Camelot schools in Philadelphia graduate 400 “second chance” high school students who made remarkable turnarounds; many accepted to post-secondary programs

(Philadelphia – June 20, 2012)

Commencement speaker Ike Reese reminds grads to keep their focus.

Many of the approximately 400 students who walked on stage at Temple University’s Liacouras Center to receive their high school diplomas at the 2012 Camelot Philadelphia graduation probably didn’t think they’d reach this day just a few short years ago. They had either dropped out of school or had fallen well behind in main stream schools.

Now, not only have they graduated but more than 90% of the grads have been accepted into post-secondary schools.

The journey these students have taken sounds very close to that of this year’s guest speaker, Ike Reese, the former Philadelphia Eagles all-pro and now successful talk show host on 94 WIP Sportsradio.

Reese told the students how in 10th grade he too lost his way and dropped out of school and began “hanging with the wrong crowd” before finding his direction and earning his high school and college degrees.

Reese emphasized the theme of individual responsibility, an important aspect of what students learn at Camelot. “No matter how much support your teachers and others give you, it still comes down to you,” he said.

The results for this year’s graduates show these students are taking responsibility. At Excel Academy North, 91% of the students have been accepted to post-secondary programs while at Excel Academy South the acceptance rate was 90%,

“Our accelerated high schools have a consistent track record of finding the potential in these students, helping them raise their test scores by multiple years, and helping them gain acceptance to colleges and trade schools. We could not be more proud of these students’ accomplishments,” said Camelot VP for Education Milton Alexander.

Camelot Academy, which works with students who have disciplinary issues before sending them back to their original high schools, also had 30 students graduate (out of 33 seniors at the school) and 83% of them have been accepted to post-secondary programs.

Camelot teaches the Philadelphia public school curriculum while using a unique structured environment. Camelot has also partnered with Jobs for the Future. The results in Philadelphia over the past several years have captured national attention and Camelot has replicated its program in school districts elsewhere in Pennsylvania as well as in New Jersey, Florida and Illinois.