Advocates for teacher education reform are calling for university faculty to become more in tune with conditions in the schools. Linda Darling-Hammond (2006), for one, says that "the enterprise of teacher education must venture out further and further from the university and engage ever more closely with schools in a mutual transformation agenda, with all the struggles and messiness that implies" (302). At the same time, through the reintroduction of the Success in the Middle Act (H.R. 3006 and S. 1362), the United States Congress is acknowledging the importance of improving middle-grades education through such strategies as providing "professional development and coaching to school leaders, teachers, and other school personnel in addressing the needs of diverse learners and in using challenging and relevant research-based best practices and curriculum". Because "the level of academic achievement that students attain by eighth grade has a larger impact on the students' college and career readiness upon graduation from high school than anything that happens academically in high school", educators at all levels have a stake in the improvement of middle-grades education. Now that national attention is shifting to this important transitional period in students' academic lives, this article describes a community engagement project that has particular relevance as a model for teacher educators who wish to engage more closely with the schools. It also suggests how professors in all professional schools can keep their practitioner edges sharp and contribute to the world of practice even while they are functioning as college faculty. (Contains 11 resources.)