Dear Avondale Elementary School District Families:

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the 2023-2024 school year. We are ever grateful to our AESD community for their ongoing connections to our schools and district. AESD is proud of our ability to stay true to our mission, to grow every child as a thinker, problem solver and communicator to pursue their future without limits. We continue to deepen our long-standing relationships and history of excellence to continue to be your District of Choice.

Speaking of choice… AESD has been named the BEST PLACE TO WORK for Best in the West!!! Further, AESD has been named one of the top three in four additional categories! AESD is in the top three for Best Public School, Best Preschool, Best Elementary School and Best School District. This affirms what we know, AESD is the best place to live, learn and work!

AESD has demonstrated results in achievement. Once again, AESD has outpaced the average growth in the state in student achievement. We have outperformed the state growth over 2 times in ELA and over 12 times in Math on the state assessment. Our students are learning at a faster growth than in other schools/districts across Arizona and we will continue that focus for this year! Every one of our students deserve a limitless future.

Thank you to our families who have made AESD your district of choice. We are thrilled and prepared to serve you and your children as we navigate this new school year and all that it brings. We are excited for our athletics to start as we pick up where we left off last spring and have multiple after-school opportunities at our sites! Further, we continue to have our 1-1 technology for use both in school and at home and improvements to safety on our campuses are a direct result of your support. Thank you to our AESD voters for making sure we can make these improvements happen through voting “YES” for our bonds and overrides.

Here are a few of our excellent offerings as we continue to find ways to enhance the experience for our children and adults in AESD. Entering the new school year, I wanted to highlight some of our incredible opportunities. In AESD, we have something for everyone including the following:

• High school Algebra and Spanish, Choir and Band with Agua Fria High School District
• Art, Music, PE and Computer Science programming for all students in grades K-8
• Before and aftercare programs
• Award winning Preschool and Head Start on multiple school sites
• State-of-the-art Mobile STEAM Lab
• Read Better Be Better

AESD is committed to maintaining the safest facilities possible. Reminder, all visitors on campus must sign in and scan their ID for access to our school facilities through a closed campus procedure. 

The center of our work in AESD is based on our Kids at Hope framework. It focuses on the following tenets and provides the foundation for our students and our approach to educating beyond the classroom.

We believe… all children are capable of success, NO EXCEPTIONS.
We connect… all children to caring adults to reveal and grow the possibilities.
We time travel…we prepare students for their future by time traveling to allow children to see their potential in four destinations and to
plan for it today.

Please stay connected via our social media outlets and as always, send your photos, celebrations and successes to media@chooseAESD.org.

We are here to ensure your child grows as a thinker, problem solver and communicator to pursue their future without limits! We believe every child deserves an Avondale Elementary School District Education.

If I can be of service, please contact me at 623-772-5000.

Sincerely,

Dr. Betsy Hargrove
Superintendent