Sorting practices in the public schools place students, especially those from poor and minority families, at risk. The "talent-development" model is based on the assumption that all students, with adequate support, can learn. This report describes outcomes of the first Talent Development High School, which was established in September 1995 at Patterson High School in Baltimore, Maryland. The model at Patterson, which features career-focused academies for the upper grades, a ninth-grade academy with teams of teachers and students, and other key Talent Development components, was designed and developed by the school's faculty and administration with the participation of Johns Hopkins' Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR) staff as partners. First-year priorities included improvements in school climate, student attendance, and student-promotion rates. After the first 7 months of the 1995-96 school year, data indicate that, compared to previous years, there is dramatic improvement in overall school climate (student behavior and faculty collegial support), in student attendance, and in expected student-promotion rates, especially from 9th grade to 10th grade. (LMI)