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Last year, Gabriela Galaz ended eighth grade with two surprises: She made the cheerleading squad at Sunnyside High School, but she was failing at Sierra Middle School and would have to repeat.

"I was really mad at myself," she said.

She didn't want to stay behind another year, but she was failing math, reading and language arts.

Eighty-two of Gabriela's classmates — 23 percent of the class — were in the same situation — failing three or more core subjects, defined as English, math, science and social studies. She fits into a familiar pattern: She's one of at least 5,700 Tucson-area students who failed three or more core classes in 2007.

Gabriela acknowledges that she was more interested in talking to her friends than in focusing on class, so her grades suffered. Her parents tried to intervene, but the report card wasn't much of a surprise, said her mother, Eloiza Galaz.

"We thought maybe she'd need to stay another year and buckle down," the mother said. "I can't do it for her, and (Gabriela's father) can't do it for her. We were at that point."

Then Gabriela enrolled in the Sunnyside Unified School District's Summer LEAP program, a six-week special program for eighth-graders with failing grades, and, in this case, students making the transition from eighth grade to high school. The program began three years ago, and its full name is Language ! and Algebra Preparation.

The results have been been positive, said N.J. Utter, a secondary-curriculum and -instruction specialist for Sunnyside.

"Most of our students do go on to high school having completed the successful interventions," Utter said.

Officials have found that about one-third of LEAP participants enroll afterward in smaller schools, such as charter programs, she added.

Experts say targeted intervention, such as after-school and summer-school programming, is the best way to improve the grades of failing students.

"We realize without interventions, they're not going to be successful in high school," said Jan Vesely, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Sunnyside.

Gabriela's family had doubts that it would work.

"My husband said: 'Should we even put her through summer school? Will it fix things?' " Eloiza Galaz recalled. "But I told Gabby: 'You're getting this chance, and you better not blow it. You better get serious, because there are other kids who didn't get into the class.' "

So Gabriela went.

"We just had to be there every day and do what we were told, and (we) would get credit to pass to high school," she said.

Since leaving the LEAP program, she has struggled but has maintained a C average at Sunnyside, 1725 E. Bilby Road. Along with cheerleading, another thing keeps her determined.

Her father, David Galaz, is a sergeant in the Army Reserve. In late March, he was sent to Kuwait.

"That's part of the motivation for Gabby to do well, because my husband left strict instructions for them," Eloiza Galaz said, referring to Gabriela and her younger brother, Joseph. " 'You don't need to give your mom trouble,' " he said.

Gabriela agrees.

"My dad told me I have to do good in school and get good grades," she said.

When the report cards arrive, Galaz said, it's a party. For a while, she recalled, Gabriela pinned her report cards to the walls of her room. All her daughter has to do, Galaz said, is bring home C's or better.

"Compared to where we were last year, it's a celebration," she said.

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