1. Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
2018 State of the District
Thank you for allowing us to meet with you and talk about some of the great work happening in Aurora Public Schools. (Introduce yourself)
Presented by:
APS Leadership Team
Revised 08/31/2018

2. Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
APS 2020 Strategic Plan
Every APS Student Will Have:
Goal 1: A Plan for His or Her Future
Goal 2: A Set of Skills to Implement His or Her Plan
Goal 3: Credentials that Open Doors
Vision: Every student shapes a successful future.
Mission: In partnership with our community, we accelerate learning for all students to develop the knowledge, skills and character necessary to shape successful futures.
We want to start by talking about our strategic plan APS This plan was developed with extensive community input and it represents the work we need to do as a community to support our vision: that every APS student shapes a successful future.
We have three strategic goals. Goal One is that every student has a plan for his or her future. As early as preschool, our students talk about their plans for the future and of course these plans evolve throughout their education. Every student’s plan is unique. It may include college or pursuing a career by attending a technical school or learning a trade.
Goal Two is that every student develops a set of skills to implement his or her plan. Goal Two is about providing rigorous and relevant learning experiences every day.
Goal Three is for every student to earn credentials that open doors. Credentials include college credits, internships and industry certificates. These credentials can kick down barriers for our students when they’re applying for colleges or jobs, so starting as early as elementary school, we talk about the importance of earning credentials.

3. Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
Demographics
5th largest in Colorado
Our students:
40,000+
130 countries
160 languages
70.4% free or reduced lunch
35.8% English language learners
4,000+ employees
64 schools
Next, this slide shows you who we are as a district. We are the fifth largest in Colorado.
We serve more than 40,000 students and we are incredibly diverse.
Our students come from more than 130 countries and speak more than 160 languages.

4. District of Momentum: Graduation Rates
Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
District of Momentum: Graduation Rates
APS recognized by the Colo. Dept. of Education for Growth and Momentum
Graduation rates continue to increase year over year
Over the past several years, APS has transformed into a district of momentum. We have made significant progress in key areas including graduation rates, dropout rates and overall school improvement.
Thanks to the hard work of our students, staff and families, we are proud of the gains we are making districtwide.
The Colorado Dept. Of Education recognizes us for our significant growth and has even designated us as a “District of Innovation” that prepares students for college and career success.
Year over year, APS has been reaching new levels of success and we are proud of this momentum. Our graduation rate has increased more than 20 percent over the past decade. This rate does not include our ASCENT students and students with disabilities who could have graduated on time but stayed in our district to pursue additional educational opportunities. The ASCENT program allows students to stay in high school for an additional year while earning college credit that is paid for by the state.

5. District of Momentum: Dropout Rates
Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
District of Momentum: Dropout Rates
Another key data point is our dropout rates which continue to decline year over year. For 2017, you can see our dropout rate reached a more than 12-year low.  This graph shows us that more APS students than ever are engaged in school and excited to learn. We are thrilled to see these trends continue year after year.

6. District of Momentum: College and Career Success
Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
District of Momentum: College and Career Success
More APS Students are attending top 100 national universities and liberal arts colleges
APS students are #1 in Colorado for postsecondary workforce credentials
Workforce certificates including automotive tech, welding, HVAC and culinary arts
Concurrent enrollment allows students to earn their associate’s degrees
Robust internship and job experience opportunities
We have more APS students attending top 100 national universities and liberal arts colleges than ever. In fact, this year, one of our APS seniors was accepted into all seven Ivy League schools to which she applied. She will be attending Harvard University in the fall. We also had one student earn both the Daniels and Boettcher scholarships.
We also recognize that a four-year college may not be the only path to success, so we serve as a district of opportunity. Our students see many opportunities to shape successful futures including pursing workforce credentials.
We are fortunate to have Pickens Technical College as part of our district, so APS students have the opportunity to pursue technical certificates in dozens of areas including automotive tech, welding, HVAC and culinary arts.
Many of our seniors also graduate with college credit thanks to concurrent enrollment opportunities offered through the Community College of Aurora. In fact, some of our students earn their associate’s degrees while still in high school.
Our high schools understand how important it is for students to experience real-world work environments, so they offer robust internship and job experience opportunities.

7. Health and Safety are a Priority
Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
Health and Safety are a Priority
Aurora voters approved a $300 million bond measure in 2016
Focus on infrastructure safety:
Added 21 security vestibules to control access to buildings
Added more security cameras, updated and modernized security dispatch center and upgraded school alarm and fire suppression systems
Updated door locks on classroom doors
Infrastructure safety is only half of the ongoing work to create and maintain safe and secure environments for students and staff
Social and emotional investments are just as vital
We understand that in order for students to learn and achieve, they must feel safe and supported in school. Health and safety are top priorities for our district.
Thanks to Aurora voters, we passed a $300 million bond measure in This investment is vital for us to maintain safe and supportive learning environments at every school in the district, which benefits every APS student. These are some of the health and safety related projects supported with bond dollars.
With the generosity of our Aurora community, we are able to make health and safety infrastructure updates. We recognize that this is only half of the equation and that social and emotional investments (social workers, school counselors, psychologists, etc.) are just as important as physical/infrastructure safety.
NOTE: As a reminder…bond funds can only be used for capital construction or technology improvements. They cannot be used for programming or operations unlike Mill Levy funds.

8. Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
Unfortunately, we have been operating in a fiscal landscape that impacts our ability to recruit and retain high-quality teachers and fund vital supports for students like school counselors and social workers. At the state level, as you’ve likely seen in media reports, education has not been a priority.
Colorado has been well below the national average when it comes to K-12 spending since the mid-1980s. With a state like ours that has enjoyed a booming economy, state legislatures need to do a better job of prioritizing K-12 education funding. So with growing needs and limited funding, school districts across the state, including ours, have struggled with shrinking revenues.

9. Budget Stabilization or “Negative” Factor
Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
Budget Stabilization or “Negative” Factor
This graphic illustrates the impact of the state’s budget stabilization or negative factor.
The gray and blue shaded areas together represent how much state funding should be allocated to K-12 education every fiscal year over the past decade. However, du to the negative factor, the blue shaded area shows what is taken away from districts year after year in order to balance the state’s budget. Colorado currently ranks 42nd in the nation in per pupil spending.
It is clear from this ranking and this graphic that we need to do a better job of funding K-12 education in our state.
NOTE: During the school year alone, APS was underfunded by more than $34 million because of the negative factor.

10. Every Student Shapes a Successful Future
Thank You!
As you may have heard, our Board of Education recently approved placing a mill levy override on the November ballot.. To talk more about that is [BOE or ACES]