The Stories & Insights That Matter

Lee County Acceleration Academies Celebrates Ribbon Cutting with District Staff, Students
Grateful graduates, Lee County School Board member Melisa Giovannelli and Acceleration Academies leaders were featured at a ribbon-cutting October 23 to celebrate the opening of a new, permanent site...

Ocala Newspaper Features Marion County Accelerations Academies First Graduation
The first-ever graduating class from Marion County Acceleration Academies (MCAA) took a star turn in the Ocala StarBanner newspaper and website after a festive commencement ceremony held April 11, 202...

Pensacola Radio Show Features Escambia Academy
The flexible, personalized education offered by Escambia County Acceleration Academies hit the airwaves recently, when ECAA Director Mat Taylor made a guest appearance on the “Pep Talk with Jake Walke...

Bryce Dittman: Finding the Quiet He Needs to Succeed
For Bryce Dittman, a traditional high school with its bustling classrooms and hectic hallways proved an exercise in distraction. “It was a draining environment,” he says. “I couldn’t really learn.” Th...

SAA Graduation: ‘We Are So Proud of Each of You’
At a ceremony filled with pomp, circumstance and an extra serving of joy, Sarasota Acceleration Academies (SAA) celebrated its latest class of graduates. The auditorium at Suncoast Technical College c...

Alyssa Hooper: The Phone Call That Changed Her Life
Alyssa Hooper had always been a gifted student, earning good grades in advanced courses and delighting in discussing the fine points of history and other subjects with teachers and classmates alike. ...

Talea Washington: ‘I’m Improving Every Day’
At her old high school in Belleview, Florida, Talea Washington got tired of less-serious students getting in the way of her goals. While Talea wanted to buckle down and learn, too many of her classmat...

Sarasota TV Station Spotlights New Class of Grads
When family, friends and educators gathered to celebrate the latest class of graduates from Sarasota Acceleration Academies, which has campuses in Sarasota and North Port, Florida, the Suncoast News N...

Sarasota Grad Nathan Ricca: ‘It Was Way Different’
For Nathan Ricca, the road to finding the right high school was long and winding. He began in a traditional high school but felt overwhelmed by the crowded hallways and packed classrooms. He tried mil...

SLAA’s Ja’Quon Madaris: Gifts from the Heart and Hands
If they could find a job at all, most 15-year-olds would use the cash to buy snacks, video games or tickets to a concert — or maybe save toward their first car. Since he started his own auto detailin...

‘Do Not Give Up’ — LCAA Celebrates First Group of Graduates
Lee County Acceleration Academies (LCAA) celebrated its first group of graduates recently, as young men and women who might have otherwise given up on high school received the diplomas they had worked...

Roberto Hilarion: Making His – and his Parents’ — Dreams Come True
When Roberto Hilarion and his sister were younger, their parents moved from Cuba to Miami in hopes of building a better life for their children. Roberto Hilarion and his parents. Both his mother and ...