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In the past 15 years, New Beginnings High School (NBHS) has grown from 336 students in the first year to 1,763 students in 2025-26. Today, the school has campuses in Lakeland, Winter Haven, and Fort Meade. 

“When we opened the school initially, we thought the students coming to us would be those who were overaged or under-credited,” said Ashley Wright, founder of the public charter school.

“We found there were a number of students who were walking through the door who just didn’t like traditional school,” said Wright. “The class sizes were too big, the campuses were too large, and they felt like they just got lost in the mix. There were students who said, ‘If I have to go back to that environment, I’d rather quit.’” 

Today, vulnerable students make up a disproportionate share of the diplomas awarded at New Beginnings. 2025-26 data shows that about 26% of the school’s graduates were students with disabilities, and 11% were housing insecure — rates far exceeding the demographics of typical graduating classes across Polk County.

In 2025-26, NBHS graduated 183 students and three more finished requirements in the summer. 

NBHS has rolling enrollment. Students arrive throughout the year and often only stay until they have caught up with their peers. Sometimes they return to their home schools for their last few credits before graduation. 

Individualized and flexible

Students arriving at NBHS have often previously been mislabeled as having behavioral issues when they are actually navigating adult responsibilities, according to Wright. She said students are often juggling multiple pressures, sometimes managing full-time jobs or caring for aging relatives, ill parents, or younger siblings.

“If I’m not sleeping at night because I am taking care of my younger brothers and sisters, and I come to school and I’m sleeping at school, that is deemed a behavior problem,” Wright said. 

NBHS Students are required to meet the same academic curriculum and assessment requirements for graduation as their peers in traditional schools, but the pacing is individualized and format is flexible. 

“There’s digital instruction that students use that helps them catch up with some of their coursework,” Chief Operating Officer Wayne Green said. “But we also have direct instruction for interventions because we have quite a few kids that come in reading below grade level.”

Instruction at NBHS is offered year-round and in the morning and afternoon.

“We’re actually providing core academic services up to 5 o’clock,” Green said. “The purpose of that is so that kids have the flexible schedules they need to do all the things that address issues in their life — life happens.”

Students also have access to electives and participate in clubs. The school provides wraparound support before and after school, offering students transportation, child care support, mental health resources, and career and technical pathways. 

How is NBHS Funded?

Like all public schools in Florida, NBHS receives the majority of its funding through the per-pupil full-time equivalent (FTE) formula, based on a count of students enrolled during survey periods in October and February. When students enroll after the count, the money does not follow them. 

According to Wright, between 300 and 400 students enroll outside of the FTE survey period or who have aged out of high school eligibility, so the state does not provide K-12 funding. 

“Very transparently, no, we don’t get funding for that,” Wright said. “We take them with no money being paid… Our rationale is we’re leaving no child behind, literally. If that child has been dismissed, chose to drop out, or traditional school was not a fit for them, we’re always going to be home for those young people.”

The school also receives funding through federal programs, including Title I and IDEA for students with disabilities. Even with these funds, Wright acknowledged that the realities of serving this population are challenging. 

“We have to manage exceptionally well,” Wright said. “We have to use our resources very well, and we have to run a model that is sustainable, issuing and providing that support to those students outside of those funding cycles.”

Career and Technical Innovation Labs

6-axis robotic arms are utilized on the Winter Haven campus of New Beginnings High School to teach the students the basics of computer language, robotics programming, and the automation of repetitious work. | Courtesy of New Beginnings High School

During the 2023-2024 school year, state lawmakers helped fuel the school’s career and technical education (CTE) programs. Sen. Colleen Burton (R) and Rep. Jennifer Canady (R)  secured more than $1 million in legislative appropriations to build “innovation labs” across all three NBHS campuses. 

“They advocated for New Beginnings to be able to bring this,” said Wright. “And when you think about the demographic that New Beginning serves, you don’t think about them having the latest, greatest laser cutting machines and 3D modeling machines and the ability to to engineer and design. And we wanted these students to have access to those resources.” 

The school’s labs were inspired by the Massachusetts-based NuVu High School’s innovative design studios, which encourage student-led projects and hands-on application of curriculum. 

With funding from a state Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive or CAP Grant, Wright anticipates expansion of the CTE program into humanoid robotics and drone technology.

“If these young people are going to be employed at Publix or Amazon or Saddle Creek, we want to empower them with the greatest technical skills to be able to go into those environments and thrive,” Wright said.

A community and workforce lens

New Beginnings Fort Meade student, Gionni Denson, disassembles a Suzuki DRZ400 motorcycle to perform a carburetor cleaning. | Courtesy of New Beginnings High School

NBHS Board Chair Frank Kendrick, a local construction business owner, views the school’s role through a community and workforce lens. As the school looks to the next 15 years, he says proving that the model works was only the first chapter. 

“We’ve been able to demonstrate why we’re needed, why we’re necessary,” Kendrick said. “People have to see whether it’s sustainable and whether what we’re doing is real. Our next 15 years is going to be focused on what success looks like in bridging the gap.” 

“The greatest accomplishment is not necessarily getting the diploma — the greatest success is the readiness of the student to make the jump from walking across the stage into a high-skill, high-wage job, a trade, entrepreneurship, or higher education.”

Insight Polk examines community conditions and solutions in six target areas from UCIndicators.org: economic & employment opportunity, education, housing, food security, transportation & infrastructure, and quality of life.

LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting is made possible by the United Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.

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Sarah is a freelance writer and reporter for LkldNow, covering education news and community initiatives across Polk County. A resident of the area for 25 years, her work draws on her diverse background spanning more than two decades teaching in K-12 and higher education, grant writing, and academic publishing. Alongside her writing, she is a dedicated yoga teacher.

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