Throughout high school I’ve always had a struggle with academics. During my junior year at my old high school I was dealing with a lot of stress and personal issues that ended up 
affecting me emotionally and academically. I lost a lot of hope in myself, not believing I could work towards the future I wanted to pursue. My self-esteem was not good. When I first started at Cortona Academy, I didn’t know if this would be any different from my other school. Once I started to learn and adapt to the new learning skills that are used at Cortona, I started to have hope in myself. I’ve always struggled with being able to learn with over twenty-five kids in a classroom and not getting the direct attention I was seeking. The smaller class size, and the individual teacher attention really made all the difference. I was able to ask for help when I needed it, and the caring and understanding staff always was there to support me. I feel ready for college now, and I feel like my education was saved.
Grace Summerson – Class of 2020