Curtis School

School District 36 in Arapahoe County supervised schooling in the area in the 1880s. The Breene Avenue school, now known as Cherry Hills Village Elementary School, opened in 1896 at the intersection of Quincy Avenue and University Boulevard. In 1898, a second school was opened in a house donated by Arthur deKoevend; however, it was quickly outgrown.

In 1902, a frame building was erected on an acre of land donated by Mary J. Curtis on the corner of East Orchard Avenue and University Boulevard. The school had one teacher to attend to the ten pupils. The schoolhouse became the envy of the Breene Avenue school neighborhood, and it was decided there would be "the swap" of schools. Sure enough, the Curtis building was moved to the Breene Avenue location, and the Breene building was deposited at Orchard and University.

The first Curtis School had ten pupils

including the deKoevend children.

Courtesy of Centennial Journal.

In 1913, construction commenced on a new brick Curtis School at the cost of $3,200 and was completed in 1914. The building involving "the swap" was moved again to the southwest corner of the school property. In 1914, Curtis School terminated its relationship with School District 36 and became School District 37. It's reasonable to believe this was an offensive move after the 1902 swap, as well as the Curtis School neighbors and parents desiring local control of the school.

The school was built as a one-story red brick schoolhouse representing the preferred architecture of Colorado's early twentieth-century rural schoolhouses. The L-shaped layout of the building, as described in the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, is composed of three sections: a gabled entrance bay, a central, rectangular section that includes the small stage, and a rear rectangular wing, which was added in 1932. The 1914 building included a large school bell, a stage, a basement with a coal furnace, and gas lanterns for lighting. There was no running water or indoor plumbing. The school property also had two outhouses and a barn to house the student's horses.

Coatsworth C. Pinkney, first attending school as a first grader

in 1912, remembers, "that there were swings made from old

telephone poles and three or four teeter-totters in the

schoolyard." Courtesy of Curtis Center for the Arts.

Improvements to the school followed. In 1917, electricity was installed, and the gas lanterns were sold. In the early 1930s an artesian well was drilled in the playground, with folks stopping by to fill jugs of the warm water. Indoor plumbing was added between 1933-1935. Much to the relief of Mrs. Fredericksen, a teacher at Curtis who had the added chore of shoveling coal into the furnace, a new stoker furnace was added in 1937. The playground was expanded in 1941 when an adjoining landowner swapped one acre of land in exchange for water from the well.

By 1932, school enrollment had grown to 80 students and three teachers for grades one through nine. In addition to the three Rs, there were annual Christmas pageants and programs, including the newly introduced "Indian Clubs," used for physical fitness, carnivals, May Day festivities, and Kite Day. There were also Halloween pranks, such as the windows being soaped, a cow led up the front stairs of the school blocking the door, and wagons being placed on the roof. Apparently, the antics sometimes extended into the winter, with students taking a drink of water from the artesian well and spitting it into the outside locks. The teachers would light a match to thaw the locks. The children were sent home on a few occasions, and the janitor spent the morning warming the locks.

Jesse Pinkney Horn, a student at the school from 1913-1921,

recalls "that the land around the Curtis School was prairie

then, where the children picked Johnny-jump-ups and

other wild flowers." The photo is dated 1912. Courtesy

of Curtis Center for the Arts.

In addition to the building serving as a school, it was the nexus of the community and its activities. The Grandview Grange began meeting at the older 1901 school building on the property's southwest corner. The building was sold for $75.00 in 1931. (It is believed the school was incorporated into the house at 2121 Orchard Road.) With the sale of the school and a growing membership, they began meeting in the school's basement. Church services were held on Sundays, and Vacation Bible School was held during the summer in the school. After Greenwood Village's incorporation in 1949, the school served as the Town Hall (the Town Hall was relocated to the firehouse at the intersection of the Highline Canal and University Boulevard in the 1960s). In the 1950's, traffic court was held when the school day was finished.

Grandview Grange extended dance invitations

and activities regularly in the Littleton Independent.

This dance appeared on August 25, 1916. Courtesy

of The Littleton Independent.

As families migrated from the cities into the suburbs after World War II, Curtis School again adapted to the community's needs. In 1948, the Curtis School District was integrated into what is currently Littleton Public Schools District 6. The school was now to serve only first through sixth grade. During the 1950s, a teacher was hired to provide instruction for what were referred to as disabled students. A kitchen was installed in the basement to offer hot lunches. The playground area grew with five additional acres purchased by the school district.

The continuing operation of the school was threatened when the school board announced the school would be closed and children would be bused to other schools. Clearly, that was not welcome news to parents; however, the parents successfully kept the school open. Unfortunately, the parents were unsuccessful when the district announced the closing of Curtis School in 1967 due to aging mechanical systems in the building, increased traffic, and the lack of a gymnasium. Parents objected to the lack of a gymnasium, expressing they preferred to have the children play outside.

Greenwood Village became responsible for Curtis Park when it assumed the lease from South Suburban Park, which was owned by District 6, in 1971. In 1973, with the approval of the Green Oaks development, property on the west side of the park was deeded to Greenwood Village. The Littleton District Schools continued to use the school for various functions.

In 1985, the Littleton School District sold the Curtis School site (the building and one-acre parcel of land) to the Mission Hills Baptist Church. There was one hiccup with the sale as it needed approval from Mary J. Curtis's heirs. The original 1901 deed included a stipulation that the land was to be used only for school purposes, and if the schoolhouse were removed from the parcel, then the land would revert to Mrs. Curtis or her heirs. In addition, Greenwood Village was to negotiate an agreement with the church that if the school were to be demolished, the city would have the right to move the school.

Greenwood Village approved the allocation of funds in 1987 to relocate the school 300 feet to its current location in 1988. The school's front entrance now faces Orchard Road instead of University Boulevard. From 1988 through 1991, preservation work included the exterior, interior, and landscaping, and it brought the building into current code compliance. On September 28, 1991, Curtis School was opened as the Greenwood Village Arts and Humanities Center, now known as Curtis Center for the Arts, with the mission "To prove a multi-disciplinary public intuition where the community can experience cultural, social and educational programs related to the arts and interpretation of Greenwood Village and the surrounding Arapahoe County to reveal time-honored traditions and heritage."