They were close to dropping out of high school. Why these Lexington teens have new hope.

Martin Acosta said his son Shane was in danger of dropping out of high school last year, having earned only three of the 22 credits he needed toward graduation.

But 3 1/2 week’s ago Shane entered Fayette County’s new Success Academy, a program designed for students 16 to 18 years old who are behind in graduation credits.

The change in him has been swift, his father said. Shane is taking six classes and on Thursday he offered opening remarks at the new program’s open house. College is not out of the question now.

“As a parent it makes me proud to see that he’s improving,” said Acosta. “I’m very excited for him and what the Success (Academy) has done for him.”

Program director Janice Wyatt Ross said that Superintendent Manny Caulk “saw that need” for the program “and wanted to create an environment where those students could achieve some success.”

Faith Thompson,the district director of Student Support Services, said the teens in the new program are not discipline problems.

“Life has happened to them,” Thompson said, adding some have had babies, others have had medical problems or other issues that interrupted their success at Fayette County’s main high schools.

There are 41 students enrolled in the program which takes place at the district’s recently purchased building at 1555 Georgetown Road, formerly the site of Imani Church. The program will ultimately have a capacity of about 60 students.

Students work in classrooms, one-on-one with teachers, and online. The school is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and sometimes has a calendar that is different from other schools in the district. In addition to school bus transportation, staff help students get to work and internships. If students don’t show up at the Success Academy on a given day, they can expect that the staff might come to their home and get them, said Ross.

Thompson said student’s families are also given support at Success Academy..

T. Jai Rogers, a graduation transition specialist, said before some students entered the program, they told school officials that they battled anxiety.

“Those same students, if you see them now, you would never know that they battled with anxiety when they were in the traditional setting,” Rogers said. “The growth that you see in the few weeks that we’ve been open is amazing.”

It was “the new learning environment” that drew Kallan Adair, a 17-year-old sophomore to the program.

“I thought I needed to act now while I still can before it was too late. It’s a fresh start. It’s a sense of real responsibility.,” he said.

Leilani Thomas, 17, said she was a little nervous at first, but that changed. “The teachers here and the administrators here make you feel like its home. You can talk to them about anything. I’ve actually picked out colleges and majors I want to study.”

At Success Academy, students get hope, said social studies teacher Deby Quinn- Brown.

“After hope, I think they are getting dreams. That’s so important. Once you start dreaming, you go for it,” she said.

“It’s like family here,” said parent Jerrica Mealing. “ The teachers care. “ She said her daughter Maria didn’t get along with students at her previous school, but was getting along with classmates now.

Before her daughter started at the Academy, “she thought she wouldn’t like it,” said Mealing. But on her daughter’s first day, Mealing received a text from her.

“She said, ‘‘I love it here.’”

Lakreaser Byrd said the program is “an absolute fit” for her son Roderick Price.

“He’s struggled for a couple of years now, but it’s all coming together,” Byrd said. “He wants to be a chef.”

This story was originally published September 28, 2018 at 1:43 PM.