This report highlights the following four matters that warrant particular attention as the 2021-2022 school year gets underway: (1) Outreaching and reengaging disconnected students; (2) Improving differentiated instruction; (3) Broadly embedding social emotional learning and development; and (4) Reorganizing student/learning supports. To address these concerns most productively, steps must be taken to enhance the roles and functions of student and learning support staff and, at the same time, rein in the tendency to proliferate school teams, work groups, and committees. With these matters in mind, this report begins by underscoring the need to rework school and district operational infrastructures in ways that end the fragmentation and marginalization of school efforts to address barriers to teaching and learning. Then we explore the four matters listed above to illustrate that these and a range of other school improvements can benefit from the enhanced involvement of student and learning support staff.