Schools exist to help every child prepare for college, careers, and life. To make this happen, schools must keep the focus on high-quality instruction for every child. Robert Marzano (2003) suggests that, in addition to a planned and viable curriculum, staff collaboration is a leading factor in helping schools succeed. Unaddressed adult issues can take our focus off of what’s best for children. I have seen firsthand that schools cannot help kids learn until the adults can function like a team. As a new principal, I decided that my first days and weeks would focus on building relationships with and between staff members. We collaboratively developed and then published group norms and explicitly defined how we would make good decisions together. We did team-building exercises