Breakthrough Charter: A graduating class worth remembering

This May, Breakthrough Charter School marks its first graduating class—built by educators, chosen by families, and now sending graduates into the world.

This milestone is meaningful for what it represents – not just for students walking across the stage, but for families in the western part of Alabama’s Black Belt region.

Breakthrough Charter School, where I serve on the Board of Directors, was founded with a simple but ambitious goal – to create a high-quality public school option in a region that has long faced limited educational choices. Like all charter schools, Breakthrough is a public school. It does not charge tuition, and it does not screen students based on prior achievement. Any student can enroll.

But unlike traditional public schools, Breakthrough has greater accountability for its performance. It also operates with greater flexibility – the freedom to design its program, build its culture, and respond to the needs of the community. That flexibility matters in places like Perry County.

The school is also notable for another reason. It is only the second fully racially integrated public school in Alabama’s Black Belt, following University Charter School. In a region where educational opportunity has too often been shaped by history and circumstances, that fact carries real weight. 

One image from my early visits to the school has stayed with me. Toward the end of its first year in operation, I arrived on campus and passed by a playground near the main entrance. Four young girls – two White and two Black – were laughing and playing together on the swings. I paused for a moment, struck by something simple but real. Just a year earlier, it is unlikely those four girls would have even known each other. It was a small moment, but a powerful one, and one that captures something essential about what this school is trying to build.

Breakthrough has done this work while operating with among the lowest funding levels of any charter school in the state. This fact makes this first graduating class all the more remarkable.

These students didn’t walk into a long-established institution with decades of tradition behind it. They helped build the tradition. 

This month, the school held its first Robing Ceremony, a new and meaningful tradition. Each senior was robed by an adult they consider a mentor – someone who has played a role in their journey. It is a powerful moment, one that reflects what Breakthrough has tried to create from the beginning – a school grounded in relationships, community, and shared responsibility for student success.

Breakthrough’s story is closely tied to its founder, Darren Ramalho, who previously taught in Perry County Schools. His decision to start the school wasn’t abstract. Rather, it was rooted in his experience in this community and in an unwavering belief that this community deserved more options and stronger outcomes. 

Too often, conversations about education in the Black Belt focus only on challenges. Those challenges are real. But they are not the whole story. 

As a member of Breakthrough’s Board of Directors and a former chair of the Alabama Public Charter School Commission, I am proud of what this school has accomplished to date and excited for this inaugural class of seniors. I look forward to seeing what they achieve in the years ahead. 

More than 90% of students in the inaugural graduating class will graduate this week, and 100% of graduates will have earned postsecondary credits through dual enrollment coursework. Approximately 85% of seniors will enroll in college or pursue a trade following graduation.

While this is a moment for celebration, it is also a beginning. Breakthrough’s best days lie ahead. 

The true measure of the school’s impact will be seen in the years to come, in the lives these graduates build, in the paths they pursue, and in the example they set for the students who follow them. 

This first graduating class of Breakthrough Charter School has given Marion – and the Black Belt – something to celebrate. I sincerely extend my congratulations to the entire Class of 2026.

David T. Marshall is an associate professor in the College of Education at Auburn University, the former chair of the Alabama Public Charter School Commission, and a member of Breakthrough Charter School’s Board of Directors.