In designing professional learning for system-level leaders, two participant roles emerge as key: learners of content and agents of change. For learners, the principles of strong instruction apply. Exposure to content must occur repeatedly, be connected to prior knowledge, and is most effective when communities of learners work together. As change agents, participants must be able to broker the knowledge they have gained and build buy-in in the larger school community. One-day, one-size-fits-all professional development workshops remain the most common method for cultivating new knowledge and capacities among educators. However, it has been clear for some time that this model lacks the intensity and multiple opportunities for learning and application known to bring about student improvement. Although extant research points to the need to transform this approach, few districts have committed the resources--both financial and human--to professional learning that leverages what is known about learning, teaching, and school reform. This article describes a professional learning initiative that sought to provide the intensity needed to build conceptual and applied knowledge to support district leaders in assuming the role of change agents.