While conventional schooling may be successful for many youth, it is problematic for those who are at risk. Conventional schooling assumes the following: (1) all students can derive meaning from a complex and fragmented array of academic courses; (2) all students recognize or can construct a congruence between schooling and their lives; (3) students have similar capacities and motivations for learning; (4) learning is unaffected by the isolation that some students feel in large impersonal institutions; and (5) students can shield their academic performance from the pressures of outside influences or life circumstances. This report examines prototypes of alternative structures that respond in diverse ways to the characteristics and needs of at-risk youth. It attempts to show how these programs can diminish students' sense of isolation, incongruity, and incompetence, and can reengage them in the enterprise of schooling. Programs can affect student performance when teachers assume the extended roles of counselor, confidant, and friend. At-risk youth can be reengaged in school when more attention is paid to their individual needs in and outside of class. Teachers should be encouraged to feel accountable for their students and to participate in critical school policymaking. The report includes 3 references and 3 tables. (AF)