STORY

- - TJ COLE
  - JEREMY
  - MINDY
  - SHEFF
  - TAIMIE
- - GABY
  - ALEXIS
  - JARED
  - ILEA
  - KIKO

Logline:
A group of dedicated administrators and faculty are tested daily by an underprivileged, at-risk student body at this last chance alternative high school. The staff attempts to foster their positive growth through academics extracurricular activities, doing everything they can to steer away from the truancy, addiction, gang activity, and criminal history that continues to tempt these troubled teens daily. Synopsis:
A young group of teens in Denver, Colorado come together at an alternative school that may have the most difficult graduation requirements of any public school in the nation. We follow their life-changing journey and see first hand the trials and tribulations they face within the school and within their community. The bar is set high, for to become a graduate of Justice High School the students must take two college level courses, be fully accepted into three colleges/universities, and must achieve an 18 on the ACT. We explore race, gender, and class through issues like drug addiction, gang activity, and criminal history in the classroom. Discovering what is wrong with the current system that has allowed these individuals to slip through the cracks, has now allowed the administration of Justice High School to build a curriculum that makes their students want to come back to school day after day. Dealing with truancy and behavioral issues is just the tip of the iceberg for the Justice High faculty. The run down building and resource issues only add to the chaos of the inner-workings of a school that is plagued with students who read at a 5th grade level and react with a gang-like mentality. Within the first two blocks of the school year the student body shrinks as a result of jail time, pregnancy, and illegal immigrant status. On any given day a student could show up for class having slept on a park bench do to domestic abuse, or not shown up at all because of a botched armed robbery attempt at a local casino. Though these students come in to Justice High School as misguided youth, the patience and determination of the faculty helps to prepare them for college and the real world. Each episode documents the real life struggles these students face and the growth they accomplish individually and collectively.