The Lowell Whiteman School

New Campus Plan

An intensive, multi-year planning and design process has been underway since November 2005 to develop the vision and the plans for dramatically enhancing the Lowell Whiteman School’s campus and facilities for the next 25 years. This planning process continues to evolve, with thoughtful deliberation, broad representation from all LWS constituencies and respectful attention to the school’s heritage, mission and strong sense of place.

At its August 2007 board meeting, the LWS Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the Campus Master Plan we now call “Building on the Experience.” While golden aspen leaves swirled around campus in the autumn wind, a similar flurry of planning activity occurred inside, involving members of the Campus Plan Steering Committee and the school’s architectural design team. This dedicated group of volunteers, staff, designers, consultants and engineers refined the plan, considered infrastructure issues, conferred with neighbors and prepared documentation for the school’s Conditional Use Permit amendment application to the Routt County Planning Commission. In January 2008, the commissioners unanimously approved the plan at the conceptual level. Comments and questions from commissioners, faculty, staff and neighbors were insightful, respectful and constructive. Indeed, toward the end of the hearing, individual commissioners congratulated the school for its deliberate, well-thought-out plans for its future.

New Boys' Dorm Ceremony & The Old #9 Stock Brand

Construction is in the last stages on the new boys' residence hall.   Students, especialy the boys,  are watching the painting, carpet, and wood floor installation with interest.

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colorado (October 15, 2009) — Press Release – The Lowell Whiteman School offered a sneak peek at its new $1.5 million boys' residence hall with a celebration Fri., Oct. 23^rd, as distinctive as its college preparatory education.

It’s part of the $2.3 million investment to date the school has made towards Building on the Experience campaign, a 10-year Campus Master Plan that will eventually see such improvements as a new Student Center, remodel and expansion of science labs, classrooms, an addition to the gym, more faculty/staff housing, green spaces and outdoor recreational facilities through an on-going and successful fund-raising campaign.

The school will put a special "brand" on the event to honor its colorful history and mission of integrating, rigorous classroom learning, challenging wilderness experiences, unique foreign travel,  and a premier winter sports program.

Specifically, the original “9” stock brand belonging to school founder Lowell Whiteman, first registered in 1900 and considered one of the oldest in Colorado, will be heated over a campfire then branded onto a handrail salvaged from the circa 1940s Bunkhouse the new dormitory building is replacing.

“The idea of many hands having touched this beautifully worn wood over the years, of placing Lowell Whiteman’s original brand on it and incorporating it into a railing in the new building really ties our history and sense of place together,” says LWS Director of Development Lane Malone, who has also spearheaded the school’s Building on the Experience campaign.

Lowell Whiteman purchased the "9" brand in 1956, a year before he converted the Whiteman Ranch for Boys to a co-ed boarding school, and transferred it to the school in 1979. “We keep the brand and re-register it every five years because it is a connection to Lowell and those days when the horses were as important to the campus as the dorm rooms,” says Trenia Sanford, LWS director of technology, who has also run the school’s horse program since 1997.