Julia Egnew-Castilla was just beginning the second semester of her senior year in high school when she found out she was pregnant.
She didn’t want to be on campus during her pregnancy and with her due date in October, followed by recovery, the delay was going to stretch out almost a year.
Her family supports her finishing school. Only three people on her mom’s side graduated high school and her father has a GED.
“Everybody’s pushing me and saying I need to get my diploma,” she said.
Her school tried to help, giving her work to do at home so she could keep up.
“I was trying to do the packets that they gave me so I could get my credits and that really wasn’t working,” she said. “I didn’t really have any support from my teachers. So when I got the call about this – I jumped at the opportunity. I’m like, ‘OK, that works for me.’”
The call Egnew-Castilla received was from Federal Way Acceleration Academy, a new school district program opening its doors to diploma-seekers on Feb. 2. With a focus on former Federal Way Public Schools students ages 16 to 21 who left high school without completing their degree, this storefront program is unlike any school in town.
The young men and women who will be attending Federal Way Acceleration Academy have different needs than students in traditional high schools. They may be working full time, managing a household or lacking permanent housing, taking care of parents, siblings or children of their own. They may have personal, social, medical or academic challenges that made high school difficult and returning to school intimidating.
With these situations in mind, Federal Way Acceleration Academy combines flexibility and accountability to customize a learning path for each student (the academy uses the goal-focused title “graduation candidate” instead of student) who enters the program. Potential barriers are addressed and overcome through teamwork, so a high school diploma with a clear post-graduate plan is achievable.
Everything about the Acceleration Academy caters to their clientele. The site is open 12 hours a day to accommodate varied schedules. Courses are completed one at a time and at the individual’s own pace.
There are no lectures, dense textbooks or school bells. Learning combines online content with on-site staff support in a bright and comfortable environment similar to a public library. Each student is provided with a free Amazon Kindle Fire tablet for coursework.
Getting that diploma is only part of the plan for those who choose to join this program. Every participant develops a personalized, 10-year career plan, which includes career/college readiness and an inventory of interests and life skills. Specialized staff assists with behavioral, social, emotional and health needs, as well as special education and language acquisition support.
Degrees vs. GEDs
Many people assume that once a person drops out of school, the best option to qualify quickly for jobs and higher education is to get a GED, or General Educational Development certificate.
Not so, said Vince Blauser, the executive director of secondary education.
“A General Educational Development is widely perceived as a high school equivalency certificate,” he explained. “However, studies have shown that high school graduates earn more on average than GED recipients. In addition, not all colleges accept a GED as equivalent to a high school diploma. High school dropouts, in contrast to graduates, face uncertain futures.”
In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, high school graduates not only earn significantly more, but they are far more likely to complete some form of post-secondary education.
More diplomas mean a better community for all of us. As Blauser notes, “A study by the Economics Center for Education and Research found that high school diplomas benefit taxpayers and state economies as well. High school graduates contribute more to a state’s economy and require less state assistance than high school dropouts. This study also found that high school graduates could realize a net lifetime benefit of more than $470,000. For state tax payers, the contributions of high school graduates far outweigh the costs of education.”
What is an Acceleration Academy?
Federal Way Acceleration Academy has been in the works for over 18 months. Blauser and other district staff began with a program model developed by Acceleration Academies, LLC, an educational service provider that “provides academic, instructional, and support services to students either at risk of not earning a high school diploma or wishing to return to school after a gap in their education.”
Acceleration Academies, LLC, works with individual school districts to build customized versions of their model. By providing consultation during program development and implementation, as well as training on blended learning and online curriculum, they enable districts to get an academy up and running without the time and expense of starting from scratch.
Bethel Acceleration Academy, the first to launch in Washington state and entirely contracted through the corporation, is seven months into their first year and already serves 130 candidates. With a student population 5,000 students larger than Bethel, Federal Way could quickly surpass that number.
Federal Way Acceleration Academy is completely staffed by district employees. Jeanette Bullock, an educator and administrator with the district for over 35 years, has been selected as Federal Way Acceleration Academy’s manager. After completing her training on the curriculum, she is even more excited to share it with students, noting that the sites and courses are easy to navigate. She adds that many courses are already aligned to the Common Core Standards, and provide the rigor needed to pass course exit exams.
Rigor is an important part of the Acceleration Academy approach. Academy students are earning the same diploma as high school students in the district, and their coursework is equally challenging. The difference with this program is the environment, a blended learning model, flexibility and wrap-around support.
Ron Mayberry, the executive director of technology services, oversees the program at the district level. With extensive experience in alternative and online education, he is enthusiastic about the use of blended learning at the academy.
“The program’s blended learning model allows for great personalization,” he said. “Students are given control over time, place, path, or pace. The staff will work with each student to develop a learning plan to the guide their work towards completing their diploma.”
District’s vision: 100 percent graduation rate
The school district’s commitment “to ensure that each student graduates with the skills and academic knowledge to succeed as a responsible, contributing member of a global society,” is the key motivation behind their ongoing expansion of educational options for attaining a meaningful diploma. For students at risk of dropping out, or of never returning to complete high school, those options include multiple avenues for credit retrieval, alternative middle and high school programs and now – Federal Way Acceleration Academy.
The work is paying off. At the end of the 2013-14 school year, the district exceeded their annual benchmark with a 76.2 percent graduation rate, which means they’re on track to meet or exceed the official 2019-20 school year goal of 92 percent. The Federal Way Acceleration Academy is a big leap towards achieving their true goal of 100 percent high school graduation.
District seeks graduation candidates
Getting in touch with almost 800 former students is no small task – but that’s exactly what is being done. Although many have moved away or gone on to other programs, one of the contracted tasks of the Acceleration Academies staff is to help research, reach out and recruit those living in the Federal Way Public Schools service area who do not have their high school diploma.
Blauser lists some of the grassroots methods as “advertising via fliers, posters in local business places, mailings to last known addresses, websites, social media, word of mouth, high school principals, and door knocking.”
For more information, visit www.accelerationacademy.org, call at 253-945-4590 or toll free at 855-350-5525, or stop by the site at the Hillside Plaza Shopping Center, 2104 S. 314th St., Suite 2104, in Federal Way. The program is free.
