Over the next few weeks, dozens of schools will open across New Orleans for the second full academic year since Hurricane Katrina. As many as 33,000 children are expected to report to one of the campuses in the city's patchwork of charter and traditional public schools. Unlike last fall--when many schools opened without textbooks, functioning cafeterias, and enough teachers--people in the city express growing confidence that the new leadership for New Orleans' schools will provide such basics this time around. This article discusses the efforts to rebuild New Orleans' schools, including the daunting obstacles that remain along the road to recovery and hoped-for reform.