We are one of only eight Arizona schools to move from an F to a C or higher in 2025–26. What happens when a school accomplishes something extraordinary while losing the very resources that made its success possible? Behind the celebration is a less visible reality of turnaround: mounting compliance demands, staffing shortages, exhausted educators, and the fear that hard-earned progress may be impossible to sustain without meaningful support.

There is no pause button in turnaround work. On the first day back from break, we gathered a small group of teachers to focus on classroom management, relationships, and long-term growth over short-term compliance.

In a school where chronic absenteeism had taken root as a growing challenge, we made a bold decision: attendance would no longer be treated as a routine task. It would become a shared goal. From day one, we committed to transforming how students, staff, and families think about being present. Not through pressure. Not through penalties. But through purpose, partnership, and people. Starting with Staff: Knowledge First We began the year by investing in the one group best posit

Turnaround work does not stop just because the calendar says break. On Christmas Eve, after encouraging my staff to unplug and be fully present with their families, I open my laptop to rebalance schedules, shift student placements, and answer emails that never seem to respect office hours. This is the messy middle of school improvement, after crisis and before consistency, where progress is fragile and momentum depends on quiet, unseen decisions. It is exhausting work, but it