In this paper we examine challenges faced by students of color in an intervention program [Opportunity] in a socially stratified community on California’s Central Coast. The purpose of this paper is to name and discuss the problems students face: lack of support from the teaching community, the school staff and the administration of the parent district. We further identify challenges experienced by students and their teachers while highlighting strengths and weaknesses of educational programs and their reciprocal effects on participants. Finally, we seek to share a narrative overview of a teacher’s experience in creating the conditions for an inclusive education.