COAST HIGH SCHOOL:

Nicole Moya

Sometimes, all Nicole Moya needed to get by in high school was a book and a little peace and quiet.

As a student at Marina High School her first two years, Nicole often fell behind in her classes, where she felt teachers spent more time disciplining troublemakers than teaching valuable material. After her sophomore year, seeking a change of scene, she transferred to the district’s independent study program at Coast High School.

The atmosphere couldn’t have been more different, as Nicole spent most of each week studying in her bedroom and visited campus for about two hours a week to meet with teachers.

It turned out to be the spark she needed, though, as she finished high school in four years and boosted her grade-point average to a healthy 3.9.

“They didn’t just let you get an F,” Nicole, 17, said. “They always helped you learn better so you could get that B or A.”

This fall, the Huntington Beach native plans to enroll at Golden West College, where she’ll study to become a pharmacist.

And with the freedom of a college schedule, she should have no problem pacing herself.

— Michael Miller