You know, I just left my school, a month ago - On the education's third, and final, year, I decide to leave. Why?
Because the one place where I was not Mr. Popular, but more like a no one, was in that school class. I could have continued, but what for - I believe me and Al had the same problem; No motivation to continue, hard to focus on actually learning something, when you are always reminded that you are a no one. I left, because my shitty social life there was influencing my grades and my very motivation to make homework and wake up in the morning, to the worse. It's quite normal.
So that's why I left - in my opinion, no one should take an education or work at a job or whatever, if the social life is not alright. That comes first. Always.
There's two ways to make Al continue:
1) Discipline, push yourself hard and just do it.
2) Improving ones social status, with a people of friends you meet every morning, you will suddenly have a reason to be there.
I can not teach him the first - I sucked at that, but I sure as hell can give him an experience that will make him wanna return for Roskilde Festival every summer the rest of his life - because he will have friends here