Jefferson County Public Schools (Colorado)

The first school in Jefferson County and the second school in Colorado opened in Golden on January 9, 1860. It stood at around today's 1304 Washington Avenue and was a rented log cabin, with school taught by Thomas Daughterty, with 18 students, financed through tuition and subscription. Its second term was taught by Miss M. F. Manly. When Jefferson County was organized by the Territorial government in 1861, the capability of organizing public schools became reality, and George West became the first superintendent of Jefferson County schools. After a mill levy was created in 1862, the first two school districts, Golden and Vasquez (roughly today's Wheat Ridge/Arvada area), were organized in 1863. That September the first public school in the county opened in Golden.[4]

Over time, as the population grew and spread across the county, more and more school districts were organized, each with its own elected board to govern them. They were a diverse variety of schools, from the stately brick edifices of urban Golden which operated through the traditional school year, to the rural one-room wooden schoolhouses that operated during the summer months because winter in the mountains made it difficult for students to attend. Some school districts only rented buildings for class; others shared into neighboring counties. The first building constructed as a Jefferson County public school, around the area of 14th and Arapahoe Streets in Golden, was never completed and eventually sold in 1866 to Colorado Territorial Governor Alexander Cummings for $2,700 for use as the Territorial Executive Building. Its replacement, the first completed public school building in Jefferson County, still stands today at 1420 Washington Avenue in Golden. After the completion of its successor at today's 1314 Cheyenne Street in 1873, later known as the South School, Jefferson County's first senior high school, Golden High School, was organized. The first public school graduations in Jefferson County were held in the 1880s.

By 1894 Jefferson County school enrollment was around 1,500 students, with 54 high school students. By 1939 Jeffco had blossomed to 3,883 students with 1,426 high schoolers. In the early 20th century, however, population shifts and other factors began to spur consolidation. The Lorraine School District of Jefferson County merged with the Mandalay School District of Boulder County (Broomfield) in 1917. In 1920 the Montana, Lakeview, Midway and Mt. Carbon districts merged to become Bear Creek District C-1. In 1923 several mountain districts merged into Evergreen District C-2, while in 1945 Washington Heights and Bancroft merged to form School District 52. However, some school districts went by the wayside including South Platte in 1944, Pleasant Park in 1946, and Pine Grove. By 1950 only 39 of the 54 individually organized school districts remained.

Note: several districts have different identities over time.

• 1 - Golden
• 2 - Everett/Vasquez/Arvada
• 3 - Mt. Vernon/Kittredge
• 4 - Bergen/Creswell
• 5 - Bear Creek/Mt. Carbon
• 6 - Ralston/Fremont
• 7 - Upper Ralston/Leyden
• 8 - Vasquez/Wheat Ridge
• 9 - Mt. Vernon/Bradford Junction/Conifer
• 10 - Guy Hill
• 11 - Platte/Spruce Park & Sprucedale
• 12 - Ralston
• 13 - Mountain/Rockland
• 14 - Clear Creek/Maple Grove
• 15 - Platte Canyon/Deer Creek
• 16 - Bear Creek/Montana
• 17 - Turkey Creek/Brownville/Medlen
• 18 - Pine & Estabrook
• 19 - Pleasant Park
• 20 - Fairmount
• 21 - Lakewood/Edgewater
• 22 - Mt. Morrison
• 23 - Lothrop
• 24 - South Platte
• 25 - Lorraine & Mandalay
• 26 - Turkey Creek/Hodgson
• 27 - Coal Creek Canyon/Columbine
• 28 - Pine Grove
• 29 - Belcher Hill
• 30 - Buffalo Creek/Evergreen
• 31 - Soda Creek
• 32 - Fruitdale
• 33 - Jefferson City/Plainview
• 34 - Kassler
• 35 - Urmston
• 36 - Lamb
• 37 - Lakeview
• 38 - Parmelee Gulch
• 39 - Semper
• 40 - Buffalo Creek
• 41 - Bancroft
• 42 - Idledale
• 43 - Wagner
• 44 - Prospect Valley
• 45 - Midway
• 46 - Sampson
• 47 - Lakewood - Stober Elementary
• 48 - Daniels
• 49 - Denver View
• 50 - Washington Heights
• 51 - Mountair
• 52 - Washington Heights & Bancroft
• C-1 - Bear Creek Consolidated
• C-2 - Evergreen Consolidated

In 1950, the 39 school districts in Jefferson County were consolidated and reorganized into a single district, Jefferson County R-1 Schools.[5] It was so named as the Reorganized School District 1, and ushered in a modern age in a county where some still sent to school in the original one-room rural schoolhouses. Through the course of time several landmark school buildings had been built across Jefferson County, including Golden's North, South, Central and High schools; the stone Morrison school; and Lakewood's 3-school campus. With renewed energy a new generation would be built, and state-of-the-art schools sprouted across Jefferson County as old schools were phased out. By 1999 Jefferson County had an enrollment of 88,793 students.

Today the next wave of school buildings is being created, as Jefferson County schools move forward into the 21st century. However, a good collection of schools from throughout Jeffco's educational history remain. They serve many uses from private homes to museums, and several are designated Jefferson County, Colorado and National Historic Register landmarks.[6]

Through Jeffco schools' history, there have been several tragic events which have not been forgotten. In 1887 the original Lamb School, which had just been built the year before, burned down and had to be replaced. (The rebuilt school was later destroyed by the Lower North Fork Fire in 2012.)[7] In 1905 Golden's South School, including Golden High School, was saved from explosion by janitor Oscar Nolin when its overheating boiler was minutes away from claiming possibly over 100 lives.[8] In 1916 the original Fruitdale School burned as its students marched to safety. In 1919 an attempt to burn down the South School was made by a parent who was frantic to keep the school from reopening in the wake of the Great Flu Epidemic, but the fire smothered itself out. In 1938 the recently built Buffalo Creek School burned while school was in session from an overheated furnace, and teacher Wilma Barnes successfully got all 15 students to safety.[9] On April 7, 1982, Scott Darwin Michael was shot and killed by classmate, Jason Rocha at Deer Creek Middle School.[10]

Best known is the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, when two students killed 12 students and a teacher. However, that teacher, Dave Sanders, proved another hero, having helped many students to safety before losing his own life.

On February 23, 2010, eighth-graders Reagan Webber and Matt Thieu were shot and wounded at Deer Creek Middle School.[11] The incident ended when math teacher David Benke tackled the perpetrator, Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood, who was armed with a .30-06 Winchester Model 70 [12][13]

In September 2014, students and teachers in schools around the district protested the conservative ideology of the school board, which had proposed reviewing the APUSH curriculum set by the College Board, to focus history education on citizenship and patriotism, while condemning civil disobedience and strike actions.[14][15]