The combined effects of many social, psychological, physical and educational factors make the ninth grade a level at which students have a high potential for dropping out of school. For those ninth graders who have already experienced attendance, discipline or academic problems the risk is even greater. A number of strategies have been developed to ease the trauma of the ninth grade and to prevent students from dropping out. These strategies include the following: (1) improving articulation between high school and earlier years of schooling; (2) deferring required courses to allow room for more electives in the ninth grade; (3) decreasing feelings of alienation in the ninth grade; (4) sensitizing teachers to the problems of being a ninth grader; (5) creating alternatives to retention before the ninth grade; and (6) planning special programs to orient middle school students and their parents to high school. These approaches, either alone or in combination, can help the at-risk student without vastly changing the basic structure of the high school. (VM)