A harrowing honest and often moving story. --Andrew Greeley McCloskey shows how challenging it is to succeed under adverse circumstances how tenuous are the victories how relentless are those who wage the battle to overcome the historic disadvantages of their students. --Diane Ravitch New York University Sheds light on important issues cutting across all city schools. --Joseph P. Viteritti author of Choosing Equality The Street Stops Here offers a deeply personal and compelling account of a Catholic high school in central Harlem where mostly disadvantaged (and often non-Catholic) African American males graduate on time and get into college. Interweaving vivid portraits of day-to-day school life with clear and evenhanded analysis Patrick J. McCloskey takes us through an eventful year at Rice High School as staff students and families make heroic efforts to prevail against society s expectations. McCloskey s riveting narrative brings into sharp relief an urgent public policy question: whether (and how) to save these schools that provide the only viable option for thousands of poor and working-class students--and thus fulfill a crucial public mandate. Just as significantly The Street Stops Here offers invaluable lessons for low-performing urban public schools.