Canyon Ridge High School is one of the schools in the Twin Falls District High schools where Ms. Montserrat Ramos works as the new dropout specialist. Her job is to prevent dropping out from happening and stop parents from moving their younger children up a grade too soon.
Ms. Ramos grew up in Mountain Home, Idaho. She then went to the University of Idaho where she received her bachelor’s degree in health science. Her previous job before working for TFSD was directing the Colibri Learning Center which is Ms. Ramos’ personal business for after-school tutoring and preschool.
Ms. Ramos learned over time that most students who want to drop out have a lack of motivation, and/or their home situations make finishing school difficult, but what is most surprising is that there can also be peer/student influence. “When a student is around negative influences and people with destructive habits, that student is more likely to consider dropping out of school. This makes a straight-A student fall behind [to fit] in with their friends. Since they are around bad people, that does something to the mind.”
According to Ms. Ramos, a person who wants to drop out of high school thinks that teachers don’t understand them which causes a major ripple in trust. It’s at this point where Mrs. Ramos comes in.
Ms. Ramos brings in the students who are in danger of losing too many credits or are thinking of dropping out and talks to them one-on-one or sometimes she and two students. There is then a “building relationships community” made up of Ms. Ramos, two other teachers, and a large group of students where the students can explain why they are not performing well in school or why they want to drop out. According to Ms. Ramos, it takes time for the students to come out of their shells.
Ms. Ramos understands that these meetings with students can be awkward for the students and make them uncomfortable to open up in front of strangers as to the reasons why they wish to drop out. She is okay with talking to students in a group, though, because it can help build a community of trust, and they can help one another out to achieve better grades.
Ms.Ramos tells students, “You are the boldest and strongest self, so let’s build you up and show you off.” She also says that she has the student’s best interests in hand as she does want to help these students.
She also goes to other schools such as Twin Falls High School, because she has other types of work. Such as being a soccer coach for Parks and Recreation.
She was able to stop parents from moving their pre-k kids straight to first grade due to the parents thinking that their child doesn’t need it. When in reality pre-k helps the kids learn the ABCs or their 123s better. She also helps 8th graders transition to high school as most 8th graders struggle with such a big transition from middle school to high school.
Ms. Ramos always has her door open for students who want to drop out at all times, if you need to talk to her go to room 101.
UPDATE 8/15/24: Ms. Ramos was recently hired to teach 9th grade English in the 2024-2025 school year.
