Many, however, did not improve, prompting state education officials to approve what is seen as a nuclear option: shutting down persistently failing schools.

The threat turned out to be hollow. Communities protested whenever there was a threat to close the local school. And the option rarely made financial sense for school districts.

But other solutions -- like replacing teachers and moving freshmen to a separate campus -- have also been unsuccessful.

Last fall, the federal government identified Central as one of five South Florida schools that must make a dramatic improvement on this spring's FCATs.

The others: Edison Senior High, Holmes Elementary and Liberty City Elementary, all in Miami, and Larkdale Elementary in Fort Lauderdale.

Carvalho, the superintendent, has pledged not to close any of the Miami-Dade schools. But he says he will implement unprecedented reforms at any county school that fails to make the grade.

Rodriguez is the first to admit that turning Central around before the end of the school year won't be easy.

"The No. 1 thing we have working against us is time, " he said.

The state tests in writing have already come and gone. And the tests in reading, math and science begin this week.

A NEW BEGINNING

Rodriguez, 43, started at Central on Dec. 16 -- just three days before the holiday recess and six weeks before the writing FCAT.

"It was overwhelming, " Rodriguez said. "But I understood very quickly what needed to be done."

The first step, he said, was to establish control.

Central had long had a problem with students hanging out instead of going to class. At Rodriguez's request, school aides began to do hall sweeps. Anyone who was not in a classroom by the late bell was brought to a detention-like class called "lockout."

Forty students with multiple suspensions were transferred to alternative-education centers, Rodriguez said.

Discipline has now become part of the culture at Central.

Each morning, administrator Daryl Grice, the school's "dean of discipline, " reminds students over the public-address system of what is expected of them: "You've got to be on time and respectful to your classmates and teachers."

Now, many students shake hands with their teachers as they pass them in the hallways.

"We used to break up fights in the halls at 6:30 a.m., " said veteran security guard Dell Gibbs. "Now we have kids wearing their IDs."

Rodriguez has also brought a new focus on academics.

The principal pored over students' test scores. Then he added a second, third or fourth teacher to some classrooms.

He also brought in teachers for the teachers. Many began to give up their lunch or planning periods to attend seminars on teaching strategies.

But perhaps most important, Rodriguez says he worked to make the Central community believe in itself.

For years, students and teachers had struggled to overcome the stigma that comes with being a chronically failing inner-city school.

"People think of Central and they think of a bad school with bad kids, " said Nicole Louis, 17, the senior-class president. "They don't look any deeper."

Rodriguez, students say, pays attention to them.

The principal spends most of the school day walking up and down the halls, popping into classrooms at random.

With each visit, he reminds students of what they are capable.

On a recent Friday morning, Rodriguez visited a 10th-grade language arts classroom. Earlier in the week, he had promised to write an original poem for the students, who were studying poetry.