Last week, we officially announced our new DSST Aurora middle school, named Aurora Science & Tech, to the Aurora community, the school will open mid June 2019. Our kick off event was attended by community members, APS staff and DSST staff and included remarks by Bill Kurtz, APS Superintendent Rico Munn and Peter Sherman, Founding School Director. But the highlight was definitely remarks made by Mohamadou Maguiraga, who lives in Aurora and travels an hour and a half to College View High School every day. Mohamadou, showing incredible courage and responsibility, spoke about the urgent need for a school in his hometown, as well as the plans that he and the other members of the Aurora Community Design team currently have underway to engage the Aurora community and power student recruitment.
One of the most exciting things about AST is that it will be on the UC Anschutz Medical Campus, allowing for real-world learning opportunities, including internships and job shadowing. We were lucky to have Neil Krauss, Director of Initiatives and Outreach at UC Anschutz, speak about this partnership as well.
Peter Sherman, Founding School Director, had the honors of revealing the Aurora Science & Tech logo and mascot- the Great Horned Owl. We chose the Owl because it represents wisdom, forward-thinking, and clarity of vision. Students and staff may even be lucky enough to see one on campus, as they are native to northwest Aurora!
Peter also revealed some of the new campaigns we’ll be launching to raise awareness for student recruitment. If you live in Aurora, you may be seeing them around town and online!
If you have additional questions about Aurora Science & Tech, they may already be answered in our FAQ sheet. As we build out the finer details of the new school, this FAQ will be continuously updated.
Enrollment at Aurora Science & Tech begins February 1, and the community can learn more on our brand new website and Facebook page. If you live in Aurora and have a fifth grader looking for a great school, or friends who are interested in enrolling their children in Aurora Science and Tech, contact Yunuen Cisneros at yunuen.cisneros@scienceandtech.org.