During Thursday's edition of Lubbock's First News on KFYO, Mark Martin of Premier High School told us about his charter school program.

Premier High School is a charter school that serves 9th-12th graders who have not had success in traditional school, have been out of school, or are trying to graduate high school early and move on to college or the military. It is part of the largest charter school program in Texas. Martin stated that "The last 20, 25 years in Texas especially, the educational architecture has changed. People have different needs. Families, their kids have different goals. Families have changed. Traditional high school does a great job for a large number of the population and charter schools are not set up to be competition for traditional high schools. They are there to fill a need."

As for the quality of the diplomas being awarded, Martin explained "we default to the same recommended diploma that all the ISDs give. That is an academic diploma certified by the state of Texas that carries the same weight as the one you get from Lubbock ISD, from Lubbock Cooper, Frenship, any place, any ISD, it's the same diploma." Premier High School has small classes and is flexible with schedules. Students can choose to attend classes from 8A.M. to noon, or noon to 4P.M., whichever best fits the students needs.

Premier High School is located on west loop 289 in the Wayland Plaza. On the 10th and 17th of July there will be meetings to provide parents with information on Premier High School. There will be open houses in August.

To find out more, visit Premier High School's website, or call (806) 763-5158.

To listen to the full interview, click the play button below:

To listen on a mobile device, click the following link: KFYO LFN Mark Martin June 26 2014

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