HAPPY FORTIETH BIRTHDAY, GRALAND!
The Certificate of Incorporation written by Henry Toll, Sr., was filed for Graland School on July 23, 1927.
This summer Graland quietly celebrated its 90th birthday. We are not the oldest private school in Denver, but we are mighty fine -- and thriving.
When I returned last week to school to finish an inventory of boxes earmarked for stage one of the digitizing project of photos, yearbooks, videos, and selected publications, I found stuck in a moldy folder wedged under a filing cabinet in the archives an article from the Denver Post reporting a party which honored Miss Nelson and honored John Comfort to the school. According to the article, dated April 23, 1964, the event marked the 40th anniversary of the school -- in this case, the opening of the two-room pre-school and kindergarten on Colfax Avenue between Cook and Madison. If you are traveling west on Colfax and pass the Bluebird Theatre, you will be near the original location of the first school housed in the Green Lantern Apartments (no longer there). Look south and think of the first Graland School.
Here is the article:
“Approximately 320 parents and faculty members attended a dinner Wednesday night at Graland Country Day School. . . which observed its 40th anniversary.
“John Comfort, newly appointed Headmaster, was the principal speaker and was welcomed to Colorado by Governor John Love. Comfort paid tribute to Miss Georgia Nelson, retiring director of Graland.
“The school that you see . . . once existed solely as a dream in the mind of this remarkable lady who has been (the) director since 1927. You now see it as a living reality.”
That evening Miss Nelson was named Headmistress Emeritus of Graland. We have replaced the names headmistress and headmaster with the title Head of School.
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
