This report paints a collective portrait of the Baltimore City Schools dropouts of 2008-09 to summarize some of the commonalities that join their individual stories together. After examining the surface level demographic characteristics of these dropouts, researchers probed more deeply into their behavioral characteristics in the years preceding the dropout event. The task of recovering dropouts and raising the graduation rate in Baltimore City will require addressing the behavioral factors identified in previous research that push students off-track to graduation, particularly chronic absenteeism, suspensions, and course failure. Once students get off-track in ninth grade, bringing them to successful high school graduation is extremely difficult. This descriptive study of dropout characteristics should motivate a district-and school-level focus on addressing early warning indicators in the middle grades to prevent dropout outcomes before they occur. The report includes an appendix: Recovery Options for Dropouts, Based on Age and Credits Short of Graduation Status.