First post at the beginning of the school year

Vanessa is 17 and lives in Lawrence, MA with her mother, father, three sisters and brother. No one in her family has graduated from high school.

Vanessa maintained high grades until her family moved to Lawrence from Methuen when she was in the middle school. During her first year of high school, Vanessa began to skip school in order to spend time with friends. She was held back her freshman year as a result of poor attendance and bad grades and failed to earn any credits her sophomore year. In September 2008 she was transferred to the High School Learning Center.

As of this first posting, according to her school, Vanessa is a sophomore in terms of her credit standing. She passed the English MCAS but still needs to pass the science and math MCAS in order to graduate. Vanessa’s goal is to attain a diploma.