In urban schools overwhelmed by increasing demands to raise test scores, exclusive focus on increasing academic competencies has proven ineffective. School-wide, comprehensive social-emotional and character development (SECD), focused on the cultivation of Noble Purpose, provides an alternative pathway toward life, college, and career success. We illustrate an SECD approach to cultivating Noble Purpose by describing the development of the MOSAIC (Mastering Our Skills and Inspiring Character) approach. The MOSAIC approach is grounded in the theory that social-emotional skills and character virtues must be explicitly taught in tandem. MOSAIC is unique in its focus on building Noble Purpose, a character virtue that we argue is missing in SECD approaches for middle school youth. In urban schools plagued by institutional and structural inequities and challenges, the MOSAIC content and structure provides an alternative route to closing achievement gaps, while preparing urban middle school youth for success in college, career, and life.