CHICAGO -- Roxanne Harris has two sons in college, and another is a pharmacist.

Video: Pre-School Program Engenders Success

All this, and mom is now earning her own GED.

"It's exciting, since I didn't get all the education I need," she said.

Harris' return to education is a success story in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood, where only about ⅓ of any high school class ever graduates, NBC5's Nesita Kwan reported.

But the Harris family had something special on their side -- an innovative preschool program founded in Chicago.

Barbara Bowman heads the early childhood department of Chicago Public Schools.

"Chicago is famous for its Child-Parent Centers," she said. Bowman said the special preschools, started in the 1970s, are now such a model of success that they've attracted international attention.

"We know that you can change the educational and life trajectory of very young children by the quality of education you provide them when they're four years old. It's very exciting," she said.

In the preschools, children learn the alphabet, words and numbers -- getting a boost for kindergarten.

Their parents also go to school and have their own teacher down the hall who works on parenting skills.

Veronica Scott is one of those early childhood parent resource teachers at Herzel Child-Parent Center.

"We discussed having good communication with our child, building a trusting relationaship," Scott said.

A recent study in the Archives of Pediatrics shows the intensive program turns out more successful adults. In the study, Dr. Arthur Reynolds, of the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development, studied 1,500 participants.

"You've tracked this program for 20 years. What have you seen in terms of the impact on these young adults?" Kwan asked.

"A very strong impact. In the beginning, most of the impact was on school achievement and success. But then what that led to was kids that had that success became more committed to school," Reynolds said.

Compared to Head Start or all-day kindergartners, Child-Parent Center kids are more likely to finish high school -- 71 percent vs 64 percent, according to the study. Among males, the difference found was even more striking -- 64 percent compared to 48 percent.

C-PC graduates have less depression and are more likely to attend college and stay out of prison, the study found.

Former C-PC student Michael Washington, now 27, runs a heating company with his father. Washington finished high school and was a member of the National Honor Society and a principal scholar at his school. He remembers inspiring field trips during his time at C-PC.

"The best one would be to go see the plays like 'The Nutcracker.'"

Washington relished what he learned and found he wanted to achieve, feeling like he had many cheerleaders supporting him.

"It made me who I am today," Washington said.

Reynolds said that's the secret of C-PC's success.

"(Children learn) that school is fun, that school is an important place to be. Kids get the benefits of that. They want to be there," he said.

Charlotte Boyce said that's definetly true for her grandchild, Janay, who is excited about attending the C-PC program.

"On the weekend she says, 'Mama, is there school today?' No -- no school today," Boyce said.

Ironically, the C-PCs are shrinking, not expanding.

As some of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods gentrify, populations shift and family patterns change. With those changes, C-PCs have a harder time enrolling high-risk kids, Kwan reported.

Yet in an embattled school system, Bowman said this is a success story.

"We can do it in a Chicago public school," she said.