Inside a school for pregnant and parenting teens

Published by The Hechinger Report, in partnership with 19th News.

Parenting classes at Lumen High School include lessons on lactation. The classes count as a career and technical education credit.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Before giving birth to her daughter, Kaleeya Baldwin, 19, had given up on education.

She’d dropped out of school as a seventh grader, after behavior problems had banished her to alternative schools. Growing up in foster homes and later landing in juvenile court had convinced her to disappear from every system that claimed responsibility for her.

“I was just really angry with everything,” said Kaleeya.

But in early 2020, during what would have been her freshman year in high school, Kaleeya discovered she was pregnant. At her first ultrasound appointment, a nurse handed her a stack of pamphlets. One, advertising a new school for pregnant and parenting teens, caught her attention.

“Something switched when Akylah got here,” Kaleeya said, referring to her daughter. “I was a whole different person. Now it’s high school that matters. It’s a legacy — and it’s hope for her.”

Kaleeya Baldwin, 19, holds her daughter,3-and-a-half-year-old Aklyah.

Executive assistant Lindsay Ainley works the front desk at Lumen High School on March 19, 2024.

Lumen High School enrolls about five dozen pregnant and parenting teens, including fathers, at its downtown Spokane campus. Executive assistant Lindsay Ainley works the front desk.

Melissa Pettey, the principal of Lumen High School, meets with school support staff on March 19, 2024 to discuss current student needs.

Principal Melissa Pettey, center right, meets with Lumen High School support staff to discuss current student needs.

Lumen High School&amp;#x27;s on-site baby boutique is stocked with clothing and personal hygene products for both students and their children.

The baby boutique at Lumen High School includes shelves stacked with baby formula, diapers, milk bottles, nasal sprays and other donated supplies.

Megan Macy, a guest teacher and lactation expert, leads a parenting class that students at Lumen High School attend every afternoon.

Senior Payton Garza, 17, conducts research for her end of semester project under the supervison of Trevor Bradley, Lumen&amp;#x27;s history teacher.

Payton, a senior, researches historical conflict around gold for her semester-long project with Trevor Bradley, history teacher at Lumen High School.

The facilities for GLOW, the chilcare center partered with Lumen are on the first floor of the same builing housing the high school.

Lumen High School partners with GLOW Children to provide on-site child care for students on the first floor of the charter school’s three-story campus.

Rene, a senior at Lumen, holds his son RJ during class.

Rene, a senior at Lumen High School, holds his newborn son, RJ, during class.

Lumen High School counselor Katy Vancil, right, meets with social worker Tracie Fowler.

Photos of Lumen graduates line the school hallway.

Photos of recent Lumen graduates line the school's hallway.

Kaleeya Baldwin, 19,walks home with her daughter Aklyah after school.

Kaleeya Baldwin and her daughter, Akylah, walk home after school.