AURORA, Colo. — In November, voters approved a one billion dollar bond for Aurora Public Schools — the largest ever for the district. Now, APS is getting closer to breaking ground on a major project funded with that money — the first ever health science high school in Colorado.
The school — which doesn’t have a name yet — will offer pathways to careers in nursing, behavioral health, medical imaging with an x-ray focus, respiratory therapy and surgical tech/sterile processing. Lisa Adams, the director of career and technical education for APS, said these are high demand, high paying jobs.
“We know that when (students) graduate from this health science high school, they will have opportunities to go right into the workforce, with industry certifications,” Adams said.
The school will be built on the campus of North Middle School right across Peoria Street from the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Aurora Public Schools is partnering with UCHealth to design the high school, so students will be in walking distance for some clinical courses they’ll take at the hospital.
UCHealth Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Human Resources David Mafe said building the school will help grow Colorado’s healthcare workforce.
“The way that you build that is by expanding your workforce, and one of the ways that you do that is identifying different workforce pipelines that perhaps you didn't consider before,” Mafe said.
Groundbreaking will happen later this year and the school is expected to open in the fall of 2027. Through a partnership with Aurora Community College students will also get college credit, and in some of the pathways, they have the option of staying for five or six years to earn an associate's degree.
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