Students at the Settlement Home, a residential treatment facility, in Austin, Texas, aren’t typical teenagers worried about homecoming dances or the latest social media trends. These are young women, ages 12 to 19, under the care of Child Protective Services, all carrying histories of trauma that would break most adults.

With only 28 students and a tight-knit team of six UT University Charter School staff led by Principal Holly Engleman, the school operates more like a family than a traditional school.

Students who live at Settlement Home receive therapy and support as they work through traumatic pasts that may include neglect, abuse, trafficking, and adjudication.

Many have significant gaps in their education due to high mobility rates—moving from school to school, sometimes five or six times in a single year. Most have learning disabilities. And the trauma they have experienced affects their ability to learn.

After 11 years (the longest tenured teacher at Settlement Home), UTUCS math teacher Miguel Cabral has heard every excuse, seen every defense mechanism, and weathered every storm a traumatized teenager can throw at a teacher. He understands that when a student slams a book down and refuses to work, when they cuss you out or shut down completely, it’s rarely about math.

“Every adult in their life has left them at some level,” he explains. “All they need to know is that we’re not leaving, that we’re still going to be here.”

But Cabral sees incredible resilience in these young women. He says, “I give them all the credit to be able to get up in the morning every day and come to school. Because if I was in their position, I don’t think I’d get out of bed. And for them to still come to school and put up with us, to try to teach them math, is still a good thing. I think it’s very admirable.”

Small But Mighty

What makes the Settlement Home campus so special? For UTUCS staff, it’s the team. Besides Holly Engleman and Miguel Cabral, the team includes science teacher Andrew Harrod and English and art teacher Taylor Hunt, instructional aides Ben Dobbin and Terry Smothers, and special education teacher Lisa Anguiano. Together, they work closely with Settlement Home facility staff to coordinate each student’s safety plans, treatment needs, and educational goals. The team’s success stems from their shared commitment.

“Teamwork makes the dream work! We, quite literally, could not do what we do if we didn’t work as a team,” says Hunt, who is a 5-year veteran at the campus. “We keep the students’ learning as a priority and we all stay on the same page. Even when there are challenging situations going on, we are able to lean on each other and our procedures to ensure that the school remains a peaceful oasis amidst the sometimes-chaotic surroundings.”

“Everyone has buy-in on teaching to the whole child,” Harrod says. “All of us have a shared goal—that that all students feel safe and are learning—in that order. I never have to justify my request to help with a student.”

Principal Holly Engleman observes that it isn’t just the teachers with a shared goal. “Our team of teachers and students have learned how to work together to support and encourage one another,” she explains.  “If a student is not wanting to get up in the morning to attend school, her peers or will let us know and a either a teacher or I will go to the cottage and do everything possible to get the student motivated and to school. It is definitely a team effort.”

The average stay at Settlement Home is six to eight months, though since the COVID-19 pandemic, in many cases that has increased to a year or more. About 40% of students will stay through graduation. For those who do graduate, support systems remain in place, including fully paid state college tuition, transition living programs, and ongoing connections with case workers.

After years at this unique campus, the UTUCS team remains committed to proving to young women who have every reason to give up that they are capable, worthy, and able to succeed.

“Success is when they’re not shy and insecure anymore,” Cabral says. “They’re confident, they’re not afraid to fail because they know they have another shot at it.”