West End School is an academically rigorous year-round boarding school for middle school boys. Admission is open to boys entering sixth grade who are on free or reduced lunch, are capable of doing academic work at their grade level or above, and who would benefit from a stable, structured and safe environment. Enrollment is typically between 10 and 15 students per year. The school opened its doors in 2005 because of the growing need for alternative forms of education, particularly for the young men in our community. For many of these students, the middle school years are a transitional "tipping point" both socially and academically. Boys especially are at higher risk for almost every index of failure: academic, achievement, truancy, dropout rates, school suspensions and expulsions, delinquency, and incarceration.When rigorous academic standards are in place it is remarkable the progress students make (Many of our boys have gone on to receive scholarships to prestigious secondary school