Keep the classroom at the center.

Educator grants, literacy programs, and student mental health dominated every conversation. The Educator Innovation Grant (which funds teacher-led projects across the district) was named in every single focus group as one of the most valuable things CCSF does. With district budgets under pressure, that work is more important now than ever.

The district's goal of all students reading at grade level by 2030 became a shared anchor point across the entire process. CCSF's investments in literacy are part of reaching that goal, and the community wants to see that continue and grow.

The network CCSD built doesn't end at graduation.

Alumni engagement was the single most prioritized growth opportunity in the entire process: not a close second, but the top vote-getter across all priority categories. The community's insight is simple and smart: young alumni can't give money yet, but they can mentor students, open doors, and make connections. Build the relationship now. The giving follows.

One teacher shared that 22 of the 55 current presenters in his Medical Careers class are former students of that same class. That's what alumni engagement looks like when it's working.

The story of Cherry Creek isn't being told widely enough.

In focus group after focus group, the same two obstacles surfaced: people don't know CCSD has a foundation, and people don't believe CCSD needs financial support. Both are real. Both are solvable. The answer isn't a marketing campaign. It's better storytelling, starting with the students and educators whose lives this work changes.

The community was clear: lead with people, not the organization. School-based events, impact stories, and social media topped the list of the most effective ways to reach new audiences.

For CCSF to keep growing, it needs the resources to do it.

Grants and foundations topped the list of philanthropic priorities, with corporate partnerships close behind. Campaign Readiness was the second-highest vote-getter in all of priority voting, a clear signal from the donor and board community that the moment for a major push is now.

Focus group participants named endowment growth as the most important long-term vehicle, especially as CCSF invests more in equity programs that serve students with the greatest need. The Foundation's ability to show up for Cherry Creek students five and ten years from now depends on building that base today.

"Excellence for every student" means every school.

Equity runs through every other pillar. It's not a separate initiative, it's the standard. The community named it plainly: the gap between well-resourced and under-resourced schools in CCSD is real, it's wide, and it's growing. Title 1 schools, ELL classrooms, students with disabilities, and schools without PTCOs were named specifically and repeatedly.

The disability rights and accessibility movement has long insisted that nothing should be decided for a community without that community in the room. Focus group participants said the same about equity program design: it has to be built with the people it's meant to serve, not layered on after the fact.

The ask is concrete: make sure CCSF's resources reach the schools that need them most, not just the ones with the loudest voices. Make sure the stories CCSF tells reflect the full diversity of who Cherry Creek students actually are.