Circuit Court

                                                  Two years after it opened, America's first school for troubled juveniles has graduated its first class. Juvenile Court Judge Jimmie Edwards opened the Innovative Concept Academy in 2009 as a last hope for kids who have been expelled or otherwise failed to make it in the St. Louis public school system.

The Academy is housed in the old Blewett Middle School on Cass Avenue, which was slated to be closed by the school district. With persistent prodding from Judge Edwards the district agreed to let him use the building for this unique class of students and curriculum.

Last month 13 students, who have worked for 8 to 10 months earning their GED, received diplomas.

"If you can't read and you haven't been exposed, you can't dream," Judge Edwards has been quoted as saying. "These kids don't dream. They have nightmares. Everything they have known is negative."

The Innovative Concept Academy has been called a one-stop-shop for delinquent teens who not only need a quality education but also medical services, psychological counseling, nutritious meals and even a place to wash their clothes.

Judge Edwards was recently honored by the Mark Twain Community Resource Center with its Juvenile Justice Award for the work he is doing at the Academy.