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Our vision is to be the best choice in public education. We envision a future when every time a student, parent, or educator chooses a school district, we are the best choice they can make.We have a mission to Learn, Work, and Lead. Our commitment is to be the best place to learn, to work, and to lead. Every day, we create environments so that everyone associated with the district is always learning, working, and leading us to be the best. By learning, working, and leading, we will prepare students, in a safe and caring environment, to be successful, competent and productive citizens in a global society.
District 49 spans 133 square miles of urban and rural areas in Colorado, covering northeast Colorado Springs and the Falcon area of El Paso County. The district's central office is located at 10850 E. Woodmen Road in Peyton, Colo. As the fastest growing school district in the Pikes Peak region, it's currently serving more than 21,000 students within its portfolio of schools. The district offers school of choice options.
District 49 is led by a chief executive officer, Peter Hilts, who supervises offices focused on business, operations, and education. The CEO works collaboratively with department directors and teams staffed with activity coordinators and specialists.
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District 49’s board-approved strategic priorities are integral to the vision and mission, providing unified goals and strategies to prepare students to achieve like never before. The priorities are organized around a big rocks metaphor, which comes from the work of Stephen Covey.
Covey illustrated that if you fill your life with the small things, trivial things, then you might not have room for what's really important, what he called the big rocks. But if you first fill your life with what's most important – the big rocks – and add other things around them, the medium-sized rocks, and finally work in the pebbles, everything better fits together.
District 49 has applied this metaphor in its strategic priorities, which identifies the district's Big Rocks. These strategic initiatives will be emphasized over the next three to five years, representing the district’s commitment to its community. District 49 will use these six rocks as the foundation for building an excellent future with its staff, students, and the greater community.
Launch Successful Students
We launch successful students into careers, college, service and leadership. Whether they join the workforce, head to college, serve our country or start a family, we prepare D49 graduates to succeed as they serve and lead our community.
Build Firm Foundations
The district builds firm foundations for all learning and support. For our students, that means emphasizing foundational skills like literacy, math, critical thinking and creativity. For our workforce, firm foundations means great onboarding, thorough training, and providing the right tools to do our jobs.
Offer Exceptional Choices
We promote educational choices in our zones, our family of schools, and all our programs so parents and students can select high-performing options to personalize learning and achievement.
Value All People
We value all people by putting our values of care and respect into action through strategic initiatives that promote equity, respect diversity, and celebrate the contributions of all.
Engage Our Community
We engage our community in holding the district accountable for school performance, projects, and outreach to serve students and families across the region.Sustain Enduring Trust
We sustain enduring trust through practices that are transparent, communications that are clear, and decisions that preserve the good faith of our community.
