Rhee Deploys 'Army of Believers'

"It's not like you can pin a star on someone's chest and say, 'Go in and clean up Dodge City' " D.C. State Board of Education member Mary Lord said.

At Sousa, Jordon will take control of a school in federally mandated restructuring under No Child Left Behind, where just 16 percent tested at proficiency level in reading in 15 percent in math last year.

Dade faces a different set of pressures. Tyler is one of the District's bright spots, where former principal Michelle Pierre-Farid oversaw big gains in reading and math scores in her three-year tenure before moving on to the Friendship charter school system. Her successor lasted just one year and although this year's scores are not yet available, some officials feel that momentum has been lost.

"The staff wants to get back to that level of success," said Dade, another New Leaders alumnus who taught at Franconia Elementary before spending a one-year residency as an assistant at Brent Elementary.

With less than two months before classes begin, Kennard is all but creating a school from scratch. The former Francis Junior High is becoming a pre-kindergarten-through-eighth campus slated to receive students from Stevens Elementary, which Rhee closed this year because of declining enrollment.

It's not clear how many Stevens families will be coming this fall. Many are leery of Francis, wondering about the safety of small children in a building with adolescents.

Kennard says he'll probably have to contact the families individually -- not an easy task in the dead of summer -- to sell them on the school.

His task is complicated by the building itself, which is a shambles. A $5 million redesign to accommodate elementary and preschoolers is at a standstill, caught in the crossfire of a political and policy dispute between Rhee and D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D).

Dressed in a gray pinstriped suit for his first day on the job Tuesday, Kennard sat through a sobering meeting with his "transition team" of parents, staff members and community leaders.

"I think we all understand that Mr. Kennard is in an impossible situation," said Mike Silverstein, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission member.

Kennard, 30, said he was nervous but unfazed by his mounting difficulties. His school would be ready.

"I don't have a choice," he said.