Most of us went to what most people think of as a ‘regular’ school. Whether public or private, there were classrooms, teachers, and courses like history and language arts. The fact is, though, that some students don’t benefit from a typical school. They do best with alternative education. For instance, students who’ve been in trouble might go to such a school rather than go into juvenile detention. Others might go to an alternative school because they’re pregnant, or they don’t have a guardian, or for some other reason.

I’ve done a bit of looking into this sort of school because one of my series protagonists, Joel Williams, studies alternative education. Like many people, he sees the benefits and the problems with alternative schools.

Alternative education has a history. For example, Agatha Christie’s They Do it With Mirrors takes place at Stonygates, a former private Victorian home which now houses a school for delinquent boys. The school is run by Carrie Louise Serrecold and her husband, Lewis, and both are devoted to their cause. But Carrie’s sister, Ruth Van Rydock, is less sanguine. In fact, she has come to believe that someone is trying to kill Carrie. Ruth tells her friend, Miss Marple, about her concerns, and Miss Marple becomes worried, too. Carrie has been a friend of hers for a long time. So, she visits Stonygates to see things for herself. During her stay, Christian Gulbrandsen, who is a trustee of the foundation that funds the school, also visits. One night, he is shot. The police are called in, and they begin an investigation. But this isn’t nearly as clear-cut a case as it seems on the surface.

Ross Mcdonald’s The Far Side of the Dollar features Laguna Perdida, a boarding school for ‘troubled students.’ Dr. Sponti, who is head of the school, hires PI Lew Archer when one of the students, seventeen-year-old Tom Hillman, goes missing. Sponti is hoping that Tom’s parents won’t have to be involved, and that Tom will be returned quickly and quietly. He and Archer are discussing the matter when Tom’s father, Ralph Hillman, bursts into the office claiming that Tom has been abducted and there’s been a ransom demand. He hires Archer to find the boy, and Archer agrees. It’s not an easy case, though. For one thing, the Hillmans don’t seem to be as helpful as they could be in finding their son. For another, it soon becomes clear that Tom left of his own accord and doesn’t want to come back. Now, Archer has to deal with family dynamics as well as a missing child.

Angela Marsons’ Silent Scream is the first of her series featuring Detective Inspector (DI) Kim Stone. In the novel, school principal Teresa Wyatt is found drowned in her bathtub. The police are investigating this when Tom Curtis, who’s been working in an elder care home, is murdered. Then, Arthur Cannop is killed in a hit-and-run incident. The only thing that the victims have in common is that all of them worked at one time at a girls’ home called Crestwood, which is now closed. Stone, who herself is a product of the care system, has a lot of sympathy for the girls who lived at Crestwood. As she and her team look into the case more deeply, they learn about things that went on there, and that leads them to the truth.

Y.A. Erskine’s The Brotherhood introduces readers to seventeen-year-old Darren Rowley, who lives in a run-down part of Hobart. He’s not exactly from a supportive family, and he’s decided school is not for him. In fact, he hasn’t been there for years. He’s been in and out of trouble with the law, too – a good example of the sort of student who might benefit from an alternative education. Instead of looking at those options, Darrell engages in petty theft and other crimes. One afternoon, he’s committing burglary when Sergeant John White and probationer Lucy Howard arrive at the house Darren is looting. They’ve been tipped off that there’s a crime in progress and are investigating. Tragically, White is shot and killed. It’s assumed that Darren is responsible, but he claims innocence. The police are especially eager to catch the person who killed one of their own, so they’re not in the least interested in anything Darren has to say. And yet, since he’s part Aboriginal, the police have to handle the case with extreme care, so as not to appear racist. The police certainly are against the boy, but many believe that Darren Rowley is the sort of young person who might have benefited greatly if he’d had support and perhaps an alternative education.

Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch could also have benefited from some support. He was raised in care after the murder of his mother and went to a residential school, McLaren Hall, when he wasn’t in foster care. He didn’t end up in prison, though. Instead, he served in Vietnam, straightened his life out and became an LA police detective. Still, he bears the scars of his earlier life.

There are some young people who don’t do well in ‘regular’ school. Sometimes, alternative education is a solid solution for them, and they make productive lives for themselves. Other times it doesn’t work well. For many who attend those schools, though, it’s ‘better than juvey,’ as one of my characters has said.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Beatles’ Getting Better.