This year-long ethnographic study explores one alternative school's journey of creating a positive and collaborative learning community while negotiating through the disadvantages and marginalization within a school district and society at large. This study examined various aspects of school culture, including learning processes, discourses, relationships, and challenges the students and teachers face in schools. Participants discussed the importance of a flexible learning environment, strong relationships between students and teachers, while displaying a strong resistance toward authority. How schools must change to meet all students' needs still remains a vital question. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)