A high school in the US accepts only pregnant girls and young mothers

On school days, 17-year-old Yarezi Alvarado of Brownsville, Texas, wakes up early to pack her backpack for school, but she also has to prepare a bottle for her one-year-old daughter. Then, the two of them take the bus to school.

The bus, equipped with infant safety seats, was carrying babies and young mothers like Ms. Alvarado to Lincoln Park High School in Brownsville, in a low-income neighborhood just a few kilometers from the border with Mexico, according to AFP today, November 15.

Lincoln Park accepts girls and women ages 14-22 who are pregnant or have recently given birth. While they are in class, the school’s child care center provides care for the children. Young mothers can go there to breastfeed whenever they feel the need.

Childcare Center at Lincoln Park High School in Brownsville, Texas (USA)

Knowing her daughter was nearby and well cared for made a huge difference, Alvarado said.

Alvarado received help from her mother, but some of her friends faced discrimination at their old schools or were rejected by family members and had to live with their children's fathers or other relatives.

No homework

Founded in the 1990s, Lincoln Park is one of the few schools in the US that accepts pregnant women and women who have just given birth, according to AFP. "Without this school, my 53 students here would likely drop out," Lincoln Park Principal Cynthia Cardenas said.

Some former Lincoln Park students have returned to take their pregnant daughters to school. “They need to be told and reminded constantly that pregnancy is not a state of helplessness, it’s a nine-month state… and you have a chance to succeed,” Ms. Cardenas stressed.

Students who have to stay home after giving birth are visited by teachers. "Here, they don't give me homework. I get all my schoolwork done. And I can spend more time with my daughter," Alvarado said.

Yarezi Alvarado does her homework at Lincoln Park High School in Brownsville, Texas.

Lincoln Park's child care center currently has 16 infants and is no longer able to accommodate any more, so several more children are on the waiting list. Lincoln Park receives funding from the state of Texas.

Treat students with understanding

The staff and teachers at Lincoln Park understand that students may miss a routine check-up because of a doctor’s appointment or a night out with a young child. Teachers also treat their students with understanding, according to AFP.

Science teacher GeorgeAna Wilson said she sometimes sees a student struggling because “the kid’s been up all night, the kid’s sick.” When that happens, Ms. Wilson said she tells the student to “take a 10-minute nap.” “That’s not something you would see in a normal school,” Ms. Wilson said.

Teacher GeorgeAna Wilson helps a student with homework at Lincoln Park High School

Another 17-year-old student at Lincoln Park High School, Milla Luevano, said: "In a regular school, they don't understand your situation. Here, they really get to know you, they don't judge you, they help you, they interact with you. And they understand your situation."

Luevano, who dreams of becoming a teacher, said she urged other young pregnant women to stay in school. "Don't give up, because that's something you'll regret later—because you want a future," Luevano urged.

Alvarado, meanwhile, wants to become a gynecologist one day and says continuing her education is worth the effort. "Don't give up, because your child needs you. And your child is your life now," Alvarado urges.

Texas is among a handful of conservative states that have banned abortion in the year and a half since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling in "Roe v. Wade," which allowed American women to have abortions up to 26 weeks into pregnancy.

In Texas, access to contraception for minors requires adult permission and sexeducation is not mandatory in schools, according to AFP.

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