APS board mulls changes to graduation requirements

AURORA | The Aurora Public Schools District Board of Education heard feedback from teachers, parents and district staff regarding proposed changes to graduation requirements during its meeting Dec. 14.

Ritter visits CCA

 Gov. Bill Ritter answers questions at a political science class Nov. 30 at the Community College of Aurora. Photo by Heather L. Smith/The Aurora Sentinel

It was a homecoming of sorts for Bill Ritter.

As the Colorado governor addressed the crowd of students, faculty and administrators gathered in a lecture room at the Community College of Aurora on Nov. 30, he started by summoning his roots. Ritter came as a guest lecturer during the final meeting of CCA’s “Current Political Issues” course, a new class taught by Matt Gianneschi, Ritter’s former education policy adviser.

Nuggets players lead clinic at Aurora Central

photo by Heather L. Smith/The Aurora Sentinel

Anthony Carter had just finished a grueling, three-hour practice; the Denver Nuggets guard was ready to call it a day.

But then he saw the 150 Aurora Public Schools students gathered in the gym on Nov. 30 at Aurora Central High School.

Carter joined teammates Renaldo Balkman, Sheldon Williams and Arron Afflalo to work on basketball drills with 150 students from 17 K-12 APS schools across the district. The four players joined former Nuggets Mark Randall, Walter Davis and Ervin Johnson for the event, which rewarded students for academic excellence in attendance, citizenship and scholarship.

John Barry named best superintendent in the state by CASE

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file photo by Heather L. Smith/The Aurora Sentinel

In a week that's seen its fair share of controversy at the Aurora Public Schools district, Superintendent John Barry garnered an unprecedented honor from the Colorado Association of School Executives.

APS administration official says reversing 6th period would cost district more than $4 million

An administrative official at the Aurora Public Schools District says following an arbiter's ruling to overturn an added 6th period for high school teachers could cost the district upwards of $4 million and up to 90 positions.

Epic childhood study launched in Douglas County

Researchers from the Aurora-based University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Colorado School of Public Health helped make history yesterday.

Both institutions are partnering for the local recruitment phase of the National Children’s Study, a nationwide effort funded through the National Institute of Health. The study, which was formally launched this week, will last 25 years, encompass more than 105 sites across the country and will include an estimated 1000,000 children as participants.

APS Arbitration Update

It looks like the dustup between the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education and the teachers’ union regarding an added sixth period for high school teachers is far from over.

An administrative law judge has ruled that a measure finalized by the Aurora Public School district’s Board of Education earlier this year breaks the terms of district teachers’ contracts.

Anschutz Cancer Pavilion officially kicks off expansion with groundbreaking

University of Colorado Hospital President and CEO Bruce Schroffel speaks Oct. 4 during the groundbreaking ceremony for a planned expansion of the UCH Anschutz Cancer Pavilion.

The drive to expand resources for patients at the Anschutz Cancer Pavilion took a major step forward Monday when officials broke ground on a 40-000-square-foot expansion to the building. 

Officials from UCH and the University of Colorado Hospital Foundation turned earth on the $20 million project, an expansion that will add about 40,000 square feet and renovate more than 11,000 square feet at the Anschutz Cancer Pavilion. The facility currently focuses on specialized oncology and clinical research.

Aurora Public Schools Board of Education meeting, 10/5/2010

The Aurora Public Schools Board of Education is set to host an open dialogue session with parents during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.

The board’s bimonthly meeting will include feedback with parents serving on the APS District Accountability Advisory Committee. The committee comprises more than 20 members, and provides support for teachers, parents, community members and school site accountability committees.

The board is also set to vote on a charter for an electronic music club at Rangeview High School. The club’s stated goal is to encourage “music participation, music composition and creation, (to) create enthusiasm, stimulate a desire to render service and promote leadership (for) the club members.”

The meeting is set to begin at 6 p.m. at the Dr. Edward and Mrs. Patricia Lord Boardroom at Educational Services Center, 1085 Peoria St.

Check out the full agenda after the jump:

Public School Capital Construction board adds its voice to the anti 60, 61 and 101 chorus

The public entities opposing Amendments 60, 61 and proposition 101 on the fall ballot keeps growing.

The state's Capital Construction Assistance Board for Building Excellent Schools Today program formally opposed the measures this week, joining  entities the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education, the Cherry Creek Schools Board of Education and the Aurora City Council.

The initiatives bound for the November ballot would severely limit tax levies, restrict local governments’ ability to borrow money and reduce the legal scope of bond projects across the state. School boards and city councils across the state are rallying to defeat the measures.

The BEST initiative is funded through the state land trust, lottery proceeds, matching grant funds and leftover money from previous grant programs.

The full release from BEST follows after the jump.

Cherry Creek Human Resources official receives award

The Colorado Association of School Personnel Administrators recently awarded Cherry Creek Schools District Human Resources Director Lyndal Brookhart with its 2009-10 Sandra Shreve Award for Excellence.

Since 1998, the CASPA has given the Shreve Award to human resources employees in the Colorado school system who make an outstanding contribution to education. Brookhart has taught classes in the Aurora Public Schools district as well as Prairie Middle School. She also served as the assistant principal at Heritage and Littleton high schools.

As the district’s human resources director, Brookhart oversees pay negotiations, arbitration, grievance proceedings and change management.

“I try to keep the ‘human’ element in mind and afford people dignity in difficult situations,” Brookhart said in a statement.

Brookhart is a member of the Cherry Creek Education Association, the Colorado Association of School Executives and other professional education associations across the state.

Adolescent behavior study

AURORA | Male adolescents who take drugs, get in fights and act out in other ways may be victims of faulty brain chemistry, according to a recently published study by researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

The study links antisocial and reckless behavior in adolescent boys to brain chemistry. Specifically, the study conducted by researchers at the Anschutz Medical Campus, the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Maryland ties poor decisions to malfunctions in the brain.

The study drew on data gathered from 20 boys who had psychiatric diagnosis of conduct disorder or substance use disorder. The test subjects played a computerized risk-taking game that presented choices between cautious and risky behaviors. Researchers compared results with data from a group of 20 adolescent boys who had no serious antisocial or drug issues.

The results showed a marked difference in brain functions between the two groups.

“Brain responses to everyday rewards and punishments gradually guide most youngsters’ decisions to conform with society’s rules. However, when these seriously troubled kids experience rewards and punishments, and make decisions, their brains apparently malfunction,” said Thomas Crowley, a psychiatry professor at the School of Medicine and lead author on the study. “Our findings strongly suggest that brain malfunction underlies their frequent failure to conform to rules, to make wise decisions, and to avoid relapses back to drug use and antisocial acts.”

The study was funded in part by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Kane Family Foundation of Colorado Springs. The findings were published in the online journal Public Library of Science One.

Aurora High Schools set to participate in national cyber security contest

Four schools in the Aurora Public Schools district will take part in a national cyber security competition organized by Northrop Grumman and the Washington-based Air Force Association.

Aurora Central, Hinkley and Rangeview high schools, along with Pickens Technical College, have registered for the CyberPatriot contest, a national cyber security contest that offers winners college scholarships and a free trip to Washington, D.C. Teams of five students and one coach from the high schools will participate in online scenarios where they will defend a computer network from real-life computer threats.

Finalists will participate in further online scenarios, and the top teams will then continue to Championship Round to be held next year at the Gaylord National Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Applications for the CyberPatriot competition will be accepted until Oct. 8. For more information, log on to CyberPatriot at www.afa.org/CyberPatriot.