"You know, at a regular school if the kid drops out, well maybe he’ll get in a GED program, maybe he’ll come back to school, he’ll get a job. Here if a kid drops out, maybe he’ll die, maybe she’ll overdose."

--Principal Roger Oser

They're known as "sobriety highs" and "recovery highs" – schools for kids who've gotten into trouble with alcohol and other drugs. They teach traditional academics, but also an important life skill – how to navigate the emotional turbulence of adolescence without getting high on substances. The school opened its doors in 2006, one of three recovery high schools in Massachusetts, funded through a five-year grant from the state legislature. Nationwide, there are over two dozen recovery highs, mostly designed for small classrooms and a low student population. The Boston school, with a goal of enrolling fifty students, is called William J. Ostiguy High School, named after its founder, a Lieutenant in the Boston Fire Department and director of the Department's Employee Assistance Program.