Aurora names new school for prominent black couple

Aurora Public Schools’ newest school, which will serve students in preschool through eighth grade, will be named after a prominent African American family, a first for the school district, which has long served a large population of students of color.

The new school at East 6th Avenue and Airport Boulevard will be named the Edna and John W. Mosley P-8 school, the city’s school board decided Tuesday night. The mascot will be a Red-Tailed Hawk.

The late Edna Mosley was Aurora’s first African-American city council member. She was first elected in 1991 and served on the council for 12 years.

John Mosley, now 93, has received wide recognition for his pioneering achievements as an athlete and in the military.

According to the district:

During her tenure [on city council], she was influential in anti-gang programs, local gun control legislation and civil rights issues. She was also instrumental in the redevelopment of the former Fitzsimons Army Base into the Anschutz Medical Campus and in the transformation of the former Lowry Air Force Base into a vital new community. Edna Mosley also held positions with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and as director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with the University of Denver. She was a founder of the Women’s Bank, created in 1978 to provide women equal access to financial services. As an African-American student, [John Mosley, in 1939,] was barred from living at the [Colorado State University] residence halls, denied service in local restaurants, and experienced racial discrimination on campus. Despite these obstacles, Mosley became the first black student to play on the CSU football team and in the Mountain States Conference. He subsequently worked as special assistant to the undersecretary in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in Washington, D.C. and for the Department of Health and Human Services in Denver.

The school is developing a model that will teach students to tap their own strengths and how to bounce back from challenges. It will open in the fall.