This dissertation examines the developmental process and output (student performance) of a public alternative school, the Everywhere School, founded by the citizens of the South Arsenal community of Hartford, Connecticut. The objectives of the study were: (1) to explore the process whereby a community organization interacted with the Hartford Board of Education and succeeded in diversifying the public educational services for the South Arsenal community; and (2) to compare the level of performance and characteristics of the public alternative school students with those of students in the regular public school in the same neighborhood. A case study method was used to explore the school's developmental process. Primary and secondary data were used to reconstruct the method of establishing an alternative school within the public educational sector. Newspaper accounts, Board of Education records and community records and correspondents were used to determine the names and roles played by primary actors in establishing the Everywhere School. A topical guide was employed to interview (taped) respondents who participated in or observed the events that led to the development of the school. The purposive sample consisted of community leaders, community organizational affiliates, and administrative heads of city agencies. (Author/JM)