In Tim Lisante’s first year as an assistant principal at a school for youth on the prison complex Rikers Island 30 years ago, he met a student with four strikes against her. She had a learning disability, substance abuse problem, no permanent home in the city—and she was pregnant.

Some might have seen a lost cause. Lisante saw a student in crisis.

Three decades later, Lisante is the superintendent of New York City’s District 79, which consists of over 14,000 students who have fallen behind in high school; been involved in the criminal-justice system; or who have special needs such as drug treatment, job training, or child care.

Years ago, the district used to include transfer schools, which serve over-age and under-credited students, and other small high schools. Now it is a network of programs for students learning outside of traditional school settings.

[For more of this story, written by Monica Disare, go to https://www.theatlantic.com/ed...day-in-court/519342/]