Each year since 1996, Boyce Campus Middle College High School has given about 180 at-risk high school students a second chance to succeed.

Located on the Boyce campus of Community College of Allegheny County, the school isn't for students with behavioral problems or learning disorders, said Joseph A. Saeli, former superintendent of the Penn Hills School District and one of the founders of the school.

Instead, "it's like intensive-care education for at-risk students, a place for kids who are falling through the cracks," he said.

The students often are academically behind, although they must be judged by their school principal, guidance counselor or teacher to have academic ability, said Dr. Saeli, 65, of Monroeville.

"But they're disengaged and have a difficult time fitting into a school setting. If it's a young woman, she might have been pregnant and fallen behind."

The students who attend the Boyce school live in the Penn Hills, Woodland Hills, Plum or Gateway school districts, and each district can send 15 sophomores, 15 juniors and 15 seniors. The districts supply the funding and teachers for the program.

In her third year as director, Michele Markiewicz said the Boyce school's success speaks for itself. The school has a graduation rate of 90 percent or higher of its roughly 180 students per year, with 50 percent to 72 percent going on to take courses at CCAC.

That success is rooted in its unique culture, which is founded in the middle college concept, said Ms. Markiewicz, 39, of White Oak.

Dr. Saeli said that when he and other superintendents were looking for a way to combat the rise in dropout rates in their districts in the 1990s, they found out about the middle college program. It was pioneered in 1974 by educators in LaGuardia, N.Y.

Today, more than 30 high school programs are based on the middle college concept, which places at-risk students on community college campuses, where they can take college-level courses in a supportive setting.

Part of the strength of the concept, said Ms. Markiewicz, is the way it uses "the power of the site."

"Many of these kids have very low self-esteem. They don't see themselves as achieving much, let alone going to college," she said. "But once they start attending classes in a college setting, they start, literally, to see themselves there."

As the students become accustomed to being treated as responsible adults, she added, they start to act that way.

"They get more freedom but more responsibility. They soon learn it's to their advantage to show restraint."

Along with the college setting, the middle college concept emphasizes a highly supportive relationship between faculty and students, with a high teacher-to-student ratio.

Ms. Markiewicz said faculty at the Boyce school act as mentors, showing personal concern for students.

"Slowly," she said, "the faculty build trust and respect, and the students begin to believe they can contribute."

In addition to preventing students from dropping out, the Boyce school also offers the opportunity for its students to kick-start a college career.

Once students prove their ability to handle the academic work, they are eligible to enroll in college-level courses, which count as high school and college credits.

"They can graduate from high school with enough college credits for an associate degree," said Dr. Saeli.

Not all students choose to go on to CCAC or a four-year program, noted Ms. Markiewicz, although the dropout rates at the Boyce school are very low.

"Some join the military, some go on to associate degrees or trade schools," she said. "But for most of our students, their outcomes are far better than if they had dropped out of school."

Students who complete the Boyce program are considered graduates of their home district high schools.

Ms. Markiewicz said the usual number of students accepted at one time is 180, but this year's total is closer to 200.

"We hate to turn any student away who needs that second chance," she said.

The Boyce school accepts a small number of students from other school districts who pay tuition, and it has a waiting list.

In the current economic climate, programs like the Boyce school might not seem like a priority, Dr. Saeli said, but he has seen firsthand how the school has changed the lives of its students.

"I can't tell you the stories I've heard from kids who were suicidal before they came to school here," he said. "They say we saved their lives."