Davis, Stanton offer child care so parents can stay in school

When Veronica Rodriguez gave birth to her daughter five months ago, bringing a new life into the world didn't necessarily mean the 18-year-old Davis High School senior would have to forgo completing her own education.

"My parents brought me here (from Mexico) to have a good education, but I'm not going to give that up because I have a child," she said. "I want to graduate from high school and college."

Rodriguez quickly learned that being a parent is a lot of work and responsibility. Adding to the challenge, Rodriguez doesn't have a job and is unable to afford child care for her daughter, Yuridia. Both of her parents work during the day and are unavailable to watch the baby while
Veronica attends school.

Because of circumstances such as those, extended absences from school and dropping out are often the reality for many teen parents. But thanks to school-sponsored child-care centers like the one started at Davis two years ago, that didn't have to be Rodriguez's fate. She can go to school and take her daughter with her.

"Our goal is to get them through high school," said Heather Pratt, a family and consumer science teacher and coordinator of the child-care center at Davis.

Such programs are on the back side of schools' efforts at sex education. Teaching students the benefits of abstaining from sexual activity is one, and often the preferred, approach by many educators. Teaching about using contraception if they choose not to abstain is another.

Despite those combined efforts, 871 Yakima County females under age 19 gave birth in 2006 -- 13 of them girls younger than 15, according to statistics released by the state Department of Health in December. That puts Yakima County teens fourth in the state for the number of teenage births, behind King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, the three most-populated counties in the state.

Much of the efforts over the past few years to standardize the way sex education is taught in Washington grew, in part, from a desire to keep more students in school.

Child-care programs like those at Davis and Stanton Academy aim to be part of the educational process and an avenue to retain some students in school until they earn a diploma, regardless of life circumstances. 

"The foundation for any successful life, I believe, is education," said Victor Nourani, principal at Stanton Academy, which has about 250 students.

"When students become pregnant, somehow education might become secondary or they might drop out. This program helps our students become successful," Nourani added.

When Davis first started offering child care two years ago, school officials wanted to make sure they were sending the correct message to all of the school's 1,800 students.

So they established a few rules: Teen parents must check their child into the day care before school, the parents have to spend their lunch period in the day care eating with their child, and they have to pick up their child after school as not to parade their child around campus and in a way promote teen pregnancy.

With an operating expense of about $58,000 a year, Davis' child-care center can support about 11 children at a time.

The program at Stanton, an alternative school, is more than twice that size. It serves up to 28 children at a time -- 12 infants and 16 toddlers -- and has a $125,000 annual budget, according to Scott Izutsu, assistant superintendent of business support services for Yakima's public schools.

Although the alternative school's program has been around in one form or another for nearly 30 years, it differs slightly from the program at Davis.

At Stanton, the children are more a part of the school's environment. They spend the majority of the day in the child-care setting, but their parents -- the Stanton students -- can pick them up for lunch.

"Little kids are cute, there is no doubt about it. But we try not to promote the little kids," said Terri Phillips, director of the teen parenting program and child-development center at Stanton.

As part of the child-care programs at both schools, the parents are required to attend parenting classes.

"The parenting class helps a lot to teach some of the things about being a parent," said Yesenia Mesta, 16, a Davis High School ninth-grader. "It's a really big plus. It teaches you what to do."

Mesta has an 8-month-old son.

Though both Mesta and Rodriguez enjoy being parents, they urge their peers not to follow in their footsteps.

"It's hard to have a baby when you go to school," Rodriguez said. "I'd encourage other teens not to have sex because you can get pregnant and if you don't protect yourself, (you) can get a disease."

Said Mesta: "Enjoy your teenage years. You're not going to get them if you have a kid. Get your education first, then think about kids."

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