Katy Fatheree teaches freshmen at Western Hills High School in the Fort Worth Independent School District.
The students are getting used to a new school and new building, and still just showing up to class after learning from home.
"Our students are struggling with attendance, grades" said Fatheree.
Western Hills, like every other high school in the Fort Worth ISD, has put someone in charge of making sure freshmen succeed this school year. At Western Hills, it's Dr. Megan Snyder, who taught freshmen on this campus for 10 years.
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"They bottle so much in and sometimes it takes someone sitting down and showing they care," Snyder said.
She tracks all their grades, attendance, and behavior, then pulls teachers aside, and the students too, like Addison Millbrooks.
"It was organizing, organizing time when I should do work and do homework," said Millbrooks. "When we do complain about a teacher having a hard time connecting, she lets us sit and talk to them and we figure something out so we can meet in the middle."
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It's all brand new this school year.
In an early district-wide survey the number of freshmen failing has dropped 10% since the coaches took over.
"Data is one thing, but I see kids connecting and loving school. Their grades are there, their attendance is going up," Fatheree said. "You work harder for the teachers you love and care for, that's my goal."
