Synopsis:
A year in the life of City Springs, a chronically failing Baltimore elementary school serving a poor African-American community. Currently in the educational equivalent of bankruptcy, City Springs may be shut down by the city if it continues to fail. Given one year to upgrade test scores or be closed by the city, City Springs decides to become one of a dozen schools introducing a radical and controversial curriculum call Direct Instruction. Will this new curriculum and the determination of its tough new principal, be enough to turn City Springs around?