At Ector Academy, ‘They Definitely Have Her Back’

As her daughter struggled to find way through many challenges — running away, dropping out of school, becoming a teen mom — Joanne Vasquez had a powerful sense of déjà vu.

As a teenager, Vazquez had felt adrift at school and in the world. She made bad choices, got addicted to drugs, and eventually dropped out.

“I just felt like I had no place where I belonged,” she realls. “I didn’t have anybody to hold me accountable. I didn’t have anybody to say, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ ”

When she saw her daughter, Vivianna, heading down a similar road, Vasquez tried to support her. But she could only do so much; she needed other caring adults to help. Then she found out about Acceleration Academies of Ector County, which works in partnership with the public school district to provide a flexible, personalized path for learners who don’t fit into the traditional school structure.

At EAA, Vivianna is thriving.

“Having an option like Acceleration Academies really saved me,” says Vivianna. “Here, it’s different. They really do care — their goal is the same as yours, to help you graduate. And I love that because all I want to do is graduate and go forward.”

School had long been tough for Vivianna. A quiet young woman, she felt lost in the often chaotic environment of a traditional school. She repeatedly ran away from home and, in frustration, dropped out.

Then she got pregnant and, in the summer of 2021, gave birth to her daughter, Lilianna. She resolved to set a better path and complete her high school studies. Each morning, she joined other young mothers in catching an early bus, dropping her child at a daycare center, attending classes, then picking her child up to go home and try and be the best possible parent.

“I was one of the last to be dropped off. So I wasn’t getting home until around 6 or 6:30,” she says. “So I had to just feed my daughter dinner, do my homework, put her to bed and get ready for the next morning. It just seemed like there wasn’t enough time in the day.”

Vasquez did what she could to help, but she saw what her daughter was up against. “It was just breaking my heart — and she dropped out again.”

“Before Acceleration Academies, I’d started to lose hope,” Vasquez says. “I didn’t want her to be in her late 20s or 30s or 40s, just figuring it out.”

EAA proved a godsend. Its flexible scheduling allows Vivianna to focus on her schoolwork in the morning and early afternoon hours, then go home take care of her daughter. At the Acceleration Academies campus, she has found educators who care deeply for her, help her push through academic challenges and stay on task.

In traditional schools, Vasquez says, “there’s some kids that do slip through the cracks. I was one of them. Not my daughter, not here. They know what her progress is. They keep me involved with her progress and they have formed a relationship and a bond with her. They know who she is and they know what she’s going through — they definitely have her back.”