A graduate of Premier High School of Del Rio, Villarreal enrolled during her junior year at the age of 17. She left her home at the towards the end of her sophomore year at Del Rio High School.

“I had an altercation with my mother and I left home to live with my friend,” she recalled.

She began her junior year at the age of 16 at PHS Del Rio. She said she was surprised to find the school staff motivated her much more than anyone had ever done at her traditional school.

“Once I realized that this was a self-paced school, I knew that I had made the right decision. I had always been a go-getter and the self-paced system allowed me to enhance my potential,” Villarreal said, “It allowed me to quickly finish work on subjects that I was familiar with, and allowed me to more time to work on subjects I wasn’t as strong at. And at the times where I felt stuck, there was always someone nearby to guide me in the right direction.”

Villarreal completed her junior and senior year in one and graduated as her class salutatorian.

“I was beat out of the valedictorian spot by only tenths of our GPA,” she said.

After graduation from the charter school, Villarreal took part of the Bridge to Success program at Texas A&M International University in the summer of 2002. After completing the program, she attended the local junior college.

After spending a year at home, Villarreal decided to join the Army.

“This August I will have been enlisted for eight years now as an intelligence professional,” she said.

She has done a tour in Iraq in 2005 and 2006 and is presently serving in Afghanistan. She also spent time stationed in Hawaii and Miami and have traveled to Korea and Germany.

“As a staff sergeant and am able to use the leadership skills I learned at Premier High School with my soldiers. I inspire and motivate them to always strive for their goals,” she said, “Premier High School helped shape and mold me into a model student and a leader… I have made my mother, my hometown, and my country proud, and it was all thanks to the school staff believing in me and my potential.”

Olga Martinez, Willie's mother, next to her son; Myranda Reiner from Por Vida High School with Senator Leticia Van de Putte; and Desiree Perez, also from Por Vida, during the Senate Education Committee hearing

Regino, 19, often known at his school as “Willie,” enrolled in PHS North Austin last year. Prior to enrolling in PHS, he had attended his local traditional public high school but felt discouraged. When he left his traditional school, Regino was still considered a freshman by credits earned even though he had attended a school since 2006. He said he tried to go to another school in North Austin but felt overwhelmed to find too many students, not enough teachers, and long school days.

He dropped out and started working in construction with his brother-in-law to help his family. While looking for other forms of employment, he realized he needed his GED or high school diploma to get hired. Soon after, he enrolled in PHS North Austin.

“I have recovered three years worth of credits in a year and a half,” Regino told the members of the Education Committee. Prior to being accepted in PHS, he was first placed on a waiting list for six months.

Regino continued to point out that there were only a couple of dropout recovery high schools in the Austin area, and they all had waiting lists.

“If more schools like Premier High School were available 10 -15 years ago, there would be less dropouts in Austin,” Regino said, explaining the need for more dropout recovery schools.

Regino was born in Austin and raised by his mother who was a single parent. She attended school in Mexico until the 6th-grade. After moving her family to the United States and because she valued education, she completed her GED while she continued to raise Regino and his two siblings.

“My brother dropped out of school, but these kinds of schools weren’t available in his high school years,” Regino said. He further explained that his older brother completed his GED while he was incarcerated.

Now close to graduation, Regino said he felt proud to be the first high school graduate in his family.

Sophomore Daisi Salinas, 24; and Seniors Melissa Luna, 25 and Mariel Galindo, 22, show off their tickets

In an effort to encourage punctuality, a ticket was issued to PHS Laredo students as they entered their classroom doors at the required time on April 8.

This activity was part of an Attendance Incentive Program initiated by the Campus Director Sara Nellie Garza, and the lead teachers to reduce the number of students arriving late.

Students are ticketed randomly throughout the week and can redeem their ticket with the campus director after their morning or afternoon session.

Students who redeemed a ticket were rewarded with a small token of appreciation ranging from nutritional snacks to school supplies.

“Even though this activity was initially created to curb tardiness, our overall student attendance has improved,” Garza said.

Preliminary reports already indicate the number of morning and afternoon late arrivals have decreased significantly since its first week of implementation.

“We aren’t sure what days they are going to issue the tickets, so we have to show up early every day if we want to find out if today is the day we are ticketed,” said Brian Gonzalez, morning session senior.

Premier High School of Laredo stands by the motto that is written on the ticket, “Punctuality is the Key to Success.”

Dontae Harris plays with a plane during one of the breaks

Every morning across the state, students have trouble getting up early to come to school. Day after day every week, they must rise with the sun in order to catch the bus, drive or be driven to school to be there on time.

Janinne Escamilla, a receptionist with Premier High School of Fort Worth said, “We hear complaints and whines, and they wonder why they even come [to school]. Sometimes, however, these students will surprise you; they show up to Saturday School.”

On a day when they could sleep in, PHS Fort Worth has students ready and willing to wake up and come to school at 9:00 a.m. Saturday.

Cynthia Solano dissects a pig fetus

As a result, PHS has seen an influx of students volunteering themselves for Saturday School and enjoying the benefits derived from the activities that each teacher scheduled for them.

“The staff at PHS Fort Worth is glad that Saturday School has been implemented so that every child has the chance to go beyond what is expected,” said Escamilla.

“We offer a hands-on approach to the everyday learning style they are used to. From paper airplane wars to dissecting animals, students come to expand their knowledge and have fun at the same time,” said Escamilla. “Our teachers give students who attend [the classes on Saturday] the motivation to continue to come, as well as, an experience they won’t forget.”

Sondra Lovett teaches distributive property in Algebra

Students from PHS San Antonio

Premier High School of San Antonio parents and students attended the Texas Charter School Association (TCSA) Rally on February 9.

Despite freezing rain, powerful winds, and cold temperatures, PHS San Antonio represented ResponsiveEd at the State Capitol to show support for charter schools.

Parents and students met with State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) and State Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio). For many of the students, this was their first visit to the Texas State Capitol building.

One student commented, “It is great to see how so many people can come together to make a difference.”

Premier High School of New Braunfels is located near several residential neighborhoods with walking trails and pedestrian friendly sidewalks. Students are taking advantage of their campus location to earn their Physical Education credits.

Since many students have jobs before and after school, Campus Director Richard Ramirez and his staff wanted to come up with a creative way to help students earn their required P.E. credits. The ideal solution was to invite and encourage students to walk the trails and sidewalks that he used in the evenings and on weekends for his own exercise.

Students were asked if they would be interested in a walking program. The next day, 12 of them signed up and came ready to work out.

Ramirez said, “I love the fact that I get to talk to kids outside the school building. During our walks, they share all kinds of things about themselves that I normally wouldn’t get to know.”
The students began with three-mile walks each day, and they are slowly increasing the distance traveled.

In addition to walking and running, students also keep individual logs in which they set their own goals.

“The exciting thing is that students who don’t even need the P.E. credit have also signed up to participate,” Ramirez said.

Terry Jones and Nathan Serna, 10th-graders from PHS Midland with their school Campus Director Darren Browder (center)

Bone found during camping trip

Students from Premier High Schools in Abilene and Midland camped at Big Bend National Park from April 1-4. They learned about life in the wilderness and participated in exploration activities at the site. They found dinosaur bones, a distinctive characteristic of the area.

Larry Millar, leader of the dig, and Campus Director Darren Browder took students to dig for bones in a pit that has been under excavation for over twenty years. There an Abilene student found a bone that paleontologists have not seen in a very long time. More bones were uncovered, measured, and recorded for the record books. The bones were then given to Paleontologist Ken Barnes so he could clean and examine them more closely at his lab in Terlingua.