The urgent need to equip young people with the knowledge and skills necessary to be agile lifelong learners who can thrive in a rapidly changing economy has never been clearer. As a result, many school districts have been shifting their focus, aiming to better prepare all high school students to graduate ready to succeed both in college and in the new world of work. Transforming traditional high schools to better prepare all graduates to succeed both in college and the new world of work is a daunting task. But it can be done--and in a relatively short period of time. This report shows how one of the largest school districts in Ohio has doubled college course taking and raised expectations for all students by systematically changing the culture of its high schools in three years. South-Western City School District's (SWCSD's) experience demonstrates that the results of ambitious calls for transformation depend on leaders and practitioners at all levels acting in concert to override "business as usual," even when improvement requires uncomfortable change. The district's collective decision to put the relationship between instructional design and learning at the center of its primary strategy to fulfill the expectations of the i3 grant created a ripple effect of ancillary positive change. [Additional funding was provided by the American Electric Power Foundation's Credits Count initiative.]