At her previous high school, Urseala was told many times by different teachers that she was a slow learner and wouldn’t be successful passing to the next grade. Fellow students made fun of her and while she was struggling to keep up, she found out she was pregnant and dropped out.
At the suggestion of her cousin, Urseala enrolled at our school and her experience couldn’t be more different. “My teachers and principal saw more in me than just a dropout,” she explained. “And with the flexible schedule, I could get to prenatal doctor appointments and still work part time.”
Her teachers helped her be comfortable talking about her pregnancy and developing a plan to catch up on credits, graduate and decide on a career that would allow her to support her child.
“It was helpful to talk with other teens who were pregnant or new mothers,” she said. “And it took away a lot of stress to know that I would be able to bring my baby to school.”
With personalized instruction and extra tutoring, Urseala blossomed and was soon catching up on credits and graduated a semester early. She was in the Career Technical Education (CTE) pathway for college prep and once she’s had her baby, she plans to continue her education with the goal of becoming an ultrasound technician.