COVID-19 prompted unprecedented disruptions to schools with challenges particularly severe for high-poverty remote rural schools. This case study recounts the story of a rural school that had participated in a research-practice partnership (RPP) multi-year improvement effort prior to the pandemic and documents the ways the RPP and the school-based improvement team worked to navigate pandemic-related disruptions. This case study provides educational leaders with insights into ways to surmount challenges and innovate especially during times of significant disruption and provides prompts to consider with regard to the use of RPP support and improvement science-based processes and tools.