Kent Denver School - Campus

Campus

Kent Denver is located at Colorado Boulevard and Quincy Avenue in Cherry Hills Village. The 200-acre (81 ha) campus is centered on two lakes and bordered by the Highline Canal. The campus houses 43 classrooms in four main building complexes. The old boys' school is now the middle school, housing grades 6 through 8 at the bottom of what is simply known as "The Hill". Likewise, the upper school, grades 9 through 12, are housed in the old girls' school.

Most student life is centered on the Bogue Common Room,a former courtyard that was walled in to create a meeting place with a cafe for the upper school. Until the recent completion of the Student Center for the Arts, most all-upper-school meetings took place here. Adjacent to the common room and the main upper school hallway is the Boettcher Foundation Library. Science classes were held from before the merger to 2001 in the Gates Science Center, situated between the library and the middle school. A significant renovation that year added the Bob and Betsy Magness Technology Center with new classrooms, laboratories and office space. The Gates Science Center/Magness Technology Center is also home to an aquarium and three computer labs. The new building also houses an astrometric (sundial) tower which was completed with the help of KDS astronomy students.

The theatre, music and visual arts departments recently relocated to the Student Center for the Arts, completed in 2006, which houses the 500-seat Anschutz Family Theatre. This is intended to replace El Pomar Hall, which as a converted dining hall was inadequate as a performance space. El Pomar has been renovated, and serves as a smaller, 125-seat performing arts venue.

Kent Denver's commercial music program, in particular, has gained a considerable reputation on the local, regional, and national levels. The program's R&B ensemble - the Quincy Ave. Rhythm Band - has been recognized by DownBeat Magazine six times in the past five years. In addition, the program's ensembles travel each year to learn more about the musical culture of that city. In the past, the student-musicians have traveled to Memphis, New Orleans, Miami, and New York.

In 2011, Kent Denver completed another significant campus project with the opening of a new Dining Hall, the first LEED-Platinum building of its kind. Thanks to the many enhancements made in the building's design and construction, the Dining Hall boasts a 42% energy savings over comparable buildings, and it was built using materials that are environmentally friendly, sustainably produced, and/or locally sourced. http://www.archdaily.com/175179/kent-denver-dining-hall-semple-brown-design/