Saturday:
Harlingen finds key to helping kids
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| Jesus Chavez, the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District’s superintendent, visits a math class at KEYS Academy. The district started this school to help dropouts return to school. Chavez credits the school’s success to everyone in the community offering support to the students. |
HARLINGEN - Last year, Sandy Lopez became pregnant and left high school, missing her entire ninth-grade year. "I just didn't want to be there," the 17-year-old mom said. With the prospect of repeating ninth grade looming, Sandy was a prime candidate to become a dropout. Statistically, most students in Harlingen who drop out do so in ninth grade and being kept back increases the likelihood that a student will drop out by almost 50 percent, according to a national study.
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Friday:
Custom classes save at-risk kids
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| Chelo Sendejo (right) and Estela Flores work in the KEYS Academy in Kingsville to care for babies whose mothers are working to earn their high school diplomas at the alternative school. |
When John Garrett entered high school, he intended to graduate on time. But he began having trouble almost from the outset, struggling in his freshman year. He attended summer school, where he still had a hard time keeping up and comprehending what he was reading. By the time he was a senior, he was disenchanted with school. He dropped out and worked delivering pizzas.
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Thursday:
Panel: Dropout problems often start early
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| Dalinda Osborne, 17, gave birth to her son, Jordan, when she was 15. Dalinda attends KEYS Academy in Kingsville, which she credits for her success in school. 'If it wasn't for KEYS, I couldn't go to school because I don't have a baby sitter all day to go from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.' |
The reasons students drop out of school are as different as the strategies for trying to keep them in school, said educators and students brought together by the Caller-Times for a panel discussion. Education officials who participated in the panel discussion included Troy Nickleson, dropout intervention specialist; Arturo Delgado, director of student services; Linda Villarreal,deputy director for instructional services; Mariah Boone, program manager at the Juvenile Assessment Center; Roel Lara, principal at Robstown High School; and Mary Ann Colin, principal at KEYS Academy.
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Wednesday:
Dropouts test W. Oso, Robstown
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| Henry Castillo, truant officer in the West Oso school district, was hired to pay attention to the district's high school dropouts. |
Of the 119 freshmen who entered West Oso High School together in 1995, twenty dropped out before graduating in 1999, giving West Oso a dropout rate of 16.8 percent for the class, the highest in the Coastal Bend. Also among the highest is Robstown Independent School District, where 14 percent of the class of 1999 dropped out between their freshman and senior years.
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Tuesday:
For many Hispanics, future must wait
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| Albert Cruz dropped out of high school to do manual labor to help support his family, but with his father's encouragement he returned to school and enrolled in KEYS Academy in Kingsville. After graduating in May, he plans to study computer technology at Del Mar College. |
Most researchers estimate 20 percent of Hispanic students nationwide drop out of high school, compared with 7 percent of Anglo teens and 13 percent of black teens.
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Monday:
Dropouts face life of low wages
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| Chad Wilkins works for Circle K in Flour Bluff. After dropping out of high school, he found that many employers require a high school diploma. He returned to school and graduated. Thirty years ago, many workers could earn an adequate living without a diploma, but today's dropouts earn less. |
Thirty years ago, a high school diploma wasn't necessarily a prerequisite for a middle class life. But today, according to 2000 U.S. Census Bureau data, the median income for a high school dropout is $12,478, compared with $20,889 for a high school graduate.
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Sunday:
Confronting our dropout problem
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| Jesse Corpus (left), who dropped out of West Oso High School, says he isn’t sure he should try to finish school. His father, Manuel Corpus (with Jesse’s stepmother Beatriz), says he tells his son he will have a difficult life in the modern world if he doesn’t continue his education. West Oso’s 3.1 percent annual dropout rate is among the highest in the Coastal Bend. |
Of 2,597 students in CCISD's class of 1999, nearly 300 dropped out, a dropout rate higher than the state average. And dropouts have earning potential of only $15,000 annually.
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Interact 
Sound Off: What would you say to someone who was thinking about dropping out of school? What other thoughts do you have about this series?
Poll: What do you think is the primary reason students drop out of school?
Forum: Discuss the dropouts issue
E-mail a Letter to the Editor for publication in the newspaper and on Caller.com. (Full name required.)
Dropout prevention resources
Alternative education programs
Corpus Christi Alternative High School Center, (361)994-3576
Flour Bluff Alternative Center for Education, (361)694-9002
Kingsville KEYS Academy, (361)595-9185
Robstown Alternative Learning Center, (361)387-2835
Corpus Christi Teen-Age Mothers School, (361)886-9372
Tuloso-Midway Academic Career Center, (361)241-3937
At-risk charter schools
Gulf Coast Council of La Raza Academy of Transitional Studies, (361)881-9988
Richard Milburn Academy, (361)225-4424
GED programs
Adult Learning Center, (361)886-9385
Kingsville Night High School, (361)595-9064
Del Mar College, (361)698-1645
Other resources
CCISD Dropout Intervention Office, (361)886-9065
National Dropout Prevention Center, (864)656-2599
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KRIS Channel 6 News coverage