Academy International Elementary School

Academy International Elementary School (AIES) (www.d20.co.edu) is a public neighborhood/choice school located in the north end of Colorado Springs in Academy District 20. The school site sits on a bluff overlooking Cottonwood Creek with an unparalleled view of the 14,000 foot Pikes Peak (America's Mountain). AIES uses the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) as its curricular umbrella. The school, by mission and philosophy, aims to provide an academically rigorous curriculum as the foundation upon which students are encouraged to build for future success. Strong emphasis is placed on the ideals of international understanding and responsible citizenship. The language of instruction is English, with the exception of the French Partial Immersion classes where math and sciences are taught in French and language arts and social studies are taught in the students' mother tongue, English. The students of Academy International Elementary School (AIES) who are not in the immersion program participate in a half an hour a day French instruction. ESL staff support is available for those whose mother-tongue is not English and whom need extra support.

The Academy International Elementary School (AIES) anticipates an enrollment of approximately 625 students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade for the school year 2003-2004. Academy International staff includes forty-three certified instructors and twenty-three support staff including crossing guards, lunchroom clerks, librarian, paraprofessionals, custodians and office staff. Two full-time administrators support the educational program. Support services are provided to classroom teachers by a Special Needs Team made up of the Special Education teacher, the counselor, school psychologist, social worker, ESL, and a speech/language specialist. There is a reading specialist and Talented and Gifted teacher. All of these educators work closely with the classroom teacher to meet students' needs. The school has a Macintosh computer lab with full Internet capabilities, and each classroom has at least two state-of-the art computers that are fully integrated into the school network. The students' IB education continues at Mountain Ridge Middle School (MYP) and they seek their IB diploma at Rampart High School all in District 20.

There are over 300 volunteers from the parent community. The Academy International Elementary School (AIES) organization is complemented by an active Accountability Committee composed of parents, staff members and administration.