A Choice School for Academic Excellence
Dave Schoenhals, Principal
Cari Roberts, Assistant Principal
Casey Powell, Dean of Students
Nanette Jones, GT Facilitator
Erin Graves, Counselor

Aurora Quest K-8 believes that gifted and high potential learners come from all socio-economic and cultural groups and deserve to be educated at their level of academic attainment and beyond to ensure motivation, authentic learning, and advanced opportunities. Working with students for similar ability in a school devoted to optimal learning practices for gifted populations provides a rich context in which learning can become a reality.

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Instructional Practices &
Authentic Learning Experiences
Teach and use interactive instructional practices…
 Open-ended questions and learning tasks
 Inquiry approaches
 Critical thinking skills
 Metacognition strategies

Language Arts
 College of William & Mary
 Junior Great Books
 Authentic Literature
 Units of Study (writing)
Science
 Foss
 College of William & Mary
Mathematics
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K-5 Investigations
5-8 th Connected
Mathematics/CORE
Mathematics
Social Studies
 Scott Foresman
 History Alive
 DBQ
 College of William & Mary

Provide opportunities for students in all grades to discover and develop their passions, talents and interests.
 Visual and music arts
 Band and orchestra
 Foreign language
 Drama
 Community service
 Sports
 Technology

Goals:
 Develop self-understanding, leadership and interpersonal skills
 Develop emotional intelligence
 Explore career options at grade
5 and above

Guiding Principles:

Students entering grades 1 st through 8 th who have been identified as Gifted and
Talented or High Potential at their home school and are:
 Proficient in all core content areas
(reading, writing and math)
 Advanced in at least one core content areaHighly motivated
 Complex thinkers
 In need of a challenging environment

Students entering Kindergarten next school year and will be turning 5 years old by
October 1 st .
Some signs of a young gifted child may include:
 Reaches milestones early
 Is verbally precocious/speaks in unusual long sentences/extensive vocabulary
 Remembers everything
 Extreme curiosity/asks complex probing questions

Who Should Apply?
If your child turns 5 years old after Oct. 1 st and you feel she is school ready:
 You must contact Donna Buss for Early
Access testing djbuss@aps.k12.co.us
 Your child must qualify for Early Access to be eligible for Quest.
 Go through our application process and we will get the Early Access results from the district.

 Sept. 27 th – Applications available
 Oct. 9 th – Parent Information Night
 Nov. 8 th – Deadline to notify school’s AGATE TL/Teacher
 Jan. 10 th All Applications due to Quest by 3:00 p.m.
 Jan. 25 th – Testing for grade 1 st -8 th applicants if needed
 Jan. 25 th and Feb. 1 – Kindergarten testing & screening appointments
 Week of March 24 th – Decision letters mailed for all grade levels
 May 7 th 6:00 p.m. – Scheduling Meeting for new incoming 6 th , 7 th , 8 th graders and their parents

 $100 testing fee for out-of-district applicants
 Transportation from each quadrant of district
 20-hour parent volunteer commitment
 Traditional school calendar
 No school uniforms
 Before/after school daycare
 After school enrichment opportunities

Q: How many spots are there for each grade level?
A: For Kindergarten there are possibly 50 depending on the number of qualified applicants.
For 1 st -5 th and 7 th -8 th we never know.
Depending upon current students moving there can be 0 to 4, possibly more.
For 6 th grade there can 30 or so as we typically open a new section.

FAQ
Q: Do siblings take priority over other applicants?
A: Not necessarily. We look at all qualified applicants equally and determine which students are best qualified for that spot. If we have equally qualified applicants for one spot, we will offer it to a sibling.

FAQ
Q: What are the chances for out of district applicants getting a spot?
A: For Kindergarten and 6 th grade applicants we have been able to take out of district students. At the other grade levels it is difficult for any applicant as there are very few spots available, but there has been years in which we have exhausted the waitlist.

FAQ
Q: What are your class sizes?
A: Kindergarten through 2 nd are typically 25-27 students.
3 rd -5 th are 27-29 students.
Middle School are typically around 30.

FAQ
 Students are considered “In district” if they reside in the Aurora Public Schools boundaries in which their neighborhood school is an APS school.
 Students are considered “Out of district” if they reside in a neighborhood in which they would attend a non-APS school
(some Aurora neighborhoods are NOT in the APS district).

FAQ
 If your child is currently attending a non-APS school, but you live in the district, she is considered in district.
 If your child attends an APS school, but you live outside of the district, she is considered out of district.
 Once your child has been accepted to attend Quest (in or out of district), you do not reapply each year, she is in.

FAQ
 If you missed the Parent Informational
Meeting this PowerPoint includes all of the information covered at the meeting.
 As far as tours, our Videography class is preparing a virtual tour so that parents and student applicants can see our wonderful school. This helps keep our students’ instructional time from any distractions. So stay tuned as the video should be up in the next few weeks.

 17315 E. 2 nd Avenue
Aurora 80011
 303-343-3664
 njones@aps.k12.co.us
 clstoeber@aps.k12.co.us
 aps.k12.co.us/quest