Beyond the metal detector, it looks like hundreds of other schools you might find across the United States—a place where teachers, administrators, and staff have worked hard to create a welcoming learning environment. Brightly painted walls, cheerful bulletin boards that announce school events and programs, and room signs made lovingly by hand belie the building's environs in Back of the Yards, a tough neighborhood on Chicago's south side. The Samuel D. Proctor Academic Preparatory Center is in many ways a study in contrasts.

"In any large metropolitan environment like Chicago, there's so much going on every morning, every afternoon. First we've got to make sure the students get here," says Doris Brown, an administrative staff member in charge of student discipline and support. "Once we get them here, we give them their hug and send them off to class."

Morning hugs for students who are having a rough day are part of the culture at Proctor, but so are smaller classes, more individualized attention, and more counseling and support personnel per pupil than Chicago's regular public high schools. The reason for this disparity is the special population that Proctor serves: students who have not met the criteria for graduation to high school.