Fountain Valley School of Colorado
| Fountain Valley School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 6155 Fountain Valley School Road, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80911 | |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent preparatory school |
| Established | 1930 |
| Head of school | William V. Webb |
| Faculty | ~47 |
| Grades | Grades 9-12 |
| Enrollment | ~260 |
| Color(s) | Red and grey |
| Mascot | Danes |
| Information | (719) 390-7035 |
| Website | http://www.fvs.edu/ |
Fountain Valley School of Colorado is a private, co-educational independent college preparatory school for students in the 9th through 12th grades. The school's primary campus is located on 1,100 acres (4 km2) of rolling prairie at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The school also owns and utilizes a 40-acre Mountain Campus located near Buena Vista.
FVS is a member of the Association of Boarding Schools, or TABS, and is home to the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute for teaching professionals.
FVS was founded in 1930 by Elizabeth Sage Hare, a wealthy New York native who moved to Colorado Springs in 1927 in hopes that the fresh air would help heal her husband's tuberculosis (see tuberculosis treatment in Colorado Springs). Hare dreamed of creating "a great progressive school in the West" in the tradition of prestigious schools in the East, such as Avon Old Farms in Connecticut. With the help of Colorado Springs entrepreneur and philanthropist Spencer Penrose, she convinced the school's first headmaster, Francis Mitchell Froelicher to come west to start the school.
Hare commissioned architect John Gaw Meem to use the Pueblo Revival Style architecture model for its design. The site chosen for the school was a large ranch, known as Lazy B Ranch, belonging to Palm Beach polo enthusiast Jack Bradley. The school's first building was Bradley's spectacular 1927 home, designed by Adison Mizner. The house was known as Casa Serena, and was surrounded by a polo field, stables, and some small residences for ranch hands. Hare purchased the Lazy B and all of its amenities for $150,000 in November 1929.
The school opened as a boarding school for boys in September 1930. Original faculty members included F. Martin Brown, who taught science, Alexander S. Campbell (English), Roswell C. Josephs and Robert C. Langdon (mathematics), Ernest Kitson (music), C. Dwight Perry (French), Boardman Robinson (art), and Froelicher himself, who taught history. Early funders, in addition to Hare and Penrose, included Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms, Lucile Alsop, Hagner Holme and Alfred Cowles.
...
Wikipedia