After violence in poor immigrant neighborhoods shook the country last year, France responded by focusing more resources on schools facing the most pressing disadvantages. This article discusses on a project dubbed as "ambition reussite" or ambition success, which refocuses the extra resources granted to needy schools under France's 25-year-old program of "priority education" on a subset of campuses. The project is part of a package of educational and social service projects targeting unemployment and other social ills afflicting the poor neighborhoods gripped by violence. In this article, the author talks about teachers called as "enseignants referents," who are pursuing a diverse portfolio of projects as part of a push to encourage local experimentation on how best to reach students in environments long marred by lagging achievement. The author also discusses policy changes of "ambition reussite" affecting schools and students.