• AEA

     

    The Achieving Excellence Academy (AEA) Team

    AEA Misson

    The AEA summer program will serve as an immersive 4-week cultural identity and ethnic studies program on Black/African-American, Latino/a/LatinX, and Asian American/Pacific Islander/AAPI students, families, and educators. The program serves as one district initiative especially for the support, encouragement, and development of students of marginalized identities, and all rising 9th through rising 12th graders are welcome to apply. experiences and ancestral histories. This space will provide opportunities to unpack and explore varied racial, social, historic, and modern civic complexities facing marginalized populations and communities in the 21st Century. The AEA is a purposeful program to address current efforts to strengthen student achievement, elevate student voices, and to provide the encouragement and support students’ need to grow their cultural and racial identities and understandings. 

    AEA Vision 

    The AEA envisions a future where marginalized identities, and their attributes and talents are regularly celebrated. The AEA cultural summer program is one opportunity for students to develop within community, to see themselves in the curriculum, and to be represented in the faces of other students, teachers and leaders. The AEA will create the conditions for students to express pride in their cultural and racial identities, gain a sense of belonging, and receive the supports needed to become agents of cultural change - taking their learnings into every school community, building, and classroom across the district.

  • No longer accepting applications

    Candidates with the following qualifications and skills are encouraged to apply

    All interested applicants should apply for the AEA, IF:

    • They are ready to join a family of diverse DPS educators who support diverse DPS students/families during the summer program and throughout the academic school year.

    • They have the skills, passion and heart for working with diverse incoming 9th & incoming 10th grade students.

    • They are culturally-competent and responsive educators who know/model our DPS Shared Core Values.

    • They regularly implicate the self as one way to support closing opportunity gaps for our DPS students of color.

    • They thrive in collaborative, culturally, and racially-diverse working and learning environments.

    • They are flexible and regularly model a growth mindset. They enjoy productive struggle, innovation, and out-of-the-box teaching/learning practices, and approach challenging situations with curiosity and wonder.

    • They regularly engage in practices of self-care and reflection; to show up as their best selves for students/families.

    • They understand the purpose of affinity groups and affirm their value.

    • They bring an equity-based, calm, and joyful energy to their work, and they value and prioritize the journey or process over ‘box checking’ or perfectionism.

    • They are excited about participating in off-campus cultural excursions/experiences.

    • They have a desire to grow their teaching skills and enjoy professional learning that includes modeling, and opportunities for role-play practice.

    • They share in our AEA Mission-Vision-Values

  • Click

  • What is the AEA COMMUNITY PARTNER time commitment?

    While the AEA runs during the summer there are both pre/post -program commitments that include

    • Community Partner: JAN - MAY: up to 5, 2.5-hours collaborative work group sessions
    • Community Partner: Thursday, June 5, 2025 In-person setup/prep (DSA)
    • Community Partner: Thursday, June 5, 2025 In-person Student/Parent Orientation & Resource Fair Night (DSA)
    • Community Partner: Develops & implements one full day cultural excursion/field trip
    • Community Partner: Develops & implements up to 120- minutes of workshop content and materials per day over four program weeks (June 9 - July 2, 2025)
      • June 9  - July 2, 2025
      • Monday - Friday (8:00 am - 2:30 pm*)

  • What are the application requirements?

    Proposal that includes:

    • High level overview of workshops and cultural excursions (learning that you would like to deliver/facilitate)

    • 1- Professional Letter of Reference

    • 30- min panel interview with AEA Team/Culture, Equity & Leadership Team (to be scheduled by AEA Team)

  • What is the AEA time commitment?

    • JAN - MAY: up to 5, 2.5-hours collaborative work group sessions
    • Thursday, June 5, 2025 In-person setup/prep
    • Thursday, June 5, 2025 In-person Student/Parent Orientation & Resource Fair Night 
    • Four program weeks (June 9 - July 2, 2025)
      • June 9  - July 2, 2025
      • Monday - Friday (8:00 am - 2:30 pm*)
      • Daily AM and PM staff huddles

  • What are the application requirements?

    1- Professional Letter of Reference

    • Email your PDF Professional Letter of Reference to ashlea_skiles@dpsk12.net and name your document   "AEA_Nurse_Reference Letter_FirstName_LastName"

    30- min panel interview with AEA Team/Culture, Equity & Leadership Team (to be scheduled by AEA Team)

  • Role Description - Registered Nurse

    • ​​Provide nursing care for the health needs of students
    • Administer medications and perform nursing procedures with RN supervision and according to DPS Medication Administration Protocol
    • Respond to medical emergencies in a timely manner.
    • Participate in the identification process of children with health needs
    • Follow the healthcare plan (IHP) created by the RN
    • Maintain student records
    • Ensures compliance with related laws and policies, such as reporting suspected child abuse, immunizations, and Child Health and Disability Prevention (CHDP) laws
    • Monitor and report infectious disease
    • Maintains and submits data for annual and monthly reports
    • Other duties as assigned
    • use Google Drive and its applications, like (but not limited to) Google Docs, Presentations, Spreadsheets, Classrooms, Calendars and Google Meet,
    • and have access to and experience using Infinite Campus and Schoology.

  • Role Description - Spanish Bilingual Office Support/Family Liaison

    • Create classroom rosters
    • Develop and track extra pay reports for Summer Program staff and administration.
    • Maintain student attendance records by maintaining the attendance spreadsheet and communicating student absences.
    • Provide basic first aid (e.g., temperature, band-aids) and coordinate medical care with nurse and 911 as medical emergencies arise, according to District training and procedures.
    • Protect integrity, privacy and confidentiality of student and employee data, according to FERPA and district policy
    • Works under the supervision of the site leader 
    • Communicates on a daily basis with the site leader and make him/her aware of concerns
    • Works cooperatively with all teachers and students
    • Answers all phone calls from parents, students, and the public
    • Contacts the homes of students who are absent on a daily basis
    • Performs general clerical work 
    • Preference given to applicants who have experience with Infinite Campus
    • Assists with lunchroom/ snack supervision 
    • Performs any additional duties as assigned by the site leader
    • Bilingual preferred

2022-23 AEA Program

2021-2022 AEA

Contact

  • Culture, Engagement and Leadership Team
    1860 Lincoln St.
    Denver, CO 80203


    Ashlea Skiles 

    (Pronouns: she, her, hers)

    A.Skiles

    Program Manager, Equity Initiatives

    720-423-2576 Ashlea_Skiles@dpsk12.net

  • AEa

When and Where...

  • small Dates: 

    • June 9 – July 2, 2025: Student Program
    • June 5, 2025: AEA Student/Parent Orientation at Denver School of the Arts
    • July 2, 2025: AEA Commencement at the University of Denver
    • 2025-26 School Year: quarterly remote AEA student/teacher check-ins 
    • Cultural Learning & Leadership: with a desire to return to the AEA each Summer.

    Location:

    • TBD

  • Students First

    We put our kids’ needs at the forefront of everything we do.

    The AEA is designed to center and improve the student experience. The AEA aligns with district commitments to students of marginalized identities as outlined by the DPS Strategic Roadmap. AEA educators stand especially committed to developing academic content, experiences, and holistic supports that Black/African-American, Latinx, and Asian-American/Pacific Islander students need to thrive.

  • Integrity

    We tell the truth, and we keep our promises.

    The AEA serves as one opportunity for students to gain self-confidence by learning who they are - in order to know where they are going. AEA educators model integrity through vulnerability, by speaking their truths and through sharing their passions and pains, so that students feel safe, seen, and encouraged to show up as their most authentic selves.

  • Equity

    We celebrate our diversity and will provide the necessary resources and supports to eliminate barriers to success and foster a more equitable future for all our kids.

    The AEA serves as one program working to eliminate disparity data predictability for students belonging to marginalized identities, and it pushes back against the systems and structures of oppression that threaten a student’s right to thrive. AEA educators are committed to empowering and encouraging students towards pursuing the inclusive, collective action needed to achieve conditions named in our DPS Equity Statement & Strategic Roadmap.

  • Collaboration

    Together as a team, we think, we work, and we create in order to reach our goals.

    The AEA recognizes the communal needs of students belonging to marginalized identities. Throughout the school year AEA educators come together in collaborative working groups to discuss best practices, student needs and student data, to then refine the AEA curriculum and experiences. AEA teachers intentionally work as team teaching pairs to develop their co-teaching relationship, while maintaining relationships and partnerships with returning AEA students/families. Our AEA team is passionate about the work of dismantling and disrupting systemic inequities. We are committed to co-creating the processes, procedures, and conditions needed to move everyone towards racial & educational equity, together.

  • Accountability

    We take responsibility for our individual and collective commitments; we grow from success; we learn from failure.

    The AEA program and its people are committed to regular reflection, and we significantly value student/family and educator voice, and seek out partner and community feedback. The AEA central-office team regularly engages in bi-weekly debriefs to collaboratively plan for next steps that consider the adult experience, and center the student experience. The AEA always reckons with impact, pivots when necessary and strategically designs and implements best practices that center those historically marginalized.

  • Fun

    We celebrate the joy in our work and foster in our students a joy and passion for learning to last their whole lives.

    The AEA is joyful, celebratory, and fun! AEA community-partners and educators are passionate and committed to creating the conditions, workshops and experiences, and time and space for students to express the excellence that already lives inside of them.