Student Success Stories
LEAP Academy meets its students where they are both academically and social-emotionally. These graduates share in their own words why LEAP Academy was right for them and how it prepared them for their adult lives and future careers.
Sarah Miller
My father was diagnosed with cancer five months before I was accepted into LEAP Academy. My whole world was turned upside down. I was scared and I lived in uncertainty. Caring for my dad became more difficult as his cancer got worse. It’s one of the main reasons I chose to apply for LEAP, I needed the flexibility in my schedule. I wanted to be there for my dad, and I wanted him to see me walk across the stage when I graduated early. LEAP gave me that chance. He was supposed to be there to see me cross the stage. Graduating early, finishing LEAP, working harder than I ever worked before, all of that was for him.
After finishing high school through LEAP Academy, I enrolled in Paul Mitchell Cosmetology School. Upon starting, I worked five days a week. I am learning new and exciting things every day and I couldn’t have gotten to the place I am now without LEAP Academy. I am surrounded by people who encourage me to do my best and help me when I need it. Once I finish cosmetology school, I will be working in a salon and hope to get into product design and advertising as well.
Kyle Roper
I chose to go the LEAP route because it allowed me to graduate close to on time with my fellow classmates/graduates. I liked the idea that I was able to work at my own pace and complete my classes quickly.
LEAP Academy enabled me to graduate and get my diploma so I could join the U.S. Armed Forces, in particular the United States Navy.
I am currently stationed on a Naval Submarine Base and studying to become a submarine sonar technician.
Catherine Frazer
Personally, I would not be here without LEAP Academy. I was a troubled kid and became a young mother in 2016. One year after my daughter was born, I decided to go back to school. I only had one high school credit, I was a single mother with a child at home, and sitting through a full 8-hour school day was simply not possible.
LEAP Academy gave me hope that I could still get my high school diploma. The process was hard for me, getting back into the groove of school and having a child. I wanted to give up so many times. I told myself it was too much, but I pushed through those hard times and I made it. I ended up passing all five of my EOC’s on the first try, and finished all four years of high school in two-and-a-half years. LEAP has been there through so many tough times, and because of this program, I get to make my daughter proud.
I’m so grateful to have been a part of this program, and will forever cherish the memories of LEAP Academy.
I am now working full-time at the business I started with my fiancé.
Cheyenne Mittag
I was a pretty average student, I had A's and B's and was even taking AP/Pre AP classes, but graduating seemed to get harder and harder to achieve. In my junior year, my mother became ill, and I choose to step up and care for her. With the stress of both school and caring for my mother, I dropped out of school to care for her full-time. I began to lose hope even more.
I eventually found out about LEAP Academy and decided to apply so I could finish school. The program is a last chance for some of us, and even though it was a last chance for me, I knew I needed to take it so I could change my future.
People tend to have a negative connotation when they hear the word “alternative”, but there is not always a straight line to success. Without this program, I wouldn't have my diploma, I wouldn't have the courage and strength that I have now.
I am now working full-time at Kroger and am a student at Tarrant County College.