Despite the lack of a clear and consistent vision of STEM and a dearth of research-based instructional materials, STEM-focused schools are opening at an accelerating rate. Because implementing a STEM-focused, project-based curriculum often requires new instructional and assessment practices, support for the planning and development process can be crucial. This is especially true regarding the intellectual supports required to assist teachers in creating and enacting an instructional and curricular vision. Adequately coordinating key disciplinary content and practices in a STEM-based PBL environment often requires new instructional norms and practices. However, there is little research on the ways that teachers collectively recreate or reimagine curriculum and instruction as they actively plan and start-up these schools. Descriptive studies are needed to show what teachers do, the questions that arise, and the adaptations (and accompanying resources) that are enacted in order to inform future start-up and development of schools in the current STEM era.