The Mobile Area Education Foundation (MAEF) gave educators and potential students their first look Thursday at the ACCEL Day and Evening Academy. When the academy opens next fall, it will be Alabama’s first tuition-free charter school.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
The doors are open
The ACCEL Academy will be located at 3100 Cottage Hill Road, in about 20,000 square feet of classroom, lab and office space formerly used by the ITT Technical Institute. The location is just around the corner from the Shoppes at Bel Air mall and the junction of Airport Boulevard and I-65.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Ready-made classrooms
Jabaria Dent of the Mobile Area Education Foundation, points out features of a classroom at the new site of the ACCEL Day and Evening Academy. Formerly the home of ITT Technical Institute, the facility has more than a dozen rooms already fitted out as classroom and labs of various sizes, plus conference rooms, office space and other specialized rooms. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com)
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Reminders of ITT, such as these posters related to its business program, remain throughout the facility, which MAEF has occupied under a five-year lease. In September 2016, ITT closed down operations nationwide and filed for bankruptcy.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
A half-dozen labs at the ACCEL Academy site vary in size and equipment. This larger one has tables suited to technical work.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
As with the labs, classrooms at the ACCEL Academy site vary in size and layout. MAEF officials said they plan for programs at the school to be very flexible, with pacing that is “competency based” rather than mapped out in a rigid grade-by-grade progression. But they also said the school will meet the same educational standards as other public schools, and its degrees will be equivalent.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
One room at the ACCEL Academy site is set up in a way conducive to teaching material related to medicine and healthcare. A representative of MAEF said that the fixtures left by ITT Technical Institute may be left in the room, so they can be used to help implement ACCEL’s emphasis on workforce education.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Vision and values
Although traces of ITT currently remain in the facility at 3100 Cottage Hill Road, materials identifying it as the home of the ACCEL Day and Evening Academy have begun to replace them. One example: This display of the ACCEL Vision, which is to “re-engage and inspire youth to unlock their academic potential and graduate as life-long learners.”
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Another display spells out ACCEL’s five core values.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
“It has truly been the honor of my career to help co-create this school,” said Jeremiah Newell, chief operating officer of MAEF and co-founder of the academy. Speaking on Thursday, Newell said that rather than competing with the Mobile County Public School system, the ACCEL Academy will offer an innovative alternative to students who haven’t been able to achieve success in traditional classroom settings. “They don’t just need a choice,” Newell said. “This is fundamentally about giving them a chance.” He said the application process for students is under way, as is the recruitment of faculty and staff. The school will open with “no more than 300” students, he said.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Jeremiah Newell speaks to a group including parents of potential students, answering questions about how the tuition-free charter school will offer an alternative to traditional public schools. “It’s all about re-engagement and inspiration,” he said.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Among those speaking on Thursday was Robbie Baker, board president for the Mobile Area Education Foundation. Baker said that MAEF has worked for years on programs to identify students at risk of dropping out and give them a new pathway to success. “ACCEL is the newest innovation for this same pathway,” he said.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Henry O’Connor, the board president for the ACCEL Academy, said the most serious responsibility before the school’s backers right now is to put the right people in the right positions as it builds its core faculty. The most exciting thing about the school is that it will provide a new option for students in the area, he said. He quoted educator Rick Hess, saying “Choice is the key element there ... ‘Choice has a lot going for it. It is a powerful way to empower educators, families and communities, making it easier to re-imagine schools in ways that make great use of today’s talent and technology to meet the needs of our students.’ ... So, when I think of ACCEL Day and Evening Academy, we are taking that choice seriously. We are a public school open to high school students in Mobile and Baldwin Counties.”
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Carolyn Akers, CEO of MAEF and co-founder of ACCEL Academy, praised the Mobile County Public School System, saying that “for 25 years we’ve worked tirelessly, hand-in-hand with the district, and today is not a different day. We are going to continue that work, but also we’re excited about opening this first charter school in Alabama.”
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Mobile County Public School Superintendent Martha Peek, center, was on hand for Thursday’s celebration, but did not speak from the podium. “This is the foundation’s day,” she said. “We’re excited about it,” she said, expressing support for the Academy’s goal of presenting a new opportunity to students needing an alternative.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
Laura O’Connor, representing the Advancing Southwest Alabama coalition and the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, described Thursday’s celebration as “a well-deserved victory lap” for the ACCEL Academy’s creators. She said the school would play a vital role in helping Mobile County produce high school graduates well equipped to pursue technical jobs and higher education.
Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com
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The ACCEL Academy's main entrance is at right; the car visible at left is about to turn onto Cottage Hill Road. For more information on the program, visit www.maef.net. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com)
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