Some of the students have two or three jobs. Some have babies. A few have lived in their cars.

After last night's graduation at the Penacook charter school, all have high school diplomas.

Many of the 22 students who graduated from CSI Charter School yesterday would have dropped out, according to administrators and their classmates, if not for the school's alternative approach requiring only six hours of attendance each week. Schoolwork is completed on computers at an individual pace, divided into competencies rather than classes and guided by coaches rather than teachers.

It worked for Laura Benson, a 19-year-old mother who planned to drop out of her Manchester high school when she learned she was pregnant. Then she learned about CSI and completed three years of high school during the past year and a half.

Her main motivation, she said, was her son Jason, who turns 1 on Sunday. Jason toddled around a CSI classroom on a recent afternoon, one of many babies who have spent time there while their mothers study.

"My whole life, everything I do, revolves around him," Benson said, looking at her son in his footy pajamas covered with pictures of trucks. "I pushed myself to get through school because I want to have a good job to support him. You can't do much without a diploma."

Founded by a vote at the 2007 Merrimack Valley School District meeting, the school aims to reduce the dropout rate at Merrimack Valley High School.

The year before CSI opened, the district's annual dropout rate was 3.5 percent, above the state average for that year of 3.2 percent. Last year, the Merrimack Valley dropout rate sank to 2.1 percent, surpassing the state's improvement to 2.5 percent. Principal Mike Jette said this year's numbers will be better.

"This is obviously a huge part of it," he said at last night's commencement, as 15 former Merrimack Valley students received their diplomas.

The school operates in a district building, but it runs on state money. Administrators suspect applications will increase next year as a new law raises the dropout age to 18.

Students at CSI - short for competencies, skills and interests - are coached by a team of retired Merrimack Valley teachers who have known one another for decades. When they began planning for CSI two years ago, they were joined by that common history and a belief that traditional high schools just don't work for some kids. But before they could motivate, cajole and inspire, the coaches had to find some students.

So they tracked them down. They brainstormed the names of students who had dropped out of Merrimack Valley, and they set about calling old numbers and knocking on doors. They persuaded grandmothers to give out cell numbers and got tips from new residents. They found that some dropouts had gone on to earn their GEDs and go to college, while others had enlisted in the military. But when they found someone who was under 21 and without a degree, they were unrelenting.

"You have to pace yourself when you call back," said coach Geri Gormley. "You can't call every day and nag. You have to go back a little later and try again."

Eventually, the coaches said, they persuaded 90 percent of those students to apply to CSI and try earning their degrees.

One of those students was Mike Dunlap, 21, who dropped out of Merrimack Valley at age 16 or 17 after an uninspired run that included more than one nap in Gormley's social studies class.

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