About
History of Ponderosa
The roots of Ponderosa High School date back to 1914, when several one-room school houses consolidated into one school while the Parker High School was under construction. The Parker Consolidated High School was completed in 1915, and accredited in 1936.
In 1915, the School District provided transportation in horse drawn school buses. For those students providing their own transportation to Parker Consolidated School the County paid one dollar per mile once a month. The school colors were green and white and the buffalo was their mascot.
The first newspaper of Parker High School was published in 1936, and was called The Foghorn. The name for the newspaper was submitted by Lewis Christiansen in 1936, and was the only name submitted. The name of the newspaper was changed to The Plainsman in 1938.
In 1958, the State told the Presidents of each School Board in all nineteen Douglas County School Districts they had to reorganize. Since the school at Castle Rock, which was at that time called Douglas County High School, was larger and more centrally located than the school at Parker, the committee promoted consolidation by telling everyone that if all high school students went to Castle Rock there would be better classes, better teachers and more activities. Several meetings and discussions were held before consolidation was voted in.
On September 25, 1979, a citizens committee searching for possible sites for the new Parker area high school met for the first time. The guidelines for determining a school site were as follows: the Parker high school should be located on a minimum 50 acre site that has safe access and utilities available; the site should be between Franktown on the south and the Arapahoe County line on the north and within three miles of Highway 83.
On November 4, 1979, the committee selecting a site for the Parker area high school recommended the present site to the Board of Education. Bids for construction of the new building were opened on March 24, 1981.
One interesting fact about the development of Ponderosa High School – a new superintendent was appointed in 1958 by the name of Lowell Baumunk. One of his first responsibilities given to him by the Board of Education of Douglas County was to close the old Parker High School. Before he retired in January of 1982, one of his last official acts was to sign the contract for the construction of Ponderosa High School.
–Excerpt from the 1983 PHS Dedication Program
Ponderosa officially opened its doors in January of 1983.
The Ponderosa Dedication Ceremony took place on April 12, 1983
Ponderosa’s first graduating class was the Class of 1984