Aurora Public Schools: Building a Culture of Trust

Failure is not an option and hope is not a strategy. When discussing our work in Aurora Public Schools (CO) I often use these words first coined by Gene Krantz, the NASA Apollo 13 Mission Director. Every day parents not only entrust us with their children, they assume that we are doing everything possible to ensure their children’s success. It is our duty to meet these expectations. To do this in Aurora Public Schools (APS), we had to transform our school district.

When I became superintendent of APS in 2006, I was cognizant of the fact that the first 90 days as superintendent can define an entire tenure, so I began with a strategic entry plan that was inclusive. After collecting feedback from our entire community (parents, students, staff, elected officials, business leaders, and reporters), our leadership team quickly focused on the vision of graduating every student with the choice to attend college without remediation. We pursued this goal by changing the culture of the district and designing a strategic plan relevant to all staff and with initiatives that support the people who can really make change happen: instructional leaders, the teaching corps, and other staff who directly contribute to student performance.

I was cognizant of the fact that the first 90 days as superintendent can define an entire tenure

At the time, the district was adjusting to a rapidly changing student demographic that was increasingly poor, mobile, and immigrant. Within the short span of six years, the percentage of English language learners in the district had more than doubled, and the number of poor students had increased from 44 to 64 percent. More than 60 percent of our 35,000 students were receiving free or reduced lunch, and nearly 40 percent were second language learners, mostly from Mexico and other parts of Latin America.

We were faced with poor student achievement, poor attendance, and high dropout rates. Six out of every ten of our schools were rated low or unsatisfactory on the annual state report cards. Our students were well below state levels for proficiency, and we had some of the lowest standardized test scores in the state. Our system was failing too many students, and they were in a downward spiral. Indications were that our own community had lost faith in the district. A major change was needed; continuing along the same route was a path to more failure for our students.

We had a moral imperative to stop failing our children, and we had the professional duty as leaders to create and execute strategies that would build on district realities and focus on actionable initiatives. The how of improving student achievement often frustrates school district leaders. To circumvent this, we established a strategic plan that connected ends (vision) with means (goals and objectives). Launching multiple initiatives that were fully aligned and integrated maximized our chances of accelerating student achievement and closing the achievement gaps between ethnic groups.

Coming from a background in the military and the business sectors, I was surprised at the extent to which “silos” persisted in public education and how little communication there was between staff in classrooms, schools, and district offices. We began by communicating the overarching vision to serve all of our students successfully so they will have the choice to enter the colleges and universities of their choosing. Our mission is to “teach every student the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to enter college or a career and become a contributing member of society who flourishes in a diverse, dynamic world.” The aim was unequivocal – every student – with no excuses and no blame, a hallmark motto that would eventually embody our formal strategic plan. From this, we began to structure a cohesive set of goals and objectives with which to innovate and transform the district. Attaining these goals would mean overcoming significant hurdles related to the dramatic demographic changes experienced in Aurora.