Power Moves: Jeremiah Newell provides new opportunities for students in Mobile
Jeremiah Newell’s passion for providing every young person with a high-quality education and addressing the gaps that he saw in the education system helped lead to the founding of ACCEL Day and Evening Academy in 2017. (Nik Layman / Alabama NewsCenter)
Jeremiah Newell knew the opportunities a quality education granted, even at a young age. As a child living below the poverty line in Mobile, he quickly realized his chance for academic success, and for others in his neighborhood, was limited. His view on the importance of education was solidified when he was given the opportunity to attend a magnet school.
“(When) I was accepted, I immediately noticed that the academic expectations were higher, the level of support greater and the degree of parent and community engagement overwhelming in the magnet program,” Newell said. “As an elementary student, I wondered why I had to get up early in the morning and be bused or driven outside of my neighborhood to receive a better education. I was not somehow better than the students I played with every day on my street. I felt they deserved that same opportunity.”
Another instance that shaped his commitment to education happened in middle school when his mother accepted a job as a janitor at an affluent private school. In the evenings he helped her, and he realized that the opportunity to succeed for those without financial and social capital was largely a matter of chance.
“As I cleaned the classrooms, bathrooms and offices, I was astonished at the technology available, the carpeted classrooms and the committed teachers who would still be working when I came to their classrooms in the evening. I realized that while I attended one of the best public middle schools in the state, it paled in comparison to this amazing private school,” Newell said.
These moments helped shape Newell’s passion for providing every young person with a high-quality education and addressing the gaps that he saw in the education system. He knew solving these issues was an act of monumental proportions, and that the problems facing public schools are as much community-based as they are school-based and required a holistic approach.
Power Moves: Jeremiah Newell of ACCEL Day and Evening Academy from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Pulling from his years of experience working at the Mobile Area Education Foundation (MAEF) and his time as a Harvard Fellow at the Rhode Island Department of Education, Newell in 2017 helped found ACCEL Day and Evening Academy, Alabama’s first public charter school.
“Locally, more than 1,500 students fail to graduate truly ready for college and work. … The vision of the ACCEL Day and Evening Academy is to re-engage and inspire youth to unlock their academic potential and graduate high school as lifelong learners ready for college, careers and civic life,” Newell said.
Since its founding, ACCEL has graduated more than 400 at-risk high school students and expanded to serve more than 600 middle and high school students, with 86% of these students in poverty. The school is expected to grow over the next three years to serve 850 students.
Beyond ACCEL, Newell has worked to transform public education through his position at the Mobile Area Education Foundation by partnering with the Mobile County Public Schools to develop dropout prevention and intervention programming. They include the Evening Educational Options Program, a flexible night school model for at-risk youths, and a $10 million U.S. Department of Education grant program to support the turnaround of Mobile County’s lowest-performing middle and high schools.
Looking ahead, Newell knows the improvements and transformations to education will not only help students succeed, they will also positively affect the broader Mobile community.
“Mobile’s economic development is on fire. We are needing to fill thousands of high-wage, high-demand jobs in the next couple of years. This will mean our region will continue to be a magnet to attract skilled workers,” Newell said.
“The efforts being led by our local community workforce and educational leaders, and that are being supported by our state-level leadership, are focused on closing those opportunity gaps for our young Mobilians,” he said. “This work will have a tremendously positive impact on youth unemployment, underemployment, juvenile and young adult crime, and our overall community’s quality of life for years to come.”
