On Thursday, Aug. 8, the D20 Board of Education held its first regular meeting of the 2024-2025 school year. In this Board Bulletin, we want to share three key updates to the District 20 community.
Key Item 1: Approval of 2024 Bond Language and IGA
Academy District 20 will officially be on the 2024 November Ballot following the approval of bond language and an intergovernmental agreement. The no-tax-increase bond language seeks voter approval on a $69.14 million bond project with three key goals:
$49 million to rebuild 65-year-old Air Academy High School (AAHS) by utilizing a Department of Defense program that would match the $49 million investment with a $191 million grant to build a brand new $240 million high school.
$9 million for health, safety and security upgrades and LED lighting upgrades for all other D20 schools.
$9.48 million for The Classical Academy and $1.66 million for New Summit Charter Academy.
For more information please view an informational video, and for further information and arguments for and against, please view the 2024 Bond webpage.
Key Item 2: Portrait of a Graduate Takes Shape
The Board of Education heard an in-depth presentation on the status of D20’s Portrait of a Graduate. This project is nearing completion and preparing for its implementation phase. Over several months, the D20 team has engaged multiple community groups and gathered over 2,000 data points to craft a framework that defines what skills District 20 students should form by the time they graduate.
Throughout this work, the team created a shared language for communicating these competencies, defining them as:
Prepared Decision Maker
Lifelong Learner
Critical Thinker
Effective Communicator
Connected Individual
Contributing Citizen
The Board of Education will consider a resolution to approve the Portrait of a Graduate at the next board meeting.
Key Item 3: Celebrations & Back-to-School Season
The entire Board of Education and District 20 administration continues to celebrate the back-to-school season with recognizing several achievements from students and staff over the summer.
Congratulations to AAHS 2024 graduate Christian Raker, and current AAHS seniors Erica Lepine and Vincent Irizarry! They earned a $25,000 scholarship from the U.S. Air Force through the AFJROTC program to earn their private pilot license at civilian universities in an 8-week intensive program this summer.
Congratulations also to Pine Creek High School’s Kaitlyn Wells. Her computer art piece titled “Backyard” received a first place in the Gold Key from National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards! Less than 50 students' work was chosen from the state of Colorado, and she is the only National Scholastic Award Recipient in D20.
Foothills Elementary 5th-grade student Robert Stepanov is going for gold! He has just won his 5th and 6th USA Track and Feld (USATF) Junior Olympics. Despite moving up to the 11-12 division and being at the "bottom" of the division, he led the race, as he won two titles, and nearly won a third. Congrats!
For the 25th year in a row, the D20 Financial Department has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 2022-2023 annual comprehensive financial report. Congrats to the entire team for this prestigious award! Read more about the award and the team on asd20.org.
The Board of Education will meet next on September 12, 2024, at 5 p.m.
Thank you,
The Academy District 20 Team
