Chief Academic Officer
Jaime Aquino
A native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Jaime Aquino has extensive experience as a teacher and administrator in English Language Acquisition, math and science. Jaime is coming to Denver from New York City, where currently he serves as Local Instructional Superintendent for New York City Department of Education Region 9, an area that covers lower Manhattan, midtown, Harlem and the South Bronx.
This past school year, Aquino's region increased by 12 percent the percentage of students scoring at or above standard in reading and decreased by 6.7 percent the students scoring at the intervention level. In mathematics, the region increased by 8.3 percent the number of students scoring at or above standard and decreased by 7.1 percent the students scoring at the intervention level.
Prior to taking his current position in New York, Aquino served as Deputy Superintendent in Hartford, Connecticut, a school district of approximately 23,000 students. He also served in Hartford as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction from 1999 to 2001. During Aquino's tenure in Hartford, the number of students scoring at or above the proficiency level increased by 10 percent in reading, while the number of students at the intervention level decreased by 13 percent. In mathematics the number of students scoring at or above the proficiency level increased by 15 percent, and the number of students at the intervention level decreased by 17 percent.
Originally recruited in 1987 by the New York City Board of Education as a bilingual teacher, Aquino has since occupied a number of positions in New York City public schools. He has been Deputy Executive Director within the Division of Instructional support, supervising and coordinating programs and services in Early Childhood Education, literacy, mathematics, science, technology, arts, library services, multicultural education and social studies.
As the Director of Bilingual, ESL, Foreign Language and Multicultural Education for Community School District Six (Washington Heights and upper Manhattan) Aquino planned, coordinated and conducted professional development programs in bilingual education, ESL and foreign language acquisition. He conducted workshops for administrators, teachers and parents in the areas of first and second language acquisition.
As the Director of Mathematics for Community School District Six, Aquino coordinated all aspects of the K-8 mathematics program in the district. He planned, coordinated and conducted staff development programs in mathematics; evaluated mathematics textbooks and educational software for adoption for the district; and assisted in the development of district-wide annual assessments.
Aquino also has served New York City as a Bilingual and Science Teacher and was named New York State Bilingual Teacher of the Year in 1990. He also served as a Chapter Chairperson for the United Federation of Teachers, New York's teachers union.
Aquino has a Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Teaching with a specialty in Language, Learning and Literacy from Fordham University; a Master of Science in Bilingual Education, also from Fordham; and a B.S. in Psychology from the Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, from which he graduated Magna Cum Laude.
