Gaps in academic achievement between students from various racial and ethnic groups and from low-income families are a cause for national concern. The advent of high stakes testing and the increased awareness of high dropout rates have rekindled the search for ways to help all children succeed in school. Many strategies to address lagging achievement have focused on discrete points of the education system, such as middle and high school reform. However, there is an increasing interest and movement by educators and grantmakers to confront the problem where it often starts--between the ages of three and eight--and to take a systems approach that aligns learning from pre-kindergarten (pre-K) through third grade (PK-3). Although aligning pre-K through third grade sounds straightforward, there are many curricular details, systemic challenges and funding intricacies that make PK-3 program integration a complex process. Grantmakers for Education brought together grantmakers, educators and advocates for a two-day briefing entitled "Making the Most of Our Investments: How PK-3 Alignment Can Close the Achievement Gap from the Start." Presentations, group discussions and a site visit addressed the following key issues: (1) The research and policy context for PK-3 systems; (2) Strategies for successfully aligning prekindergarten with the K-3 system; (3) PK-3 alignment in action--what does it look like on the ground?; and (4) Advancing PK-3 systems through grantmaking--what are the leverage points for funders? This report is a compendium of the knowledge, strategies and insights shared by meeting presenters and participants. It is organized in four sections: (1) Understanding the PK-3 Landscape; (2) PK-3 Alignment in Practice; (3) Grantmaker Engagement; and (4) What's Needed in the Future. (Contains 5 footnotes and 6 resources.) [Additional funding for this paper was provided by The New School Foundation.]