This January will be the 60th anniversary of Fairview High School. While some things have remained the same over the past six decades, much of the school has changed. 

The most prominent difference is the new building; before the current school was built, high school classes were held in the building that is now Platt Middle School. 

Aside from the new building, other important changes include the addition of the IB program and the closing of the senior balcony. 

Anders Cote, a senior who has done a lot of research on the history of the school, commented on another major change it has seen. Although it initially had ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades, the Freshman Class was removed after the first year and wasn’t added back in until more than thirty years later.

“Fairview — until the 90’s — only had three grades: sophomore, junior and senior, so when they brought in the IB program, they also needed another grade, so they added a freshman class,” Cote said. 

While some of these changes have displeased the students, such as the closing of the senior balcony, one major change has helped the school in many ways: the recent availability of technology. 

Dan Albritton, a science teacher in his 21st year at the school, as well as an alum, said, “When I went to high school, we didn’t have any computers, so we just had calculators and typewriters.” 

The school has also had many memorable events throughout the years. The most exciting occurrence of the school’s history happened in 1978, when a huge snow storm caused the roof over the student center to collapse. Thankfully, no students were injured. 

Albritton, who attended the school at the time of the roof collapse, said, “You could literally walk into the student center and look up and see the sky, which was crazy.” 

In contrast to the roof collapse, there have also been many fun experiences throughout the years. Tracy Brennan, a language arts teacher in her 15th year at the high school, recalled one annual event that has been the source of many of her favorite memories from her time as a teacher. 

Brennan said, “I love graduations, I love reading names, I love that ceremony, I think that’s a wonderful part of every school year.” 

In addition to all the good memories of the school, there are also a couple things that continue to be more of a challenge. 

One thing that has always been a struggle for students is the stress and anxiety surrounding the expectation to get good grades and do well in class. Due to the abundance of challenging classes at the school, students often find themselves loaded down with homework and assignments. 

“When I first started working here, I think students were more stressed out than they are now, and that’s why I started learning mindfulness,” Brennan said, “but for many students there’s still a high level of stress and anxiety, and that’s one of my goals as a teacher: to keep that stress level down.” 

The senior balcony also used to be a bit of a problem, because troublesome seniors threw items over the balcony, including notebooks, papers and water balloons. In 2009, the senior balcony was closed in with walls, eliminating those problems. 

Despite the more challenging aspects, the school has many great features as well. Throughout the state of Colorado, the school has a great reputation in academics, sports and music. Some teachers also think that it is a pleasant place to work. 

Brennan reflected on the school and her favorite parts of it. “I would just say that Fairview is an amazing place,” she said, “and I’m just happy and proud to be here.”