The first goal of the America 2000 initiative was to have all young children able to start school ready to learn by the year 2000. This paper summarizes the efforts of six communities to meet that goal through increased collaboration between health care providers and educational institutions, on the assumption that children's health is directly related to school readiness. The six projects discussed include: (1) the Healthy Alabama 2000 conference, held in Birmingham to encourage cooperation and formulate state goals; (2) the Crossing the Boundaries between Health and Education forum held in Macon, Georgia; (3) the Whole Child: New Strategies for Integrating Health and Education Initiatives in Minnesota forum held in Minneapolis; (4) the 35-member Task Force on School Health in West Virginia; (5) the Working Together for Healthy Children: Bridge-Building between Health and Education Services forum held in Rochester, New York; and (6) the Closing the Circle for Families forum held in Watsonville, California. All six projects affirmed the need for a health/education linkage and were conducted with the hope and expectation of continued activity, possibly leading to the formation of an ongoing health/education consortium. (MDM)