The Story Behind Baltimore Excel Center’s 100th Graduate

When the Baltimore Excel Center first opened its doors in September 2023, it carried a clear and urgent purpose as Maryland’s only tuition‑free, public adult high school. More than 80,000 Baltimore residents lacked a high school diploma—and for many of them, the traditional path back to one simply did not exist. No program in Maryland was designed quite like this: tuition-free, flexible, built around the realities of adult life, and committed to awarding real Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) diplomas instead of GED credentials.

Less than three years later, the school has submitted its 100th graduate for MSDE graduation.

That milestone arrived faster than anyone projected. Hitting 100 graduates in under 36 months at an alternative education program is, by any measure, remarkable. It reflects not just the scale of unmet need in Baltimore, but the effectiveness of a model that treats adults as whole people—with jobs, families, histories, and futures worth investing in.

Each of those 100 graduates has a story. The 100th one is Danielle Clubb.

What Does Reaching 100 Graduates Mean for Baltimore?

Numbers tell part of the story. Research shows that earning a high school diploma increases annual income by an average of $9,000. When 100 people in a single city cross that threshold, the ripple effect is measurable—in wages earned, in promotions unlocked, in college applications submitted, in children who grow up watching a parent finish something hard.

For Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, which operates the Excel Center as part of its broader mission to help people secure and retain employment, the milestone is also proof of concept. Opening an adult high school in Baltimore was a bold decision. Seeing 100 students achieve their diplomas in under three years validates the years of planning, fundraising, and community outreach that made it possible.

“Reaching 100 graduates is an incredible achievement, but what makes this milestone truly meaningful are the stories behind each diploma,” said Lisa Rusyniak, President & CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake. “Danielle’s journey reflects the resilience, determination, and courage we see in so many of our students. She transformed her life through education and is now preparing to help others do the same. That is exactly the kind of impact the Excel Center was created to achieve.”

The Excel Center model has a track record to support that confidence. Originally launched in Indiana in 2010 by Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, the program has expanded to 31 schools across eight states and Washington, D.C. Nationally, more than 13,000 adults have graduated through Excel Center programs since the model began. Baltimore’s school is the newest addition to that network—and already among its fastest-growing.

Meet Danielle Clubb: The Woman Behind the 100th Diploma

Danielle Clubb is 45 years old. She left school at 17. For the better part of the next three decades, addiction shaped her life in ways that closed more doors than she could count—including custody of her children.

Getting sober in July 2023 was the turning point. It did not fix everything at once. But it was the moment Danielle decided she was going to build something new.

She enrolled at the Baltimore Excel Center in February 2024. At that point, she had been out of a classroom for nearly 30 years. She was navigating early recovery. She was working to rebuild relationships with her children. The odds of completing a high school program under those conditions would discourage most people before they ever started.

Danielle started anyway.

“I wanted my life back,” she said. “I wanted to get my kids back, go back to school, and prove to myself that I could do it. Now I’m graduating, and I’m preparing for a career helping people who are facing the same challenges I once faced.”

Over the course of her time at the Excel Center, Danielle regained custody of her children and rebuilt the family relationships that addiction had strained. She completed her coursework and became the school’s 100th graduate—a number that carries weight precisely because of what it cost her to get there.

On June 26, 2026, she walked across the stage at the University of Maryland Baltimore’s SMC Campus Center to collect her MSDE-certified high school diploma.

From Graduation Stage to a Career in Recovery

The diploma is not the end of Danielle’s story—it is the beginning of its next chapter.

The same week she graduates, Danielle will begin a role as a Peer Recovery Specialist. In that role, she will work alongside people struggling with addiction and mental health challenges, offering the kind of support that only comes from lived experience. She knows what it feels like to believe recovery is impossible. She knows what it takes to keep going anyway.

That trajectory—from student to advocate, from person in recovery to person leading recovery efforts—is precisely the kind of outcome the Baltimore Excel Center was designed to make possible. Education, as the school’s model recognizes, is rarely just about academics. It is about agency. About being able to imagine a future that looks different from the past, and then having the tools to build it.

The Wraparound Support That Helped Danielle Succeed

Danielle’s success did not happen in isolation. Behind every diploma at the Baltimore Excel Center is a structure designed to make completion achievable, even when life is complicated.

The school provides:

 

• Free on-site childcare, so parents attending class do not have to choose between their education and their children’s care
• Life coaches and career counselors, who offer personalized guidance through both academic and personal challenges
• Transportation assistance, eliminating one of the most commonly cited barriers to consistent attendance
• Flexible scheduling, with morning, afternoon, and evening options running five days a week, twelve months a year

Students progress through an eight-week term structure that is competency-based, meaning they advance as they demonstrate mastery—not simply because time has passed. Every learner develops an individual plan tailored to their academic history and goals, allowing the program to meet people where they are rather than where they “should” be.

For someone like Danielle—returning to school after nearly 30 years away, while also managing recovery and rebuilding family relationships—that flexibility was not a convenience. It was essential.

The Next 100 Graduates Are Already on Their Way

Reaching 100 graduates in under three years tells a specific story about what happens when you build an education program around the actual lives of adult learners. The Baltimore Excel Center did not open and wait for students to adapt to it. It opened and adapted to them—and the results speak clearly.

Enrollment is growing. More Baltimore adults are finding out about the program and applying. The Class of 2026 has already walked across the stage, and the momentum behind them is building.

For anyone who left school before they were ready, or who has spent years wondering if it is too late, Danielle Clubb’s story offers a simple and honest answer: it is not.

The Baltimore Excel Center is tuition-free, open to adults 21 and older, and designed to work around the realities of your life. Applications are open at excelcentermd.org, or call (443) 870-5050 to learn more.