New Horizons

One of the measures of school success used by the Texas Education Agency is the annual AEIS Report. Included in the considerations are many factors ranging from test scores to daily attendance to drop out rates. Garland ISD did a study to see what the factors were leading a student to dropping out of high school. A majority of the students dropping out were doing so due to pregnancy or becoming young parents. The Department of Career and Technology was asked to research ways that we could keep these students in school.

From these studies, the New Horizons program was born. It is a program for all pregnant or parenting students (up to age 22) in the Garland ISD. The primary goal is to provide these young people with the resources they need to either remain in school or return to school to finish their high school education. In addition to the academic courses that are required for graduation, students participating in the New Horizons program have access to parenting skills classes, and career training and job acquisition skills through a wide variety of Career & Technology Education classes offered in GISD.

In the past, the inclination has been to immediately remove an expectant teen from school and place her into a home-bound schooling program. However, experience has shown that unless medical complications prove otherwise, most high school students will do much better remaining on their home campus, participating in their regular class schedule.

After delivery, the student receives home instruction, then returns to the regular classroom. If the student needs assistance with child care, a staff social worker, along with the New Horizons teachers, can help the student locate needed resources.

Formal classes are provided in parenting skills that are part of state-approved curriculum. While services for school-age parents and pregnant students can begin at any time, enrollment in the parenting classes is done at the beginning of the semester. Classes offered include: Parenting Education for School Age Parents I (8175) and II (8275), Advanced Child Development for School Age Parents (8176) and Individual and Family Life for School Age Parents (8177).

All of the students in the New Horizons program are encouraged to participate in the Parents As Teachers (PAT) program, which offers a teenage parent support component with meetings/activities in the evening. The parent educators in PAT help the young parents select books and toys from their lending library, and the students can learn from each other in a group setting.

When the program was initiated during the 1991-92 school year, planners really did not expect to serve a very large number of students in a given year. However, from the first day, the response has been staggering. A home economics teacher at each high school campus is designated as the school-age parent educator. In a given eight period schedule, they teach four school-age parent classes, have two coordination periods, and two conference periods. A middle school parent educator is housed at the Infant Center, and middle school-age pregnant students attend classes at the Center. Selection of dedicated and non-judgmental staff members is essential to having this part of the program work successfully.

The Infant Center

When trying to find child care settings so that students could return to school as soon as possible, it soon became evident that child care for newborn infants is not readily available. If a school-age parent comes from a home with no relatives able to care for the child while they attend school, what can they do? Drop out of school? Utilize home-bound schooling services until the baby is old enough for regular child care services?

To overcome this obstacle, the New Horizons program obtained state grant (PEP) funding to establish an Infant Center - a special child care center specifically designed to care for the newborn infants until they are old enough to move to a regular child care setting. A nursery is outfitted with cribs, swings, rocking chairs and lots of visual stimuli, where the babies are lavished with love and affection in the absence of their mothers. A “sick room” is available so that if a baby becomes ill while at the center, the other babies can be kept healthy.

A yellow school bus outfitted with baby seats picks up the new parent at home early each morning and delivers them to the center where they can settle the baby in for the day. Then, each mom or dad is taken to their own school. In the afternoon, the process reverses.

At any given time, the center can serve up to 12 infants. Each day, the parent(s) receives a “report card” that notes the number of diaper changes, feedings, and other relevant statistics so that they can feel like they know how their child spent the day. It also helps the young parents learn to take note of the ordinary occurrences so that they will notice when something is amiss.

Stumbling Blocks

A barrier that is often encountered is the belief that providing a program that makes it easier to stay in school, despite pregnancy, actually encourages students to get pregnant while still in school. While there are certainly people who will continue to obstinately hold onto this belief, pointing out the real truth is probably the best form of education/barrier break-down. When you stop and think about it, can you really honestly believe that a student “in the heat of the moment” is going to say to herself “It’s okay for me to do this, because the New Horizons program will take care of me and my baby!”??? Of course not! In most instances, when a young woman finds herself to be pregnant, it was NOT planned. In fact, she will most certainly be facing one of the most difficult and challenging times of her life - becoming a parent - when she is for all practical purposes still a child herself. Ultimately, the New Horizons steps into this situation and works to alleviate some of the stress that she can and will be facing.

How is the Program Funded?

The initial funding for this program was secured via a Carl Perkins Single Parent Grant (a federal grant administered by the Texas Education Agency).

Other funding sources include the:

  • Carl Perkins Basic Grant
  • Pregnancy Education and Parenting (PEP) Grants
  • State compensatory education funds generated by pregnant students ADA (average daily attendance statistics)
  • Grant from the North Texas Chapter, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
  • Grants from Rockwell International, Ecolab Inc., and the GISD Council of PTAs

As the program has matured, New Horizons staff members have gained an immense knowledge of “what is available” in the community. Through a grant from the March of Dimes during the second year of the program, a full-time social worker was added to the staff. This addition has helped immensely with the identification of support services available and gaining access to these services, and has since become a regular staff position in the New Horizons program.

In Retrospect

There are many agencies and people with big hearts who are willing and able to help. We have gained new insight to the goodness, kindness, and generosity of our community. Detractors have been few, simply because the program has helped and is helping many young people complete their high school education, re-examine their life goals, and focus on the responsibilities of parenting and providing for their child.

Many, many students have been given a chance to keep their dreams within reach by staying in school. In fact, many of the “graduates” of the program return to serve on the advisory committee for the program. As well as keeping present students in school, the program has enabled students who had previously dropped out to return to school to graduate or earn a GED.

Want to Know More?

Contact:
Barbara King
Coordinator, Career & Technology Education
972-487-3167 (Office)
972-485-4930 (FAX)