Justice High Puts Students in the Courtroom

They started doing some research, and determined that about 80 percent of the delinquents passing through Cole's courtroom had educational issues — a figure that Cole still repeats in disbelief, citing it as a statistic that politicians should seize on when they're stumping for education. When Cole pitched the concept of a new school, he'd quote that figure to everyone.

"We had a great community here that kind of saw it from the get-go," he says. "People realized that if we really want to make a difference and get our bang for our buck, it goes back to what I've always believed: Education is the key to having a decent life and having a decent shot. Recognizing that, it wasn't hard for everyone in the justice system and the legal system to say, 'Hey, if we can make some inroads into education and we can make some positive changes, we really might be able to reduce the recidivism rate.' As time evolved, essentially everyone involved said as long as you don't cause craziness and you can get it all done, go for it. And that's how Boulder Prep started. Eventually, that grew up and moved out and we had this space again, so Justice High was born. It's not like truancy, delinquency and kids dropping out just stopped."

"Both Prep and Justice have exceeded my wildest expectations," Brown says. "Now we have students at the schools who are referrals from other parents, siblings or friends of students who have found success there. Both schools have waiting lists for kids who want a different educational experience."

Justice High operated as a non-profit school for truant and delinquent teens until it attained charter status in the Boulder Valley School District in January 2006, following the same template Cole had designed for Boulder Prep and operating under the same guidelines as the five other charter high schools in the district. While Justice High receives around $6,000 per student from the district to pay for everything from textbooks to teachers, the space in the courtroom comes free of charge, which leaves funds for such things as sports uniforms. And it's all money well spent, according to Chris King, superintendent of the school district.

"I think one of the things that makes it work is the impact of it being in a courthouse," he says. "There's some power there. But I think it's also more the fact that the kids can get true wrap-around service. It's one-stop shopping for probation courts, schooling, etc. There's a tighter support system right there in the Justice Center, and I think the school lets students take true advantage of that."

Given the rising number of students whose needs aren't met by traditional schools, other districts could use schools like Boulder Prep and Justice High, King suggests. But those districts are lacking one critical component. "It takes a special person to build and design something like that," he says. "You have to have someone with a lot of passion and a lot of vision to make it work. You could duplicate the program elsewhere, but you would probably have to duplicate T.J. Cole, too."

T. J. Cole is now between bites of a baloney sandwich. "The difference between us and other schools is that we really try hard to take negative labels that these kids have achieved in their academic careers — and in many cases, rightfully so — and make them positive," he says while chewing, answering phone calls, sorting paperwork and dealing with an ever-rotating cast of people peering in his office with a quick question. "Because we believe as part of our philosophy that kids who are given positive, positive, positive as well as higher goals, will try to attain those. So at Justice High, we made the requirement that you have to be accepted into three colleges before graduating, and as of two or three years ago, we make every kid take at least two college-level courses; if you don't pass them, your diploma stays here."

Cole opens a cabinet door to display a stack of diplomas still fresh and crisp in their decorative plastic covers. It's no wonder that kids around here consider him a hardass. After all, it was Cole — T.J. to the students — who implemented "BadNastys," a disciplinary measure involving free weights and calisthenics that particularly unruly students have to engage in right there in his office. But it was also Cole who decided that trusted seniors — seniors who've been through the Justice High system and done well — could issue the same BadNastys to underclassmen they see misbehaving.

And though many kids may resent Cole through much of their time at Justice High, eventually they come around. He's the ballbuster coach who makes you run the bleachers when you swear you're going to puke, the possessed piano teacher who never lets you stop practicing the scales. Looking back, you can't help but appreciate all that person did for you.

"He likes to push you to your full potential," says Dafna Gozani, a former student at Boulder Prep who's now interning/teaching at Justice High while she pursues a law degree. "But it's something you come to be grateful for. I was really screwing up when I came here, and I just remember my first day thinking what an odd feeling it was walking into a courthouse and not having handcuffs on. The dedication and care that my teachers had for me is something I will never forget. I see kids going through the same stuff I went through, and when they're complaining, I just point to all of the students who graduated who come back and visit four, five times a year. Just to say hello. You don't see that at many other high schools."