Board Director Kristin Mallory, Aurora Public Schools

I am looking forward to continued collaboration with our City of Aurora public officials to make sure Aurora is a thriving place for our students, their families, and all of our APS staff.

267 APS High School Students Qualified for the College Board National Recognition Program

The College Board National Recognition Program honors high-achieving students with official academic awards that can strengthen college applications and highlight accomplishments in Advanced Placement Exams (AP) or Practice Scholastic Aptitude Tests (PSAT).

It recognizes students who score in the top 10% on the PSAT or earn a high score on multiple AP exams by the 10th grade.

The 267 students are from every high school in the APS district.

I had the opportunity to go to Hinkley High School and talk to the principal, Dr. Jennifer Abeyta-Cifuentes. Her passion about the power of education, her understanding of what barriers our kids in Aurora face, and her commitment to all of their potential was truly inspiring.

I also got to visit Mr. Lindstrom’s Social Studies class — where students had created an art project that showed how they could relate to a character in a novel, show, or movie they had discussed in class. It was so fun seeing students engaged with concepts such as identity, family responsibilities, social pressures, and relate it back to their own experience and the way they relate to the world.

These school visits are such a great way to see the good work Aurora Public Schools is doing — from our classified staff, to our licensed staff, to our administrators. We have an amazing, dedicated team working for our students, their families, and our community.

In case you missed it, last night the Aurora Public School Board entered into a five (5) year contract with our current Superintendent, Michael Giles. Along with maintaining his pay for the next five years, the APS Board agreed to invest in his pursuit of his Doctorate Degree.

I am personally looking forward to seeing both his continued work at Aurora Public Schools and his development and doctoral work in Education. I believe in Superintendent Giles’ vision for our district, his leadership, and his passion for our students, their families, our staff, and our Aurora community.

Congratulations, Superintendent. I am excited to continue our work together. 🎉 🥳 🏫 ✏️ 💜

Today, I joined the Aurora Academy Falcons for Read Across America. I was invited to Mr. Sobey’s 8th grade literature class and read:

The Rose That Grew From Concrete
By Tupac Shakur

Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it
learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.

After reading, students either drew something that represented something thriving where it otherwise should not have or wrote a response about a time they succeeded despite hardship.

I got to share a little bit about my life and my philosophies about leadership, why I chose to serve our community, and how I hope all of our students can find the crack that allows them to grow.

Today I had the opportunity to tour Lotus School of Excellence on Alameda in Aurora, and I left deeply impressed.

The highlight was hearing directly from high school students as they presented their science fair projects. They are tackling real-world problems with seriousness and skill, from exploring how to remove bacteria from drinking water, to studying how to effectively remove sediment from water, to analyzing how gas-powered cars and buses impact air quality in our city. These were not abstract assignments. They were thoughtful, research-based projects grounded in public health, environmental science, and community impact.

I also had the chance to visit classrooms, observe middle school instruction, and sit down with school leadership to review their intervention model. It is clear there is intentionality behind both their academic programming and the systems they have built to support students.

Grateful for the warm welcome and for the opportunity to see the work up close.

Congratulations to the Classified Staff who successfully advocated for themselves and held the Aurora Public School Board to account until we passed a recognition policy for them to unionize.

This was the bright spot in tonight’s meeting and I look forward to seeing this group work together, unionize, and negotiate a contract with APS.

The Board is preparing to adopt our Goals and Guardrails, but the process matters just as much as the outcome.

The agenda was published on Friday. At 4:23 PM that same day, the Board received substantial feedback on these goals and guardrails, including concerns from licensed professionals who will be directly impacted by the decisions we make. This was the exact kind of feedback I requested during our last meeting so we could have a meaningful discussion.

Instead, Board President Tramaine Duncan placed the item on the Consent Calendar. After reviewing the feedback but after the deadline of Friday, I asked that it be removed so we could have a public conversation and fully consider the feedback we had just received. Because of Board Policy BEDF, my request was denied by the President and then by legal counsel.

Placing this item on the Consent Calendar will prevent further debate and will effectively gloss over the feedback we had just received. These are goals that will guide our district for years. They deserve discussion. They deserve transparency. And they deserve input from the educators and professionals who are responsible for carrying them out.

When we ask for feedback, we should be prepared to actually engage with it. Our community, our teachers, and our students deserve a process that is thoughtful, collaborative, and open.

Aurora Public Schools:

Tomorrow, Friday, January 30th - We are canceling classes for all students and moving the Professional Release Day originally scheduled for Friday, February 6, to tomorrow, January 30. Consequently, all students should now plan to attend school for a regular instructional day on Friday, February 6.

Please note that before- and after-school care will not be available at APS schools tomorrow. However, we are working to ensure food remains available for students in need. Staff members who have not submitted absences are expected to report to their schools and sites as scheduled.

Very excited for Aurora’s first dual language school! 🏫 🎉