This book describes how an urban public school assumed ownership of the problems of its homeless students and their families and assumed responsibility for correcting social ills and building a better society. The B. F. Day School in Seattle (Washington) was transformed through the efforts of the principal, Carole Williams. When she took over the office, the school comprised two separate and unequal programs, an alternative program for kindergarten through fifth grade for gifted students, called "Orca," and a separate program for emotionally and socially needy children of color at risk for failure. With a new vision, the principal and her staff developed a new program, Kids Organized on Learning in School, focusing on schooling and on housing and jobs. With cooperation from the community, businesses, and the local university and high schools, the school changed from an educational institution of limited effectiveness to an educational and social-service agency with coherent long-term and short-term goals. The story of this school provides a model for urban educational change. (Contains 128 references.) (SLD)