AURORA | The new boss at Aurora Central High School — who takes over as the school launches major reforms — will be a familiar face to many in north Aurora.
In a letter to the Central community July 21, Aurora Public Schools Superintendent Rico Munn announced that Gerardo De La Garza, who had been principal at North Middle School since 2007, will lead the city’s oldest high school this school year.
Munn said De La Garza’s connections to north Aurora make him a good fit for Central.
“His strong, clear, caring leadership approach and his proven ability to bring staff together are a few of the assets he will bring to this role,” he said.
De La Garza will helm Central this school year and the district will try to find a permanent principal for the 2016-17 school year, Munn said.
The district announced earlier this month that Mark Roberts, who was principal at Central for two school years, is being moved to another position within Aurora Public Schools, a decision district officials said was part of the broader effort to pursue “innovation status” for the school. That status, officials say, will help Central make changes while on the state’s accountability clock for struggling schools.
De La Garza said this is an important time for Central.
“I know that this has been a time of change for Aurora Central and it is my goal to collaborate with you to better serve our students. I made the decision to support Aurora Central because of my commitment to Original Aurora,” he said in a letter to the Central community.
Under state law, schools such as Aurora Central — once placed on a five-year “Priority Improvement Plan” — have to launch dramatic changes after the fifth year if they haven’t turned things around by the end of the fourth year. The recently ended school year was Central’s fourth on the clock. As of now, 30 other schools around the state are facing the same situation.
Munn has said the innovation model will allow Central staff some autonomy and give them the flexibility to improve student performance as they see fit. Plus, Munn said, the model requires cooperation between staff, community members, district leaders, state officials and others.
As of now, what the model will look like hasn’t been determined, and that vagueness caused some trepidation among the APS Board of Education and the Colorado Board of Education, though both boards signed off on initial plans for how to develop the model. Munn has said further details will be released later this year.
I am happy to hear that De LA Garza will be the new principal at Aurora Central HS. My daughter, Sierra Brydon 14, will be a sophomore this year and is already in tuned with the way he does things. My daughter came from North Middle School as well. She loves the support that he gave her during middle school as well as her peers. By him coming to ACHS is a blessing and I am hoping that this school year will make a difference with us having him here. Aurora Central has my blessing in moving forward in a positive way not only as a parent but as a APS employee. Whatever the school needs they have my full support. Debra Combs
Aurora Central High School “innovation status”, a touchy-feely principal, and allowing teachers “flexibility” and to do “as they see fit” will only cause student performance to continue its downward spiral. How about getting back to academic basics such as reading, writing, science and math. How about discipline and accountability. Some old-fashioned methods and values are worthy of consideration to improve scholastic performance. Central High was an excellent school back in the sixties when I was there.