On August 30, 2016, the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) and Recovery School District (RSD) released their Unification Plan to the public. The plan provides detail about Act 91 and the impending changes for local schools, teachers, parents, and students. The plan is necessarily detailed, providing an abundance of information on scheduling, facilities, funding, and governance. It also offers next steps in the planning process. However, it is also a preliminary document, and many of the most important decisions about unification have yet to be settled. This report pulls out many of the relevant points from the unification plan and arranges them topically according to areas that matter to parents, students, and the general community. The report opens with a glossary of key terms to help readers understand the wording of the plan. It then provides a timeline of important events during the unification process. Finally, the report offers an overview of how the plan addresses key topics such as accountability, facilities, staffing, curriculum, and enrollment. For each topic, the report answers these questions: (1) How does this work now?; (2) What does the unification plan say?; (3) What will change under unification?; and (4) What are the next steps? The Cowen Institute will continue to monitor the process of unification over the next two years. During that time, the Institute will aim to provide accessible, applicable information about the process and any new developments for parents, students, teachers, and the general public. This report is part one in what will be a multi-part series on unification.