Conifer High School


Conifer High School is a secondary school in Conifer, an unincorporated town located in the foothills of Jefferson County, southwest of Denver, Colorado, United States. The school is located about 20 minutes southwest of SH 470 and a short distance north of U.S. Highway 285.

History

Conifer High School opened in the fall of 1996 to serve students in the southern portion of what had previously been Evergreen High School's matriculation area. The area encompasses a large part of southwestern Jefferson County, including the communities of Aspen Park, Buffalo Creek, Pine, and Pine Junction, as well as parts of southern Evergreen and southwestern Morrison.
The land for the school campus was acquired in a county action of eminent domain, which gives landowners the choice of either a county purchase of the land or condemning the property. One parcel was a picnic area named "Rancho Lobo;" when it came time to choose a mascot, the vote decided upon the Lobos.
The opening of the school coincided with changes in the divisions of secondary, junior high, and elementary schools for the district. This meant that the first year of students consisted of eleventh grade students who had attended Evergreen High School during the previous year, and two classes of "freshmen" in ninth and tenth grade students from West Jefferson Middle School. The first year had no senior class; the first graduating class was in 1998.
In September 2014, the school gained notoriety when many teachers called in sick in response to pending actions by the Jefferson County School District. These included possible censorship of the AP US History curriculum as well as a lack of transparency in a new performance-based pay system for teachers. The following week, students and teachers at several other Jefferson County Schools joined in vocal response to the district.

Enrollment

Areas in the school's attendance boundary include: Indian Hills CDP.
Enrollment by grade in the 2013–2014 academic year:
Enrollment by race/ethnicity in the 2013–2014 academic year:
Race/ethnicityEnrollment
American Indian/Alaskan4
Asian/Pacific Islander12
Black4
Hispanic48
White748

Enrollment by gender in the 2013–2014 academic year:

Campus

Community use

The building houses a substation of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. It also once housed a campus of Red Rocks Community College. This relationship with Red Rocks allowed students to take some college courses, after normal school hours, and receive both college and high school credit. As of 2007 Red Rocks no longer operates this campus.
Conifer High School shares its library with the Jefferson County Public Library system. During school hours the library is restricted to school staff and students. After school and on weekends the library is open to the public. The public library is open six days a week, and is closed on Friday.
The building is also used for many events including health drives, holiday boutiques, and community festivals. During the wildfire season, the school has been used as a Red Cross shelter.

Architectural distinction

Designed by architectural firm LKA Partners, Conifer High School's architecture has been awarded several honors:
Conifer High School is a member of the Colorado High School Activities Association in District 4. It participates in activities in both the 3A classification and the 4A classification, situated between the 600 and 1400 student breakpoints for each of these classifications.

Athletics

Conifer High School students have the opportunity to participate in the following athletic activities under the Colorado High School Activities Association:
In 2002 Rachael Lehmkuhl was the 4A State Gymnastics All Around Champion.

Softball

2003 Conifer High School's softball team won the 4A state championship.

Marching band

The 2006 Conifer High School marching band, the Lobo Regiment, won the 3A state championship. This was one of Conifer's many times back to competing in 3A class, as previous marching seasons had been competed in class 4A. The 2009 Lobo Regiment again competed in class 4A. They got 10th in 4A State in 2009, 2010, and 2011. In their 2012 season the Lobo Regiment finished 4th in the state. This was their first time making state finals in 4A since 2007. The Lobo Regiment again competed in 3A during the 2013 season where they sat atop the leader boards all year but somehow only placed 3rd in State competition after receiving the caption awards for best music and best general effect. Remaining in 3A, Conifer took 4th in 2014, 5th in 2015 and 8th in 2016. Most recently, the Lobo Regiment took home 7th in 2017.
Conifer High School's music program has always been turbulent as the school has seen eight different directors in only 22 years. Only the first director of the program remained longer than three years. All other directors have fallen to, what is known by students as the “three year curse.”

Faculty and staff

The following individuals have been principals of Conifer High School.
PrincipalYears
Barry Schwartz1996–2003
Cyndi Whitlock2003–2006
Pat Termin 2006–2008
Mike Musick2009 – 2013
Wes Paxton2013–Present

In the news

In May 2007, Conifer High School was featured in national news due to controversy over their yearbook, which included photographs and text depicting student alcohol and drug use.

Spirit Rock

Conifer's Spirit Rock is painted on a regular basis, for special school sporting events, awareness months, or to celebrate seniority at the school. This is a means to reflect school spirit. Conifer has had two rocks; their first was destroyed by a rival Evergreen High School student in an effort to bring the rock back to Evergreen High School. The rocks originally called Evergreen home, but were then stolen by Conifer students.