Lowcountry Acceleration Academy Celebrates First Graduates

New Public Charter High School Celebrates First Grads 

Charleston, SC – January 25, 2021 – As schools across South Carolina and the nation struggle with helping students regain lost ground due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a new public charter high school offering a personalized education to students from Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties is growing quickly and celebrating its first graduates. 

“Many of our students struggled in, or had dropped out of, traditional schools,” said Dr. Jacinta Bryant, Director of Lowcountry Acceleration Academy at 5935 Rivers Ave. in North Charleston. “But they have hit the ground running here — and it’s so exciting to see the first group of them achieve their goal of a high school diploma.” 

The strong results at Lowcountry Acceleration Academy come as South Carolina celebrates School Choice Week, highlighting the options available to students who have not found success in traditional schools. Like all public schools, Lowcountry educates local students free of charge. 

Research has shown that student progress suffered when the pandemic closed school buildings and forced an abrupt shift to full- or part-time remote learning in 2020-21. According to the federal Department of Education, those losses were particularly steep for students of color, LGBTQ students and those from economically disadvantaged communities — all groups that Lowcountry Acceleration Academy serves with a personalized approach rather than a one-size-fits-all curriculum. While students do their coursework online, they have intensive one-on-one coaching on the academy campus and via Zoom and phone conferences.

Mariah and Makyia Aiken are twin sisters who lost ground not only due to the pandemic, but also to a tropical storm destroying their family home on John’s Island. Thanks to a curriculum that has them focus on one course at a time, they completed their first course in 3 weeks. “Instead of us having to take it for a full semester, at Acceleration Academy we were able to do it in three weeks,” said Mariah. “Now I can go on to my next class and be one step closer to getting my diploma.” 

Like many students, Montana Ferrell wrestles with math — a hurdle made even higher by the Covid pandemic and the lack of access to in-person support from teachers. “Math has always been a struggle subject for me,” he says. “I just felt hopeless for a while. I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ ” Montana says math content coach Sarah Aquino provided a lifeline, sitting down with him on campus and via Zoom to patiently help him to mastery. “She’s amazing,” says Montana, 18. “She was always there to help me when I had a question.” Fueled by that support and his own hard work, Montana successfully completed the math course and recently became Lowcountry’s Acceleration Academy’s first graduate. 

If you would like to interview students, grads and the faculty led by veteran Charleston educator Dr. Jacinta Bryant, we would be happy to welcome you to campus. Students come to campus on varying schedules, but Wednesday between 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. is often a bustling time. Just let us know what might work for you. Thank you for your consideration. 

For more information: 

Jeffrey Good, Director of Editorial and Media Relations — 603-276-9202; jgood@accelerationacademy.org 

Dr. Jacinta Bryant, Academy Director — 843-696-6290; jbryant@accelerationacademy.org