Hanging onto kids who might otherwise leave school is the mission of the Options Complex at Margaret A. Ireland School in Cleveland. Options Complex is a program for students in grades 6-12 who are behind in school by two or more years. Much of the concern about dropout rates has focused on improving high schools. Experts say that struggling middle schoolers, a too-often-overlooked group, are likely to flounder in 9th grade and stop attending school. The best way to improve high schools is to salvage the middle school experience, said John M. Beam, the executive director of the National Center for Schools and Communities at Fordham University. Something is happening in middle school. That is ultimately where the policy fix may need to be. This article discusses how some school districts are making a special effort to reach middle schoolers who are overage for their grade. Recognizing that they can teeter on dropping out for varying reasons--frequent moves, a need to work after school, difficulty learning English, academic troubles, family crises, chronic misbehavior--districts are offering a portfolio of approaches rather than a fixed route.