Teen mom finds hope in flexible high school program in Panorama City

PANORAMA CITY, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Fabiola Cerritos, 18, found out she was pregnant right when she started high school at 14 years old.

When she went to her guidance counselor at her old high school, she knew that she wouldn't be able to finish school in the traditional way.

"I didn't think I was going to finish school," Cerritos said.

She found out about the Learn4Life program at Assurance Learning Academy, that has a flexible schedule so that she can focus on raising her daughter. The school also helps others that need the assistance, not just teen moms.

"Some are having trouble maybe with being bullied, some maybe have health issues, some need more one on one attention," said Staci Roth, Learn4Life program coordinator.

Cerritos first enrolled in Learn4Life in 2015 when she was pregnant, but after having her daughter, Olivia, she wasn't keeping up with all of her credits.

She waited until Olivia was 6 months old, and now that Olivia is 3, they both love going to school together.

"I got her a backpack and she was like 'I want to go to school with you,' so she came and ever since then she loved it we come to music class, we come to preschool," said Cerritos.

Her daughter isn't the only one excited about her going to school.

"Oh my mom is excited. We had a parent teacher conference yesterday and she was so excited that the teacher was like you can graduate by the end of the year," Cerritos said. "Just because my sister didn't graduate, she didn't graduate, no one in our family graduated."

Her mother left El Salvador when she was 18, and stopped going to school. Now, Cerritos is set to be the first one to graduate in her family by 2020.