For years, Johnson Community Day School has been the second, third or last chance for students kicked out of other middle and high schools. And many have thrived in a setting with small classes, counseling and close supervision to overcome truancy, drug use or brushes with the law.
But now Johnson itself is being booted.
Next month, the school must vacate its longtime South Los Angeles campus, pushing students already on the edge of failure into a cross-town commute.
To make room for a new Los Angeles Unified School District high school, Johnson is being moved to Hollywood.
Officials settled this month on the Hollywood site after faculty, parents and community members at two middle schools organized against hosting Johnson on their campuses. Johnson's staff members fear they'll lose students in the move. The nearest, most similar alternative for some of its students is Cooper Community Day School in San Pedro.
"These students have a lot of hoops to get through to get to school every day," said Shannon Nemzer, who runs a county-funded life skills class at Johnson for students in danger of dropping out. "This is one more hoop."
Offering grades seven through 12, Johnson is similar in operation to a regular school, but with classes of three to 17 students. Johnson will accept disabled students and those with minimal academic skills. Some attempt to return as soon as possible to a regular campus; others stay at Johnson.
For student body President Charlie Torres, 17, this is round two at Johnson. At various times, he attended Fremont, Locke, Dorsey and Soledad Enrichment Action Charter. Some moves were a result of changes in his foster care placements. He missed a month of school during one such period.
Over time, he began to hang out with friends who skipped class. And Fremont expelled him for carrying a pocketknife.
Separated from distracting influences, he took to Johnson immediately. One day, however, he arrived at school high on marijuana, and Principal Victorio Gutierrez required him to leave because, at the time, the school lacked access to a drug-abuse treatment program. It was a difficult moment, because Gutierrez was certain Charlie was responding to severe stresses at home.
The next school didn't click for Charlie and he stopped going, missing most of last year.
"I pretty much did give up," Charlie said. "I felt I would never catch up. I didn't think going back to Johnson was an option."
