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The Stories & Insights That Matter
Accelerated High School Path Feeds Pro Soccer Dreams
Aiden Jensen just turned 16, but he’s got big plans. An outstanding soccer player, he’s being recruited to play in Europe for professional development teams. It’s an exciting prospect, but there’s one...
MDAA Math Coach Eliane Hernandez: ‘You Just Have to Follow Your Dream’
Math Coach Eliane Hernandez says many Miami-Dade Acceleration Academies students come from families that, like hers, arrive in the United States with hopes of a better life. That requires a lot of wor...
Behind Every Number, a Deeply Human Story
“These stories of surviving, of thriving amidst untold obstacles, remind me that what we are doing here is deeply human. The spreadsheets help us track progress, identify trends, but it’s the conversa...
Academies in Action: Putting ‘Personalized Learning’ into Practice
Each month, we take a moment to learn from the Academy Directors who are bringing the Acceleration Academies mission to life, day in and day out, by asking them to answer a simple prompt. This month, ...
‘Course Mapping’ Helps Each Student Navigate Tough Material
Ashley Griffiths has always loved to read and write, and the English language arts coach wants to pass along that passion to her students. “Reading is so important; it reaches across all academics,” s...
Personalized Learning Helps Young Mom Earn Her Diploma
The path to graduation wasn’t easy, or fast, for Thelma Gomes. But she was determined to see it through and claim her high school diploma. Recently, she did just that. And her daughters — 3-year-old C...
‘You Matter’ — Martin County Grads Celebrate Their Success
Family members and educators cheered Wednesday as Martin County Acceleration Academy’s newest graduates received their diplomas, tossed their caps and looked toward their futures. All five grads had o...
Pedro Prudencio‘It was like a miracle’
Pedro Prudencio is a young man with a mission: He wants to become a dermatologist to help teens who, like him, have struggled with the physical and emotional pain of acne. But first, he needed a high ...
Diplomas Go Mobile: BAA ‘Grad Caravan’ Brings Commencement Home
An aspiring businesswoman, a future soldier, a student who had found a lack of support at her previous school, and the first member of a Samoan family to earn an American high school diploma — all wer...
‘We’re Better Together’ — Young Married Couple Claim Their Future at SLAA
Celina Barrios and Luis Mitra didn’t take the traditional route to earning their high school diplomas. Nor the fast route. And certainly not the easy one. But the young woman and man, both 20, have ch...
‘That’s When I Decided Not to Give Up on Myself’
You wouldn’t know it from his 1,000-watt smile, but Stanley Cezalien has seen more than his share of trouble. The Haitian native lost family members in the devastating 2010 earthquake, grieved the unr...
Twin Sisters Lose Their Mom, Persevere Toward Their Future
For most of high school, twin sisters Briaunna and Tiauna Black displayed many signs of success — straight-A grades, power positions on the varsity basketball team, plans for college and careers in sp...
