Approved by the Kansas State Board of Education in 2017, the school redesign project has seen more than 160 schools to reimagine their learning models in a state-led, multiyear process. Annual cohorts named for NASA lunar missions, the fourteen schools in seven districts that formed the initial Mercury cohort engaged in intensive planning and professional development a year ahead of the launch of their redesign plans. Gemini and Apollo project cohorts have followed, with opportunities for staff to visit schools in earlier cohorts and for school leaders to engage in a professional learning community. In spring and summer 2020, staff at the Kansas State Department of Education asked teachers and leaders in the redesign cohorts how their schools handled building closures. They found that these schools made a smooth transition to distance learning. School staff cited the importance of the design thinking process and a growth mind-set, which helped staff and students learn to adapt flexibly. While the pandemic delayed launches of redesign plans in the last group of schools and impeded the intensive staff professional learning and in-person coaching with department staff, the experience of the early cohort during the pandemic impressed schools not formally engaged in redesign. In particular, schools outside the cohorts noted redesign schools' ability to implement new strategies within a semester or a year and see rapid improvement.