This report provides a partial description of a whole school change project that has taken place from 1996-2000 at Hartsfield Elementary School in Tallahassee, Florida. The primary focus of the report is on reading instruction and achievement. This is a partial report in that many variables contributed to the success of the reading program, and only a few of them are described here. The six key elements that are addressed and are considered critical to the gains in reading achievement experienced over the past four years, are: (1) commitment to meeting individual student needs at all levels; (2) adopting and implementing a research-based reading curriculum; (3) objective assessment to evaluate student progress and the effectiveness of reading programs; (4) designing and implementing an effective instructional delivery system; (5) maximizing available instructional time; and (6) administrative monitoring of student progress and program implementation.