance, lower health care expenses, and lower incarceration rates. (NCES, 2019)

3. 2X MORE LIKELY

   Re-engaged graduates are twice as likely to report good or excellent health compared to peers who remain dropouts. (CDC, 2022)

4. OVER 40%

   Share of re-engaged students who come from groups facing steep challenges—low-income households, English learners, or special education students. (NCES, 2023)

Download Our Free White Paper Today

The Economic and Social Benefits of Re-Engaging High School Dropouts

Click here to download

Accredited by Cognia

Read our full Cognia Accreditation Report to learn why Acceleration Academies earned a rating 25 percent higher than the average for the more than 36,000 schools endorsed by Cognia, the world’s largest accreditation body.

Read the Report