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Premier High School, 6411 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, is a charter school that serves at-risk students in west Fort Worth. Hidden behind a McDonald’s and next to a doggie day care, the school held its field day May 10. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)
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Almost 150 Premier High School Fort Worth students stood on the concrete parking lot of a Camp Bowie Boulevard building complex. It was their field day.

Next to a doggie day care and across from a McDonald’s — with no field in sight — volunteers set up folding tables on asphalt warmed more every minute by the climbing sun. Game stations, they called them. One table was for water balloon tossing; another was erected for cup stacking. While a group of high school boys passed around a football, a group of girls hesitantly sauntered over to a table overflowing with hygiene and beauty products.

Though the event was intended to help students celebrate the last month of school for the year, it also was an opportunity for Seasons of Change, a nonprofit organization designed to create paths out of poverty, to motivate students to keep learning. Without the program’s help, school attendance wouldn’t be a priority, students at the event said.

“My whole philosophy is providing hope to our students not only academically but in their lives as well,” campus director Joy Reed said. According to the Texas Education Agency, 100% of the school’s students are at risk for dropping out of school.

Some students were held back a year or two at their former high school; others were kicked out for drugs or fighting or lost a year of school due to teenage pregnancy. Some were bullied or have such extreme social anxiety that it’s hard for them to get out of bed in the morning. 

Many of the students need to work to help provide for their families. 

“These are young people who may not qualify for traditional school but need that extra help,” Seasons of Change CEO Tavian Harris said. “We work with those that are most vulnerable. We’re able to help them stay in school.”

Staying enrolled in school is an accomplishment in itself for students at Premier High School. Run by ResponsiveEd, a charter school system that also runs Founders Classical Academy-Fort Worth and Ignite Community Schools, the school places an emphasis on credit recovery, credit acceleration and career and technical education.

During the 2021-22 school year, the campus had a 68.8% attendance rate; the state average is 92.2%, according to the TEA. 

When students would rather work and earn money than go to school, that’s when Seasons of Change steps in, Harris said.

“They know that if they’re in school, they’ll earn (rewards, food and household products),” Harris said. “These students have a different kind of accountability with us. They can come to school to get the support.”

A banner shows Premier High School was recently given an A rating from the Texas Education Agency, which gives schools across the state letter grades based on relative performance and other factors. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)Premier High School students stand in a line during the school’s field day, preparing to catch water balloons. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)A Premier High School student catches a football in the parking lot during the school’s field day May 10. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)Premier High School administrators and Seasons of Change facilitators prepare to hand out nearly 150 pairs of Kyrie Irving basketball shoes to students. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)

Premier High School junior Jonathan Arredondo was previously a student at Harmony School of Innovation-Fort Worth, where he was expelled during his sophomore year. Arredondo, who also works at Texas Roadhouse, attends morning classes at Premier.

Every day, students take four hours of instructional time, either between 8 a.m.-noon or 12:30-4:30 p.m. The schedule works perfectly for Arredondo because it allows him to study and learn at his own pace, he said. His shift at Texas Roadhouse starts right after school lets out, and he doesn’t want to miss school.

Recently, Arredondo earned a $150 gift card to Foot Locker and a portable monitor from Seasons of Change for being one of the school’s top test takers.

“It motivates you to actually want to do well in school,” Arredondo said.

His classmate and friend DeMarco Rodriguez agreed wholeheartedly. Rodriguez works at Whataburger, and like Arredondo, his shift starts right after the morning session ends.

Both students have advanced through the coursework quickly, they said. Arredondo is set to graduate with his high school diploma in December. After he graduates, he’ll take on more hours at Texas Roadhouse.

Stories like Arredondo’s and Rodriguez’s are examples of Seasons of Change’s impact, Harris said. Both students could easily forgo their opportunity to earn a diploma and continue to work. Their stories also speak volumes about the work Reed and Premier High School do to find avenues for decreasing dropout rates.

Juniors DeMarco Rodriguez (left) and Jonathan Arredondo (right) stand in the parking lot of Premier High School after the school’s field day. Arredondo holds a pair of Kyrie Irving basketball shoes he was given by Seasons of Change facilitators. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)

Test scores are low — 30% of students met grade level in all subjects during the 2022-23 school year — and attendance isn’t high, but without the structure provided by Premier High School, these students wouldn’t otherwise have much support, Harris said. For many, Premier may be their final chance at earning a diploma in a true school setting.

While every student at Premier High School is considered at-risk, 8.8% of students, or 14 of the 162 students enrolled at Premier High School during the 2021-22 school year, dropped out. Seasons of Change is helping the school make a serious impact, Reed said.

When field day was over, high school girls, clothes wet from popped water balloons, and sweaty, panting high school boys followed Seasons of Change facilitators past the doors of Camp Bow Wow and back into the hallways of Premier High School.

Inside, to the students’ surprise, Seasons of Change gave everyone a brand new pair of Kyrie Irving basketball shoes.

“I mean, even getting these shoes is motivation,” Arredondo said as he held a box marked with the Nike logo. 

Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1 on X. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.