This paper compares two celebrated studies--New York City Community School District 2 (Elmore & Burney, 1999), and "Good to Great" (Collins, 2001), which examined sustained success in American corporations--to the case of a single high-performing school district. The question of interest concerns how school districts achieve and maintain high performance. The study focuses on five central issues from a combined theory from District 2 and "Good to Great": 1) An organizationwide disciplined system that provides boundaries for participants but allows for creativity and innovation within those boundaries; 2) a central defined organizational focus that drives day-to-day decisions and is separate from an organization's vision and mission; 3) getting the right people into the organization through innovative hiring and training practices; 4) funneling budgetary resources to district priorities through multipocket budgeting; and 5) a long-term commitment to success through continuous improvement while maintaining a focus on the current challenges facing the organization. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 3 notes.)