The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in English language arts. The lowest is 24% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Aurora Central Campus
Aurora Central Campus is a large, regular public school within Aurora Public Schools that serves students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade on a single site. It is not a charter school. The school is located in the central part of Aurora, a sprawling, largely suburban city that is the third-largest in Colorado and whose built environment is predominantly car dependent, with RTD light rail lines providing some transit connections. The campus itself sits in the 80010 zip code, an area where housing values are below the state average and have been declining recently, with a typical monthly rent that is moderately more affordable than a mortgage payment on an average-priced home.
The student body is very large for a K-12 campus, with an enrollment spanning the full grade range. The composition is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with a substantial African American population and smaller shares of white, Asian, multiracial, and Native American students. A very high share of the student body comes from economically disadvantaged households, as indicated by eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with disabilities and English learner status was not available in the source materials, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about its support structures for these populations.
On state assessments administered in grades three through eight, proficiency rates across all tested subjects were modest. In math, roughly a quarter of students scored at the proficient level or above. In English language arts, a larger share, about a third, met that bar. On science assessments given at both fifth and eighth grade, slightly more than a quarter of students were proficient in each. Compared to other districts within Arapahoe County, Aurora Central Campus’s overall proficiency index—a composite look across tested subjects and grades—placed it above the midpoint of the range. This positioning is notable given the high level of economic need in the student population. The school’s participation rates on all assessments were high, which supports the reliability of the results.
The school offers programs and pathways across the full K-12 span, but the available data did not include a detailed program menu, so a parent should visit the school website or contact the school directly to learn about Advanced Placement courses, career and technical education offerings, dual-credit opportunities, and extracurricular activities.
The parent district, Aurora Public Schools, recently passed a voter-approved bond measure directed at facility improvements, safety upgrades, and school modernization. The district also undertook a school consolidation and repurposing process that involves closing or repurposing underutilized buildings, which could affect feeder patterns and school assignments for families in the area. A parent should confirm which elementary, middle, and high school programs are housed at this campus and whether any of the district’s consolidation plans affect the school directly.
A graduation rate for the school was not available in the provided data. Because the school serves twelfth grade, this gap is not explained by the grade band; it is simply an unreported metric, and a parent may want to ask the school for its four-year graduation rate.
This is a school that serves a very diverse and economically challenged community and that performs at a level that is about middling for its county on state tests, despite those challenges. It offers the coherence of a single campus for a child’s entire educational career, which some families value. The surrounding city is large and growing, with major employment anchors including Buckley Space Force Base and the Anschutz Medical Campus, but the housing market in this zip code is comparatively more affordable than much of the surrounding metro area. A family considering this school will want to investigate academic programming in more detail, understand the district’s ongoing consolidation work, and confirm the school’s graduation rate and specific support services for the many students who qualify for additional help.
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