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District climate ambassador outlines culture work, cites district score of 2.87 and 74% response rate
Summary
Linton Ellis, the district’s ambassador for culture and climate, told the board that culture is a key driver of school improvement, presented composite scores from nine schools and said the district-level score is about 2.87 on a four-point scale with a 74% response rate; he recommended leadership alignment and continued focus on belonging.
Linton Ellis, Aurora East USD 131’s ambassador for culture and climate, presented the district’s culture work to the board on May 18, saying the initiative aims to make culture a central lever for school improvement.
Ellis described a four-point survey instrument used this year across nine schools and said the composite district score is 2.87, with a 74% response rate. He highlighted a notable improvement on the support-and-trust dimension — roughly a 0.9-point gain between measurement periods — and said the data shows areas requiring continued attention.
“Culture is the most powerful intangible force in any organization,” Ellis told the board, and he argued that leadership alignment is essential to sustaining improvements. He recommended building the sense of belonging into school-improvement goals while remaining strategic about academic objectives.
Superintendent Halverson and several building principals and culture-and-climate committee members stood to recognize the work; committee participants described the effort as important and sometimes challenging, but overall constructive.
Next steps: Ellis and district leadership plan to continue the culture work next year, include sense-of-belonging metrics in improvement goals and pursue sustained, team-based approaches to maintain progress.
