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Early-Exit Bilingual Education Program
AES started with an "early-exit transitional bilingual program" in K-2nd grades. Spanish instruction occurred in literacy and all content areas, while students built English oral proficiency. By 3rd-5th grades, all instruction was English-only. -
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Principal: Carolyn Neff
AES' first principal opens Avon and stays for four years. -
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Demographics
AES' demographic make-up at the beginning of its history was approximately 91% white, 1% African-American, and 8% Latino. -
AES Opens
Avon Elementary opens its doors for the first time. -
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Demographics
By 1998, the demographics had changed to approximately 80% white, 1% African-American, and 19% Latino. The demographics continued to change every year. -
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Principal: Marcia Glenn
Marcia Glenn becomes AES principal, but only remains in that position until early spring, 2001. -
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Principal: Mel Price
Mel Price was named interim principal in March 2001 to finish out the year. -
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Principal: Linda Easthouse
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Demographic Shift
In 2003 people say that the demographics of AES experienced a sharp shift. The population changed to a majority Latino population with a very small white population. Many Caucasian families had chosen to enroll their children in a nearby charter school. At this point, demographics were approximately 70-80% Latino, 20-30% White, and less than 10% other. In addition, AES has a free-and-reduced lunch qualification percentage of 76%. -
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Principal: Barbara Nutting
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Academics: Turn-around Status
AES had several years of low performance on standardized test scores. The school was close to receiving corrective action and being taken over by the Colorado Department of Education because of several years of continued low performance. -
Dual Language Program
AES implemented a dual language program, but it was only in literacy (reading, writing, speaking and listening). The program started in Kinder, and grew up each year. At that time 50% of the literacy block taught in Spanish, and 50% in English. All other subjects were taught in English. -
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Principal: Melisa Rewold-Thuon
Melisa Rewold-Thuon helped AES win the National Blue Ribbon School Award and started the school's early stage dual-language program. She left the school in March 2014 to become the Vice President of Education for a local foundation, YouthPower365. YouthPower365 is the education arm of the Vail Valley Foundation. -
Academic Award - National Blue Ribbon School
Three years after being removed from "corrective action" by the Department of Education for low standardized test scores, and two years after doubling its test scores, AES was awarded the National Blue Ribbon School Award. This award is given to schools that have achieved high levels of student achievement or made significant improvements in closing the achievement gap among student subgroups. Past news article: https://www.vaildaily.com/news/avon-elementary-wins-prestigious-honor/ -
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Principal: Brian Hester
Brian Hester became the interim principal when Rewold-Thuon left. He was a former high school principal who came out of retirement for the last few months of the 2014 school year. -
Dual Language Immersion Program
Eagle County School District received consultation from the “Dual Language Education of New Mexico” group. Part of this consultation was to introduce the district to Dual Language "non-negotiables." AES already had all of the non-negotiables in place, except for the percentage of Spanish- and English-language instruction. In 2014, AES changed the percentage to 50% English- and 50% Spanish-language instruction in all subject areas. -
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Principal: Roy Getchell
Roy Getchell was a former Head of School for an International School in Abu Dhabi. Under Roy's leadership, AES implemented a 50% / 50% dual-language immersion program and won the 2017 Colorado Center of Excellence award for improving academic performance as measured by state standardized tests. He also helped implement the International Baccaulaureate Candidacy. -
International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program
AES began the candidacy process to become an International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program (PYP). A handful of AES staff began IB training, and every year additional staff members have been trained. Program implementation began with the IB Learner Profiles. The second year AES began creating IB thematic units using IB planners, and currently, all AES grades are teaching all 6 required IB unit planners. IB is completing the final application process in 2018-2019. -
Principal: Dana Harrison
Dana Harrison has worked at AES for 18 years as a teacher, master teacher, assistant principal and now principal.
