Our History
In 1929, Elizabeth Sage Hare, a woman of extraordinary vision and compassion, convinced a group of friends to join her in founding the Fountain Valley School of Colorado. They shared the belief that a boarding school dedicated to traditional standards of excellence and progressive ideals of individual dignity and creative promise would thrive in the great American West.
With the help of Colorado Springs entrepreneur and philanthropist Spencer Penrose, Hare convinced the School's first headmaster, Francis Mitchell Froelicher, to come West to start the School, and 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 Jack Bradley, and the School's first building was Bradley's spectacular 1927 home designed by Addison Mizner. The house, known as Casa Serena and commonly referred to as the Hacienda, was surrounded by a polo field, stables and some small residences for ranch hands.
Hare purchased the Lazy B Ranch and all of its amenities for $150,000 in November of 1929. The School opened as a boarding school for boys in September of 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), and Boardman Robinson (art). Froelicher, a nationally recognized progressive educator, was the leader behind incorporating the environment into Fountain Valley's programs. FVS became co-educational in 1975.
Early funders, in addition to Hare, Penrose, and Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms, included Hagner Holme and Alfred Cowles. The School has had the following headmasters throughout its history: Froelicher served from 1930 to 1950 and was succeeded by Henry B. Poor (1951–1958), Lewis Perry Jr (1958–1978), Timothy Knox (1978–1987), Eric S. Waples (1987–1995), John E. Creeden (1995–2007), Craig W. Larimer Jr. '69 (2007-2013), William V. Webb (2013-2022), and Megan Harlan (2022–present).
