With students, families, and the education systems that serve them still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a $3 billion state investment in community schools offers an opportunity for system transformation that can address urgent and persistent whole-child needs and their impact on teaching and learning. Although the possibilities for progress are enormous, so are the prospects for unintended consequences of well-meaning—yet superficial and fragmented—school improvement efforts. A new brief from the California Collaborative on District Reform, A Case for Coherence: Fulfilling California’s Community Schools Promise, outlines considerations for ensuring that California’s community schools push achieves its potential. If districts can recognize and build on their existing strengths, foster coherence across district improvement efforts by centering them on a clear vision, develop plans to sustain their efforts across time, and maintain a laser focus on improving opportunities and outcomes for youth, the opportunity for true system transformation could bear fruit for the youth who need it most.