The purpose of this handbook is to orient staff to the many facets of the Alternative Learning Project, a community based public high school that provides an opportunity for its students to forge a new relationship between their education and the city in which they live. The project was established as an educational setting for the many students in the Providence, Rhode Island secondary schools whose opportunities for diverse learning experiences were limited. It includes aspects of history so the current staff will not completely rediscover old learnings or repeat past mistakes; concurrently, the history is included so that individual memory and the oral tradition are not the only sources of knowledge. The handbook clarifies practices so that the entire staff can systematically make the school a humane learning setting that empowers its students with skills and self-worth. The following is a listing of the areas discussed: (1) general explanation of the Alternate Learning Project; (2) participants in the school: responsibilities and rights; (3) governance and decision making; (4) counseling; (5) curriculum; (6) general policy and everyday procedures; and, (7) calendar. Among the samples included are a planning worksheet, site placement evaluation, and independent study contract. (Author/AM)