Kayla Solomon has a daughter and a niece going into second grade this year.

She said they love school now, but worries as they get older things may change.

Solomon said she dropped out of school and had to go back and get her GED. She said she doesn't want the girls to do the same.

"I tell them not to be like me," Solomon said. "Not to drop out and let’s stick it out."

Bay area schools are also working to get students to stick it out.

"It’s more and more challenging because the standards are increasing and the expectations are harder and harder," said Cynthia Saunders, Deputy Superintendent for Instruction for the Manatee County School District.

According to the Florida Department of Education, the state high school drop-out rate has changed slightly in the past five years. It sat at its highest rate in the 2009-2010 school year at 2 percent. In the 2013-2014 school year, it was down to 1.9 percent.

Every county in the Bay area is seeing lower dropout rates.

In Manatee County, the dropout rate was 3.59 percent during the 2008-2009 school year, but dropped to 3.4 percent in 2013-2014.

The Manatee County School District said the rates are lower because of new programs like the Hope Program for students who struggle in the eighth grade.

"Those students take their eighth-grade courses online while they also take their face to face traditional classes in ninth grade so they will be prepared to move on with their cohort throughout high school," Southeast High Assistant Principal Rosa Daughtry said.

Manatee County schools also offer the Life Program, which allows students to hold down a job during the day and take classes later at school.

"It’s a different day and age in education that it was 20 years ago," said Craig Little,  who is the principal at Lakewood Ranch High School. "And it’s important to find those specific niches that sparks an interest in kids and keeps them engaged."