Teen pregnancy in Texas costs the state around $1.1 billion each year, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Some high schools in Texas offer programs for teen moms that attempt to make school a little easier.

The program at Lakeview, run by DeAnna Donahue, is called “New Horizons” and is a dropout prevention program that has been offered at all high schools in GISD since 1991. The program is very confidential, and most students at Lakeview don’t know about it.

“I didn’t even know we had that here,” junior Geraldi Ortega said. “Probably because [the girls] don’t want anyone knowing they’re in it.”

Since school started this year, there are currently eight students in the program at Lakeview.

“It could change throughout the year,” Donahue said, “depending on if some other ladies get pregnant before the end of the school year.”

New Horizons began to help future teen moms throughout their pregnancy while staying in school. Once a teacher suspects a student may be pregnant, Donahue gets in touch with them about the program and what it offers.

“They can be referred by a teacher or counselor and then that’s when I make the initial contact of seeing if they even want to be in it, because it is an optional program,” Donahue said.

When a student is no longer on maternity leave, the district holds an infant center to care for the infants while the student returns to school.

New Horizons is helping teen girls around GISD attend high school while pregnant and learn how to care for their child.

“The New Horizons program enables me to build a connection with a teacher that wants to help me and meet other teen mothers in the same situation,” junior Madison Wilson said.