AURORA, Colo. — Tens of thousands of Aurora Public Schools (APS) students in first through 12th grades head back to school Wednesday as the district gets to work planning for major building improvements.
Voters approved a $1 billion bond last November to fund new buildings and large scale renovations at schools across the district. Voters also approved a capital mill levy to provide $30 million annually for district facility maintenance.
"We try to commit that every school gets something from the bond so all of our school properties will get some form of new renovation," Chief Financial Officer of APS Brett Johnson said. "This summer was a lot of preliminary work, so it may not be as visible, but by next summer, folks are going to see a lot of significant capital improvements happening throughout the district."
Gateway High School is set to receive $30 million of the bond money to renovate classrooms, build new classrooms, improve students' outdoor eating area, and replace the carpet throughout the school. Gateway leaders said the high school building was built in 1973 and hasn't seen major upgrades in several decades.
"I think the last time it had a significant renovation was 35 years ago, and as you imagine, schools have changed since then. We have to accommodate a lot of new components of learning, and for that reason, we're opening up Gateway and rebuilding it, almost as if it's a new building," Johnson said.
The district is using this school year as a planning year for most of the improvements, Johnson said. The renovations at Gateway will start in summer of 2026 and are expected to be ready for the 2027-2028 school year, according to Johnson.
APS said Laredo Elementary School will get a complete building replacement. The district will also break ground soon on two new Pre-K through eight grade schools and a new high school along the E-470 corridor in an area seeing rapid growth.
"We're seeing somewhere around 2,500 new homes built annually, and those families have kids, and we anticipate that there will be decades of growth to accommodate in the future that will continue," Johnson said.
To see a map of the planned improvements at schools across the district funded by the $1 billion bond, click here.
