Alexander Dawson School

Dawson School is an independent, private, co-educational, college preparatory day school founded in 1970. Located in Lafayette, Colorado, the school serves children from kindergarten through twelfth grade) (K–12) in Lower, Middle and Upper School on a campus of 107acre.HistoryIn 1967, Girard B. Henderson established the Colorado Junior Republic School (CJR) at Stapps Lake, Colorado. The school started as a summer school for underprivileged children. It was later expanded into a year-round school, and then converted to a college preparatory program.Early yearsIn 1970, the school moved to Lafayette. Colorado, where construction began on several new buildings. An industrious student body, "citizens" attended class, worked the farm and ranch, prepared meals, built structures, flew airplanes, and ran athletic and theatrical programs.In 1980, the school changed its name to Alexander Dawson School in honor of Henderson's father, Alexander Dawson Henderson. Responding to increasing demand for a rigorous academic program, the school developed into a college preparatory independent school.In the 1990s, the school grew from 26 students in grades 7-12 to a population of 386, grades K-12, and was now an independent day school.2000–presentAthletic programs became more competitive, with 22 championship banners earned since 2000. Mandarin was added to the world languages curriculum in 2007, and two years later, the language immersion program expanded into China. The Speech and Debate Club launched that same year, and has earned four state championships, and a FIRST Robotics program launched as well.