This paper examines the effects of principal succession in a school-reform process. The report focuses on multiple changes in the principal's position at a primary school participating in the accelerated schools project. The text opens with an overview of the accelerated schools project followed by a description of the study's methodology. Data were collected at a rural elementary school comprised of 440 low-socioeconomic status youngsters in grades pre-kindergarten through second. Case-study methods were used to collect qualitative data through semistructured interviews. Interviewees included the three principals appointed to the school after the accelerated schools process began. A detailed analysis of each principal's time in office is presented. The results show that restructuring processes can withstand changes in principalship under certain circumstances and that changing principals is not in itself damaging to the restructuring process. Rather, the orientation of the new principal and his or her fit with the organization and its members are salient. New principals who do not know and/or do not support the process create obstacles that undermine progress, all of which emphasizes the importance of fundamental systemic change. (RJM)