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Dawson is about doing.
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Speak Mandarin. Compose a film score. Study malaria eradication. Excel in algebra. Score the winning goal. Whatever you choose to do at Dawson, you’ll do it well, and you’ll do it well because you’ll be working closely with faculty who love what they do. So what should a smart, eager, excited young person do next? Read on.
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Respect Compassion Courage Integrity
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Dawson is more than a school.
It’s an experience. An adventure. A 107-acre village. A tight-knit family. An exceptional place where students are recognized as individuals and valued for their distinct personalities and abilities. Students not only prepare for college here—they prepare for life. They gain invaluable skills and insights through authentic learning. They grow creatively,
socially, in character and intellect. Dawson stokes their curiosity and shows them how to satisfy it. They discover ways to uncover answers, to cherish and support the world around them and find new ways to view it. They learn to live with integrity, passion, and genuine joy; to be themselves and do their best.
welcome to dawson
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Student Life doing it right
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Engaging. Demanding. Rewarding. Students feel well understood and respected—and like they truly belong. They develop meaningful, fulfilling relationships with their teachers and enjoy a supportive network of peers.
intimate, discussions are lively, ideas are shared, voices are heard. Students have more opportunities: more chances to lead and participate, more occasions to try new things. They get involved in a variety of sports, clubs, and activities. They’re able to go on excursions to destinations near and far.
The small size of the school benefits students in big ways. Classes are
Technology plays many helpful roles here. Students submit work directly from their
What does it feel like to attend Dawson? Exciting.
“ Dawson is filled with outstanding educators who lack arrogance. It’s competitive but supportive. And it seems to pull that one thing out of each kid that helps them grow. That’s special.” Faculty member
iPads for faculty to edit, grade, and add voice comments. And you’ll see students and teachers wirelessly demonstrating their work on classroom projectors. But technology isn’t a destination here; it’s just one of the ways we reach our ultimate goal: an extraordinary education.
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“ Developmentally it’s a perfect fit because of the attention given to my child’s academic growth and his trajectory. There is just as much care devoted to his social and emotional growth, so in every aspect, Dawson’s Lower School is absolutely the right place for us.” lower school parent
Small wonder that our Lower School
students love Dawson so much. The excitement of learning, the pleasure of friendship, and the guidance of outstanding faculty serve as constant positive forces. Add to that the rich curriculum enhanced by physical education, art, music, media studies, and Spanish, and you can understand why these young children are eager to come to school every day.
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Strong academics are brought to life with varied, engaging hands-on experiences. Whether they’re digging in our learning garden, dissecting plants or animals, or spending the night in a teepee on the prairie like a child in 1843, students become fully involved in their own education. It’s one thing to study Spanish in first grade; it’s another to use conversational Spanish to run a mercado (market).
Children not only learn to be good students during their Lower School years; they learn to be good citizens. They get into the practice of following the school’s ideals of respect, compassion, courage, and integrity, and they also learn to be contributing members of a thriving community.
Lower School laying the foundation
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Middle School transition time
middle school means big changes
and challenges, as well as tremendous opportunities. At Dawson, we make the most of every minute of it. Yes, the academics are rigorous—we’re preparing students for Upper School and beyond. But we also recognize the unique energy that characterizes this age group and take advantage of it with relevant outings and activities. Students use Skype to collaborate with children in other countries; they use paint brushes, a pottery wheel, and power tools to express their creativity. They join clubs to learn about rocketry, design thinking, leadership, and public speaking; and they participate frequently in community service—sometimes
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even joining a summertime malariaeradication trip to Africa. Our Middle School teachers are talented, experienced, and dedicated to their craft and their students. In their capacity as advisors and mentors, they help students navigate the highs and lows of adolescence and model crucial lifelong traits like responsibility, self-awareness, and compassion.
“ The teachers and kids here are amazing—they truly care about each of us and want us all to succeed.” middle school student
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Upper School heights of achievement
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Time for the big time. When our students reach Upper School, they become heavily involved in clubs, community service, sports, and challenging academics. By the conclusion of their senior year, they are self-aware, self-directed, capable young adults well equipped for higher education and beyond. Whether they visit colleges with their classmates
or participate in our World Language Immersion Program, they do it with a good idea of who they are and what they want their future to hold. Just before graduation, we hold our Senior Honoring Ceremony, which beautifully demonstrates just how special the Dawson experience is. Faculty, staff, and coaches present
“ We’re able to do everything as students at Dawson. And some of the best mentors I’ve had are the teachers and coaches here.” UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT
thoughtfully crafted tributes to each of the graduating students, demonstrating each of the seniors’ unique talents, accomplishments, and contributions. It’s an emotional event, and it reflects just how powerful and positive the connections are between students and faculty at this school.
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No desks. No computers. No walls. No limit to the ways students can benefit when they get outside of the classroom and make new discoveries. Backpacking. Collecting water samples. Living in other cultures. Interacting with the real world—and learning real lessons from it.
“ It’s so gratifying to see all the ways kids grow throughout their years at Dawson. They become more confident, more at ease with themselves, more willing to jump in and meet challenges.” FACULTY MEMBER
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explore let’s do this
Around the World in 5 Days Backpacking in Utah Cal-Wood Chicago Circle the Globe Colorado Secrets and Specters Costa Rica Extreme Film Making France Great Britain History on the Prairie and in Downtown Denver Keystone Moab Science
Nicaragua Outrigger Kauai Pittsburgh Green Economy Rocks and Ropes Science in Rocky Mountain National Park Snow Science in Keystone Soundscapes: Gamelan Edition Washington, D.C. Week-Long College Tours Wolf Global Scholars Program Woodworking World Language Immersion in Spain, France and China 13
Experiential education Get out there and learn
Education is not a spectator sport. So Dawson makes sure its
Center, where a wagon ride can give them a more visceral feel for pioneer life.
students participate directly in their learning. “Your kids are going to get their hands dirty here,” one faculty member explains. And it’s true: our students use their muscles, their minds, and all of their senses to learn about the world around them. They travel, investigate, and come to fully appreciate countless aspects of nature, culture, history, science, language, and more.
Our all-school Winterim program is “classic Dawson.” It’s a week when students engage in special thematic learning programs, both on and away from campus, depending on their grade level. By seventh grade, a student’s Winterim experience might well take place outside of the country.
It begins in kindergarten with regular field trips and progresses to overnight trips and then week-long class trips in Middle and Upper School. An overnight Lower School excursion might be to the Denver Zoo, where students can use night-vision goggles to observe tigers in the dark; or the Plains Conservation
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With these experiences, Dawson students stretch themselves in mind, body, and character; and gain perspective, experiences, and awareness that will last them a lifetime.
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connect “ The bonds at Dawson run deep and strong. Maybe the best indication of that is the way that alumni tend to stay in touch with teachers and one another long after they’ve graduated.” FACULTY MEMBER
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It’s right where you belong. Friendship. Respect. Recognition. Support. These are the important intangibles attained at a small school that progresses all the way from kindergarten through twelfth grade. It creates a comfort zone that makes it easier to be yourself, try new things, and reach for the stars.
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“ Starting here was easy because not only were the kids nice, but Dawson gets you involved quickly. That helps breaking into any new environment.” STUDENT
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One of Dawson’s most distinctive characteristics is among the
hardest to define. It’s the school’s feeling of closeness. Inclusiveness. Warmth. The sense that each student belongs here and is understood, appreciated, and welcome. It’s part friendship, part collegiality, and 100 percent Dawson. The faculty play a big role in the familial feel of this school. These are exceptional professionals who love their work. They have the time to pay greater attention to students: to provide thoughtful feedback, careful guidance, and enthusiastic encouragement. It’s
a meaningful advantage that every student can recognize and appreciate.
Community the sum is greater
The Dawson community also includes students’ families, who participate in so many aspects of school activities. And it extends beyond Dawson’s gates, because our students reach out and perform so many acts of community service. A strong community is predicated on making a personal investment in the wellbeing of others, and we see that when Dawson’s members help with fundraising, collecting food and clothing, serving meals, and building homes.
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Fall
winter
spring
Cross Country (Boys & Girls)
Basketball (Boys & Girls)
Baseball
Cyclocross (Boys & Girls)
Canoe and Kayak (Boys & Girls)
Golf
Lacrosse (Boys)
Soccer (Boys)
soccer (Girls)
TENNIS (Boys)
Tennis (Girls)
volleyball (Girls)
participate
“ Dawson athletics gives all our students an opportunity to learn about what it takes to be successful on and off the court. Their experiences participating in team sports, individual competitions, and handling adversity are invaluable to our educational philosophy. They learn the value of hard work, setting goals, and bringing their best effort every day. These are all skills they will use the rest of their lives.�
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DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
Jump right in. Get in the game. Be a team player. Push yourself. Everything our students do within the context of our athletics program is emblematic of the entire Dawson experience. Because in all things, the first step to success is do your best.
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athletics play to win
What sounds good to you?
Sprinting around the bases, or down a basketball court or a grassy field? Maybe you prefer the idea of navigating a challenging course on a bicycle or in a kayak. At Dawson, students can try a number of different sports and discover what they love. Whatever the athletic endeavor, it’s an excellent way to internalize our core values of respect, compassion, courage, and integrity—not to mention good sportsmanship and an appreciation for healthy competition. Athletic opportunities abound throughout the school year—three seasons’ worth. With six soccer and lacrosse fields, six tennis courts, two baseball diamonds, two full gyms, a weight room, a rock-climbing wall, a ropes course, and an outdoor swimming pool, there is no shortage of ways to get active. Dawson
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has a canoe/kayak team, as well as the only school-sponsored cyclocross team in the state of Colorado, complete with a home competition course. Beginning in kindergarten students take physical education classes, and in sixth through eighth grades, Dawson—characteristically—insists that all students participate in one of the 13 team-sport options. In seventh and eighth grades, students must participate in athletics. By Upper School, many of our students compete on Dawson’s behalf—sometimes as three-sport student athletes. Not surprisingly, many go on to participate at the next level.
“ Because of our smaller size, Dawson offers greater opportunities to participate in a variety of sports. Come to this school with a good attitude and a willingness to work hard, and there’s no telling what you might accomplish.” COACH
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visual arts
PERFORMING ARTS
ceramics
BAND
digital photography
CHORUS
drawing & painting
DANCE
jewelry making
IMPROV
photography
MUSIC
printmaking
THEATER
sculpture woodworking
create “ Art makes feelings and ideas vivid and tangible. It can enhance students’ appreciation for their own lives by introducing new perspectives. It’s the essential component of human expression that unifies, comforts, inspires, and energizes.” ART TEACHER
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Take the stage. Sing your heart out. Tell it like you see it. With paint, silver, wood, drums, voice, clay pottery, printmaking, and many other media. At Dawson, all of our students “do� art. From kindergarten through twelfth grade, everyone participates in the visual and performing arts. Art is the ultimate example of experiential education: done right, it requires the engagement of your heart and soul, your body and mind. 25
“ To attempt to inhabit the very being of characters, wear their clothes, feel their needs, live out their actions in their time and situation: What better way to empathetically understand our common humanity? And, then, become part of a production seeking to make a great work all mutually share. This is what theater gives us.” STUDENT
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How do we craft a well-rounded education? With clay? Through watercolors? In three-part harmony? Yes, yes, and yes. The Dawson arts program gives exceptional depth and richness to our students’ learning experience. They gain self-discipline, strengthen their powers of observation, learn self-reflection, and discover the countless thrills of culture.
Our arts center contains a full theater, seven performing and visual arts studios—and plenty of activity. Beginning in kindergarten, our students work with more than 20 different media each year. In Middle School, they are exposed to an array of arts electives including ceramics, jewelrymaking, enameling, photography, sculpture, woodworking, and printmaking. From kindergarten through eighth grade, each
class performs at least one play per year, as well as elaborate classroom dramatizations. Upper School features two choirs, instrumental ensembles, dance, and improv troupes. Upper School students put on two major theater productions per year as well as a cabaret. There’s really no limit to the ways students can experience— and benefit from—the arts at Dawson.
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If you’re seeking an outstanding education that broadens not only knowledge, but horizons; if you like the idea of a school that simultaneously nurtures and challenges its students; if you want teachers who don’t merely lecture, but inspire, then you know exactly what you need to do.
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Now it’s your turn. What do you want to do?
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a p p ly y o u r s e l f Admissions do visit us
The best way to see all that Dawson has to offer is to pay a visit to our campus. Please contact us so you can take a guided tour, observe a day in the life of Dawson students and teachers, and meet with the admissions office. We look forward to sharing our school with you.
Phone 303-665-6679 Email admissions@dawsonschool.org website www.dawsonschool.org
“ If you’re a young person who loves to learn, to try new things, to be challenged; if you like the idea of an education that isn’t easy, but that is engaging, Dawson might be exactly where you belong.” director of admissions
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welcome to Dawson
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Student life
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Lower School
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Middle School
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Upper School
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Dawson School 10455 Dawson Drive Lafayette, Colorado 80026 303-665-6679
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Arts Center
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Pool
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Southern Exposure (Private Residences)
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Faculty Housing
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Henderson Hall (Administration)
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Middle School
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Henderson Commons
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Visitor Parking
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Admissions Cottage
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Spanish Cottage
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French Cottage
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World Languages Cottage
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Library
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Lower School
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Athletics Parking
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Athletics Center
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Faculty Housing
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Ropes Course
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