Rhetoric about "all children" abounds in public education, yet many aspects of schooling continues to marginalize large numbers of students. Despite good intentions, the assumptions, attitudes, and conditions that can preclude students' success are often invisible to educational policymakers and practitioners. These students are not invisible to the deeply committed people the others got to know in the course of doing this retrospective study of SEED in Elk Grove Schools. They are struck by the potential for these professional learning communities to challenge assumptions that often fuel low expectations and alienate learning environments for students.