Janet Lopez attempts to pass the CAHSEE, attend school and
graduate, all while caring for her son
Gilroy – Janet Lopez picks up her son, bounces him up and down, and smothers him with kisses. The 1-year-old smiles up at his young mother and then proceeds to run around the room picking up toys and laughing while a visiting photographer lets him hold the camera and click pretend photos.
But the mood changed when Lopez began to inch toward the door. She swooped her son up, assuring him that she would be back in an hour, but Ivan continued to cry.
His sadness-soaked screams became contagious and by the time Lopez exited the daycare room, her son and another toddler were wailing.
Lopez knew her son would react that way when the midday visit ended, that’s why the Mt. Madonna High School student doesn’t visit him at lunchtime. But there’s also another reason she doesn’t stop by: Lopez is focused on graduating and passing the California High School Exit Exam.
Five days a week the 18-year-old wakes up at 6:30am, gets herself and her son ready for the day and walks to school hand-in-hand with the toddler.
At 7:30am she drops Ivan off at the Mt. Madonna Child Care Center. After lunch, Lopez, who still needs to pass both sections of the exit exam, spends an hour in a CAHSEE intervention class.
At 1:30pm she picks up Ivan and heads home.
These days Lopez maintains a rigid schedule of school and child rearing – her CAHSEE teacher says she’s a dedicated student – but for some time the teen mom wasn’t heading down such a positive path.
The Santa Maria native moved to Gilroy with her parents as a young child and attended local schools. At the age of 15, Lopez traded the Garlic Capitol for Sin City, and ran away to Vegas with her boyfriend where the couple lived for three years.
When they broke up last year, she and her baby moved back to live with her parents in Gilroy. In May she enrolled at Mt. Madonna.
“I wanted to start all over again,” Lopez said in halting English. “Go to school.”
During her stay in Vegas, Lopez not only fell behind on her studies, but her language skills also suffered. Although she was born in the U.S., she explained, her boyfriend only spoke Spanish, so for three years she rarely chatted in English.
Her retreat from English is evident in her speech – she pauses often, speaks with a strong accent and seems much more at ease speaking Spanish to her son.
CAHSEE History
Because of her prolonged absence in school, Lopez took the CAHSEE for the first time in November, as a senior. Students take the basic skills English language arts and math test for the first time in the 10th grade. If they fail to pass the first time they have five additional opportunities to take or retake the test in its entirety or just the section they failed.
If she doesn’t pass, she, and the rest of the seniors struggling to pass, have one more chance in February. A fail in February means they won’t receive a high school diploma.
The CAHSEE will be administered again in May, but the results won’t be released in time for graduation. Students will have one chance after 12th grade to retake the CAHSEE.
The class of 2006 is the first group of students required to pass the CAHSEE in order to graduate. The legislation was enacted by the state in 1999 and was initially going to effect the class of 2004.
But because such a high number of students were failing the test, in 2003 the California Department of Education postponed the requirement. The Gilroy Unified School District is still deciding whether students who don’t pass the CAHSEE will be able to participate in graduation ceremonies and/or receive a certificate of completion.
Lopez isn’t sure how she fared on the exam, although she does have a feeling she performed better on the English than the math section. She knows that passing the test is imperative because she has specific post high school goals.
“I plan to look for a job and go to college,” she said.
Sympathetic Surroundings
Juggling mommy duties and school work doesn’t faze Lopez much, she says her mom helps her out.
The single mother may casually brush off any mention of the difficult life she leads but those surrounding her have definitely noticed her efforts.
Venny Chavez, one of the Mt. Madonna daycare teachers who watches Ivan, was also a teen mom. She transferred to Mt. Madonna as a 17-year-old senior “with no credits, except P.E.”
That was in the days before the CAHSEE and once Chavez started attending class and studying, she graduated. The mother of two ended up earning an associate’s degree in early childhood development.
Without the daycare students such as Lopez and herself would have even more difficulty attaining an education.
“This program is just wonderful for the girls,” Chavez said.
Lopez agrees. Without the daycare going to school “would be a lot harder,” she said
Lopez spends the final hour of her day sitting in front of a laptop, perfecting her skills for the exam. During the class teachers roam the room helping students out as they work on their individualized program.
Jose Franchi, Lopez’s CAHSEE intervention class teacher, nods when asked if Lopez is doing well.
“I wish I had at least another five (of her),” he said. “She’s an excellent student, very dedicated.”
Janet Lopez
– Age: 18
– Born: Santa Maria
– Needs to pass: Math and English language arts sections; needs 350 to pass
– Children: 1-year-old son Ivan Pablo
– High school history: Attended some adult education classes in Las Vegas. Transferred to Mt. Madonna in May.
– Goals: Attend Gavilan College and study to become interior designer.
Editor’s Note
This is the third in a series on five Mt. Madonna
seniors struggling to pass the CAHSEE. They will receive their results on Jan. 13.
