August 2019 – ACC Sturm Collaboration Campus Grand Opening

Castle Rock, CO – August  16, 2019 – Arapahoe Community College, the Sturm Family Foundation and the design-build team of JHL Constructors and DLR Group celebrated the grand opening of the new ACC Sturm Collaboration Campus on Friday, August 16. The innovative $22 million facility sits on a 14.9-acre campus in the heart of Castle Rock; a much-needed, higher education solution for the growing South-Metro area.

The campus is a one-of-a-kind education building that forms a cross-partnership between Arapahoe Community College, Colorado State University, Douglas County School District, Town of Castle Rock, and several local Colorado businesses. Applied learning areas for Cyber Security, Secure Software Development, Business, Accounting, Entrepreneurship and Health Care are paired with industry partners to develop hands-on experience for students and relationships with businesses and professionals in the South-Metro and Denver-Metro area. To solidify the associations with surrounding businesses, the campus features multiple leased spaces within the building, as well as a Community Room, a Maker Space, administrative support space, and adjoining outdoor spaces for events.

The ACC Sturm Collaboration Campus was recently renamed due to the generous donation of up to $10 million, given by the Sturm Family Foundation. The donation is the largest single dollar donation given to the Arapahoe Community College system consisting of thirteen different campuses located across Colorado. Donald Sturm, the chairman and founder of the Sturm Family Foundation, expressed his commitment and excitement about this new education model and platform the campus could provide for future students and business development, “Our participation with Arapahoe Community College was created intentionally to support a new model of industry-aligned higher education that provides students clear on and off ramps while embarking on a path of lifelong learning and workforce success. Through the matching gift opportunity, we wanted to provide a vehicle to enhance the coalition of partners who will leverage our investment to its full potential for the Sturm Collaboration Campus.”

The ACC Sturm Collaboration Campus began classes on Monday, August 19, accommodating over 800 students for the Fall 2019 semester.