Buffalo Alternative was created in 1975 to house students who were disruptive, chronically suspended, young parents, otherwise unsuccessful in the traditional school setting. The main campus was at 280 Oak Street, along with several satellite sites were established in instances of overcrowding and also to offer more specialized programs. The satellite sites included the "City-As-School" program at 320 Porter Avenue, home of an internship program for Alternative High students, the Fulton Bilingual Program at 220 Fulton Street for bilingual students, and the Fulton Junior High Program for junior high school students. Students who met criterion were allowed to either return to the traditional high school setting or graduate from Alternative High. The school's facilities were lacking due to budgetary reasons, and the school was finally closed in 2003. Academy School 131 was created in 2006 to serve as the alternative program in Buffalo. Currently, the Oak Street campus serves as a combination of office space for the City of Buffalo as well as residential apartments. The new alternative program began in 2006 and was originally operated through a firm called Resultech and was located at former School 44 1369 Broadway. The Resultech partnership was dissolved in 2008 due to backlash from administrators and students. The school began with two campuses, one at Public School 44 at 1369 Broadway Street for grades 9-12, and the other at 1409 East Delevan Avenue for grades 1-8. In 2011, the elementary program was moved to School 40 in Babcock. The high school program was moved to School 4 on South Park Avenue in 2014, with grades 1-8 moving in shortly thereafter. In Fall 2017, Grades 7 and 8 moved to the former School 18 Annex on the City's West Side.
Former principals
Previous assignment and reasons for departure listed in parentheses
Mr. Thomas Giordano-?-1985
Mr. John P. Hanlon-1985-1987
Mr. Gerald H. Hesson-1987-1988
Mr. Benjamin L. Randle, Jr.-1988-1990
Mr. Robert M. Barton-1990-1993
Mr. Raymond D. Perrault-1993-1995
Mr. Elzie B. Fisher-1995-2003
Mrs. Lisa R. Daniels Baines-2006
Mr. Gregory D. Mott-2006-2010
Mr. Elzie B. Fisher-2009-2015
Dr. Casey M. Young Welch-2010-2011
Mr. Michael J. Mogavero-2011-2016
Ms. Adriann T. Johnson-Cofield-2016-2019
Selected former assistant principals
Previous assignment and reasons for departure listed in parentheses