Aurora – New school superintendent John Barry started his first week by launching a 90-day “vista” listening tour.
Barry plans to meet with students, parents, teachers, staff, administrators, and business and community leaders. The “vista” tour – a play on the Spanish word for view – is an effort to learn how people in the diverse district face many challenges, including rapid student growth and low student performance.
Last year more than 75 percent of Aurora schools ranked low in statewide testing. Students come from more than 100 countries and speak more than 90 languages.
“We need to approach this as a family, as a community and as a partnership, in a coalition manner,” he said. “I need everyone’s help.”
The superintendent is a former software company executive and retired two-star Air Force major general. He completed 10 months of superintendent training at the Broad Academy, a nonprofit based in Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, Barry sat down with the The Denver Post to discuss his vision for the state’s sixth-largest school district, with 31,113 students.
Q: What will your first priority be as superintendent?
A: “My focus is going to be on student achievement. I will spend the 90 days adjusting or modifying this strategic plan. I want to build on what was done and to get us to the next level.”
Q: You have a distinguished military background but little experience in public-school education. How will your military background affect your work?
A: “I spent 30 years helping to defend the nation. I’d like to spend the rest of my adult working years defending the right of children to learn. There’s a misperception that I’ve not been a teacher or an administrator – but I’ve been a teacher for life, just in a different form. The skills I developed in the military and the 2 1/2 years in the private sector are transferable.”
Q: Some of the challenges you face include a student body where 49 percent of students speak English as a second language. How do you plan to tackle this issue?
A: “I really want to be able to understand how we can strengthen the English language (training). That doesn’t only include students but the community … I’d like English language training for parents and community folks.
“I myself intend to strengthen my Spanish skills by taking lessons three nights a week. That will allow me to better communicate to the 45 percent of the Hispanic community we have here in Aurora.”
Q: Some teachers are leaving the district after only three years and many feel that they don’t get enough respect and want a superintendent to acknowledge their achievements. What is your response to that?
A: “Teachers for me are heroes and heroines. My first question in my meeting with a teacher is, ‘How can I help them do their job better?’
“Accountability is something we definitely will pursue in APS while I’m superintendent.
“But accountability is reciprocal. It’s not only on the students when we test them, it’s reflected on how well their students are learning. It reflects on the principal, the district, the superintendent and board of education. I’m going to put challenges out there to parents, to the community, union officials – all have a stake in this.”
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
