Advancing Protective and Promotive Factors through the Magic City Acceptance Academy

Introduction: In 2021, leaders in Birmingham, Alabama established one of the first LGBTQ-affirming charter school in the United States to serve students who have dropped out, are not thriving in traditional schools, or are enrolled in home-school programs. Methods: Using deductive analysis, our research team filtered data through the five pre-defined themes of the Youth Thrive Framework: (a) youth resilience, (b) social connections, (c) knowledge of adolescent development, (d) concrete support in times of need, and (e) cognitive and social-emotional competence. Results: Study findings suggest that MCAA’s innovative and adaptive approaches to curriculum, discipline, and student engagement align with the tenets of the Youth Thrive Framework. Conclusion: While the Youth Thrive Framework was originally designed in the context of the foster care system, we believe the five protective and promotive factors that comprise the framework may be applied to other contexts, such as educational settings, to support health promoting behavior.