The COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period is a unique opportunity to understand contemporary issues in high school reform. Evidence has clearly demonstrated lingering COVID impacts on adolescent students that have deepened pre-existing inequities and worsened teen mental health. There's a natural desire to regain normalcy after the pandemic. But it's essential, and urgent, that researchers examine why that "normalcy" failed in the past to support every student's needs. They must identify effective, even new, ways to level the playing field for today's students, and for future generations. Research has shown that many high school educators and administrators experimented with new approaches during the pandemic. Can the lessons learned in this period contribute to more lasting, transformative shifts? Researchers studied a group of New England public high schools during the pandemic recovery period to explore this question and hear directly from students and adults about their experiences. This report presents a set of recommendations for educational leaders and policy makers at the state and local levels -- along with caregivers, employers, higher education, and other community partners -- to help schools overcome barriers and think more broadly about how best to prepare graduates for a variety of paths to success after high school.