In the spring of 1922, three teachers, Mary Kent Wallace, Mary Austin Bogue and Mary Louise Rathvon—known affectionately as the "Three Marys"—went on a mountain retreat. When they returned to Denver, they had plans to open their own school. 

By the fall, the Three Marys had secured thirteen faculty members, 82 students (including a few boys in the elementary grades!) and a mansion-turned-school-building at 933 Sherman Street in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood. On September 18, 1922, the newly christened Kent School for Girls—named for founding principal Mary Kent Wallace—held its first day of classes.

One hundred years later—after three campuses, a merger with the all-boys Denver Country Day School, and countless other evolutions—we will celebrate the school's Centennial anniversary with a year of programs for the entire Kent Denver community. We aim not only to highlight school history, but also to connect our past with the decisions we are making today and the plans we are laying for the next 100 years of Kent Denver!

2022: A Year of Celebration

Our student, family and alumni communities have already marked the school's 100th birthday with events this spring, including:

• January and February: Regional alumni reunions in Austin, Texas and Los Angeles
• A jam-packed April that featured:
  • A 100th Birthday Tribute read in the State House of Representatives. Members of our KDS community—including Board of Trustees President Kristin McKissick, Centennial Chairs Lucy Stookesberry Chused '02 and Annie Rapson Johnson '02, Tom Blickensderfer '75 and Jill Cowperthwaite '72—attended the morning session to represent the school during the reading.
    • Read the full tribute text or watch a video of the reading on the Kent Denver Instagram page.
  • The Centennial edition of our signature Ethics Day program with keynote remarks from Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Chantal Weatherley-White Unfug '85
    • Read the 2022 Distinguished Alum: Chantal Unfug '85 profile for more about Chantal's career and her visit to campus
  • An alumni event at Meow Wolf celebrating art and innovation on campus and in the city
  • A record-breaking Kent Denver Parents' Association Kentennial Auction
• June: Our Centennial Class' Commencement ceremony 
  • For more from our graduates on what their Kent Denver experiences means to them, take a look at our Senior Stories feature
  • Our Centennial Class left an incredible legacy with the Centennial Scholarship Fund, a student-driven fundraising effort focused on financial aid for future KDS students. Read more about their efforts in Class of 2022 Launches the Centennial Scholarship Fund.

100th Birthday Bash

Looking ahead to fall 2022, alumni will gather for Centennial Weekend:

• Thursday, October 6–Sunday, October 9: Homecoming athletics and campus events for the entire community
• Friday, October 7: Milestone class reunions for our 2s and 7s graduates
• Saturday, October 8: 100th birthday bash for alumni and current and former faculty

For more information about the schedule of events and to purchase your Centennial tickets, visit the Centennial website!

Centennial Publication

We will cap off the Centennial year with a special publication featuring historical materials from the school archives, plus stories and memorabilia from the entire Kent Denver community. If you would like to contribute to the content or share a memory or artifact from your personal archives, please contact Elyse Rudolph, Director of Alumni Relations & Special Events, by email (erudolph@kentdenver.org) or phone (303-770-7660 ext. 228).

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Make sure to check our monthly Alumni Connection e-newsletter for additional event details and regular updates on our Centennial plans!
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A Peek Into the Archives

As part of our Centennial celebration, we're combing through Kent Denver’s vast collection of historic materials and spotlighting some of the stories and images from the past around campus and online.

If you're visiting campus this year, you can take a trip back in time via giant flags along the driveway and High Line Canal Trail. You can also get a peek at the flags, which feature photos representing each of Kent Denver's 11 decades, in the video below! We're also sharing a few of the archival images and stories we've surfaced in a new interactive timeline on the Centennial page.

Kent Denver Celebrates 100th Year With Driveway Flags from Kent Denver School on Vimeo.