SCHOOL WITH A MISSION

At the John H. Wood Jr. Charter School, students start each day reciting
not only the Pledge of Allegiance, but also an 81-word mission statement.

The unorthodox ritual is one of many things that set apart this public
school, named for a tough federal judge who was assassinated on a drug
dealer's order.

For starters, the school is housed in what used to be a psychiatric hospital.

Today, the building serves as the Campbell A. Griffin Center, a 120-bed,
residential treatment facility for juvenile offenders, drug addicts and
abused or mentally disturbed teen-agers.

The school, operated in partnership with the center since 1998, meets in
several classrooms located throughout the building.

For the most troubled teen-agers, those who have psychotic episodes or are
suicidal, school is a room that's a short walk from where they sleep.

For others, who are more self-sufficient, school is a classroom a few
floors below.

And, for about 20 more who come from off-campus, John H. Wood is like a
one-room schoolhouse, where students aged 12 to 17 share a classroom and a
teacher.

Most of the students here have failed one or more grades; some have been
truants for a year or more.

Jon Casanova said he was expelled from two schools and spent seven months
in a treatment center after a run-in with the law.

Before he mended his ways, the young man says, classmates knew him because
he was "bad." Now, they turn to him for help.

"I don't have to impress anybody here," he said. "I just do my work and go
home.

"Freshman Randyl Johnson said she came to the school after a prolonged
illness set her back.

She liked the teachers and self-paced curriculum so much, she stayed.

Features such as a small, structured environment, individualized attention
and a willingness to try different methods seem to resonate with these youths.

"We really focus hard on what they can do, rather than what they can't do,"
Principal Kenneth Messick said, "realizing that as they experience success,
they do begin to accelerate and they do catch up.

"That's not an easy feat for a school where more than two-thirds of the
students require special education and where high school seniors may be
reading on a third-grade level.

"We have some children that come in illiterate and innumerate," said
teacher Cris Garcia. "Sometimes we have to start out with basic learning a
" with the alphabet.

"Garcia, who encourages her students to be "active learners," is an
unconventional teacher a " the kind who experiments with mood music and
incense to promote a comfortable environment, allows students to lie on the
floor and decorate their desks with stickers, drawings, photographs and more.

For Garcia, success is found not only in improved test scores, but also in
changed behavior.

"It's surprising," she said. "These are kids who never attended school.
(Now) they actually like going to class.

"Sophomore Tiffany Lyon, who was expelled from her middle school, knows
what a triumph that is.

If it weren't for this school, she said, she'd either be incarcerated or
pregnant a " and definitely "not in school, period."