Over the past decade, state legislatures looking for “easy wins” in the fight to keep students in school have passed compulsory attendance laws that have essentially made dropping out illegal. Few states, however, have provided schools with the resources they need to enforce these laws. In particular, most communities do not have the capacity to
Madeline wasn’t convinced a traditional high school was quite right for her. When her boyfriend suggested she try Graduation Alliance, as he had, she took after his hard-working example. “In high school I had trouble focusing. It was hectic and I just wanted to have fun,” Madeline said. “With Graduation Alliance I can do my
Kayla has always been a go-getter. With big dreams for the future, the Spokane, Washington, native wanted a fast-track through high school so she could get down to business—with a business license. “Now that I’ve graduated, I can go to college and get my career started,” she said. “I’m planning to get my business license
Tristen was performing perfectly in a traditional high school setting. That is, until he moved to a new town for his senior year. “The school literally gave me panic attacks the moment I walked in. It was so much bigger than any school I’d ever been too,” he said. “Finishing high school was my biggest
Jordan was ready to start his career and leave school forever. The problem? He hadn’t yet earned a high school diploma. “School itself was my biggest challenge,” Jordan said. “Just having to work on someone else’s schedule was hard. I couldn’t found time.” When a counselor in his traditional high school told him about opportunities
Nate wanted to be in school, but his home life made that hard. So when an enrollment counselor from Graduation Alliance left a voicemail for him, after being referred by his local school district, he immediately called back. “I work full time, so my family and challenges at home really started to interfere with my
While growing up, Cassie never became too attached to friends in school. Her family moved around about once a year—making friends stopped being worth the effort. “High school kids are not exactly known to be friendly sometimes,” Cassie said. “The pressures and school atmosphere for the social aspect was hard for me to want to
Hannah knew the value of education. Having grown up in a small private school, she was eager to continue her learning in a traditional high school setting. But the change was overwhelming, partly due to the sheer size of the campus and class sizes. “School was already hard,” Hannah said. “Then, I got sick for