In Aurora Public Schools, we strive to engage our community and welcome the valuable feedback we receive from parents, students and our community partners. We also agree with the “If Not Now” report’s accusation that groups like A+ Denver (its primary author) have ignored Aurora’s kids for far too long.
APS actively solicits the voices and accountability of partners who are committed to serving our community. We also welcome an open and honest dialogue about the challenges we face and the places where we have failed to meet that challenge.
The A+ Denver report restates the same difficult data that we have repeatedly discussed within our community.
While the report does address the question of what the data says about APS, such a simplistic snapshot tells only part of the story. What the report fails to address or acknowledge is the essential question: “What is being done to make a difference for APS kids?” The answer: Major changes are underway in the school district.
While others may have ignored APS students, we began aggressive reform work in 2013. In the first month of my tenure, the district’s instructional leadership was replaced and the administration began to review the systems and structures within APS. The tough reality that APS began to tackle was that its systems were only sustaining predictable low achievement outcomes rather than ensuring every student’s success.
As a result, APS reorganized the district, flattened the bureaucracy, refocused APS’s work, and reallocated $6.9 million to directly support our schools. APS created new P-20 learning communities to provide a more effective and efficient way to support students from preschool through college-level courses.
To improve outcomes for students, APS also committed itself to building stronger community connections. One example of this work is the new Aurora Welcome Center (housed within an APS building), a one-of-a-kind partnership between the district, city of Aurora and numerous community partners to support the needs of refugee and immigrant families.
Another example is the new Community Corps Liaison program, designed to increase the number of caring adults within APS schools by recruiting and training volunteers and school-level partnerships. To date, more than 1,000 volunteers have been added to our schools.
During the fall of 2014, APS further engaged our community to develop a new strategic plan, “APS 2020: Shaping the Future.” A team of parents, staff and community partners wrote the plan, which the school board approved in January. To ensure success, APS is currently finalizing its metrics and implementation plans.
In addition, to improve our lowest performing schools, APS developed a comprehensive framework called Communities Organized to Reach Excellence (CORE) to build the district’s capacity to foster or force changes that will increase achievement for every APS student.
One reform effort that was acknowledged by the A+ Denver report was our work to create innovation zones: new school structures designed to improve achievement by enhancing connections with the community and removing restrictions created by district rules, state laws or union regulations. The innovation zone process is currently underway with the involvement and input of several of the groups who signed on to the report.
We have improved APS’s early indicators of success:
• Graduation rates have increased;
• Attendance rates have increased; and
• Student discipline rates have decreased.
We invite our community to collaborate with us to reach our vision, in which every student shapes a successful future.
D. Rico Munn is superintendent of public schools in Aurora. Also signing this commentary were Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan and Kevin Hougen, president of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce.
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