The ambitious young student says she loves homework and is plugging away at her high school credits to catch up to where she should be academically.

Cribb is one of 25 students in the Renaissance Academy, a new alternative school for suspended or expelled students that opened in March at the Rock Hill Flexible Learning Center. Cribb has been there since late March.

"I only had two credits at the time," she said. "I wanted to be back in school and do better and change my life around."

Renaissance Academy gives high school students such as Cribb, who otherwise would be out of school, a chance to get back on track. The concept was developed after teachers and district officials questioned the morality of denying students a public education based on their past mistakes.

Classes are taught on the computer, and students take only one course at a time. When they finish that credit, they move on to the next one.

"It helps us a bunch, because of limiting interaction between the students," director Jamie Quinn said. "A lot of these students get into trouble for social-type mistakes rather than authority-type mistakes."

Students said they like taking classes online.

"I think it's better than regular school, because you can move at your own pace," 16-year-old Jacquisha Adams said.

A teacher is in the classroom throughout the four-hour school day to answer questions as needed. But keeping the students on track at Renaissance is a group effort that includes not just teachers, but the school resource officer and bus drivers, too.

"I need everything that these kids see as far as modeling social behavior to be positive," Quinn said. "I can't have them see adults dealing with conflict the way they're used to dealing with conflict."

That sometimes requires the staff to go above and beyond their job description.

For example, Adams said if she has a question on a test, she can call her teacher at home or send her a text message on her personal cell phone.

If a student misses her bus, a bus driver or Quinn will go back and pick her up.

Quinn said he meets the students at the bus every day. Students shake his hand when they get off the bus and then again when they leave in the afternoon.

Every student and his or her parents sign a contract agreeing they will show up on time, be respectful, follow the dress code and work.

Good behavior, Quinn said, is contagious.

Enrollment in the academy isn't a given for those who are suspended or expelled. Instead, students have to apply, interview and be accepted to Renaissance Academy.

Allen Lester, 16, said he persistently called Quinn until he was admitted to the program. "I told him that I have a lot going on, and I feel like I have something to prove to him," Lester said.

Lester said he was determined to turn his life around, especially after seeing how upset his mom was when he got expelled. To get accepted to Renaissance, he had to take responsibility for the actions that landed him there in the first place.

"I've been getting in trouble a lot the last couple of years, and I was tired of disappointing everyone," he said.

The school has 25 students and two teachers, but there is room for it to grow. It appears unlikely that the school will hire more than the two existing teachers in the next school year, although there is classroom space for two more teachers and double the number of students.

Quinn said he plans to offer a summer program and is considering taking the school year-round.

He will keep some students at Renaissance for the rest of their high school careers. Others will return to their home schools when their suspension or expulsion is over.

"My goal is to get them graduated," Quinn said. "I don't really care where these kids graduate from."