OUR MISSION AND VISION

A public charter high school preparing students for college, career, and leadership in Colorado’s innovation economy.

A student wearing glasses and a green apron working on the rotor of a helicopter model or drone, using a screwdriver at a workbench.

MISSION

Aliento Colorado bridges education and industry to expand access to high-quality aerospace and aviation pathways. Students prepare for college, career, and leadership through learning that is precise, relevant, and rooted in real-world experience.

OUR APPROACH

Students move from exploration to specialization through hands-on labs, rigorous academics, and supervised work-based learning. Academic rigor pairs with identity-centered advising, bilingual mentorship, and supportive relationships that help every student grow with confidence and purpose.

WHY HERE

Far Northeast Denver and Aurora are growing communities with strong demand for programs that connect school to opportunity. Aliento responds with a model that blends relevance, high expectations, and a deep sense of belonging for students and families.

Group of six teenagers sitting at a table with robotics projects and wires, smiling in a classroom or lab.

“Aliento” means breath, spirit, and encouragement. It reflects a school culture where identity fuels learning and where students experience both belonging and achievement.

MEANING

Graduate Outcomes

  • Graduation cap with a diploma scroll.

    Transferable College Credits
    Students earn dual enrollment credits that give them a head start in Colorado’s higher-education pathways and reduce the time and cost of earning a degree.

  • A mechanical gear with a fountain pen nib attached to the top.

    Industry-Recognized Credentials
    Credential training is embedded in pathway courses, allowing students to graduate with verified technical skills used across aerospace, aviation, engineering, logistics, and design.

  • Half gear and half clock showing a combination of machinery and time

    Real Work Experience
    Every student completes more than 520 supervised work-based learning hours that grow from exploration to paid residencies and reflect authentic professional expectations.

  • Document with a pen and a graduation cap icon

    Postsecondary Plan
    Seniors present a capstone and long-term postsecondary plan that connects academic mastery, technical skill, and personal purpose to their next steps after graduation.

A School Built for Colorado's Future

•

A School Built for Colorado's Future •

Meet our Founder and Executive Director

Justin Scott

Justin Scott shown as a smiling man with glasses, a goatee, and a checkered blazer standing in a warmly lit room with wooden walls.

I know what it feels like to move through systems that were never designed with you in mind. As a proud Chicano, a multilingual learner, and a first-generation college graduate raised by my Mexican immigrant grandparents, I navigated poverty and public schools often unseen—unsure how to access a future I couldn’t yet imagine. I didn’t succeed because I was exceptional; I succeeded because of the values my grandparents instilled in me and because a few caring adults made opportunity visible and walked alongside me.

My grandfather’s story shaped everything I believe about talent, access, and possibility. After serving in the Korean War, his intellect and curiosity were noticed. Lockheed Martin sponsored his night classes while he worked days, and he eventually became a senior aviation engineer within Skunk Works, contributing to projects like the SR-72 Blackbird. That’s what happens when talent meets a door that opens. Schools shouldn’t be in the business of producing exceptions—and that conviction has guided every step of my career.

  • For more than two decades, I’ve led equity-driven improvement across classrooms, schools, and regional systems—opening new schools, guiding teams through complex change, and helping thousands of students build academic momentum and long-term opportunity. I’ve worked with diverse communities in Texas and Colorado, strengthening leadership pipelines, improving instructional and cultural systems, and supporting organizational and districtwide strategy.

    Now, as Founder of Aliento Colorado, I’m building a public aerospace and aviation academy rooted in identity, purpose, and access. A place where students accelerate academically, explore real-world industries, earn college credit and credentials, and design meaningful college and career identities with a community that believes in them. A place where who they are is honored, and who they can become is limitless.

    We’re designing a system that doesn’t just measure what students do four years after high school, but who they are forty years after—how they lead, contribute, and shape the world around them. My journey, and my grandfather’s journey, shouldn’t be an anomaly; it should be a blueprint we institutionalize. The future our young people deserve is one they can claim with agency and confidence—and it’s a future we’re committed to building together.