John McDonogh Senior High School's challenges, and similar hardship at other public schools that have reopened in New Orleans, were not part of the vision advanced by politicians and educators who saw Hurricane Katrina's destruction as an unprecedented opportunity for schools. To them, Katrina, terrible though it was, had delivered a chance to rebuild an urban education system that was largely failing its students, most of whom were poor and black. Some 18 months after the storm, the Recovery School District (RSD)--now running 20 campuses, including McDonogh High--is the city's largest school operator. With more than 10,000 students, and as many as 50 new students registering every day, the state-run district's enrollment is 97 percent African-American and 67 percent poor. Charter schools have sprung up all over the city, and private and parochial schools are coming back, but the "RSD" exemplifies how difficult it is to rebuild schools in a city struggling to come back to life. Half of McDonogh's 55 teachers are rookies--replacements for members of the city's teaching corps who were fired after the storm. This article reports the hardships of rookie teachers and students in New Orleans' schools, particularly McDonogh High, as they confront the realities after storm.