Wolcott School for Girls

Anna Wolcott Vaile (May 25, 1868 – 1928) was an American educator who established the Wolcott School for Girls and was on the Board of Regents for the University of Colorado.  She established Wolcott School in 1898 to serve the children of Denver society. Former students include Mamie Eisenhower; Helen Brown, the daughter of RMS Titanic survivor Molly Brown, and Clara Cody, granddaughter of Buffalo Bill Cody. Wolcott was the principal and a teacher. Helen Ring Robinson and other faculty members from Wolfe Hall taught at the school. Its first board of trustees included men, her brother Henry R. Wolcott, Adolph Coors of Coors Brewing Company, mine-owner John F. Campion, and attorney F.O. Vaile. Women trustees were Mrs. Charles Kountze, Mrs. David Moffat, and Mrs. Walter Cheesman.

The school taught all pre-college grades of students and prepared students for advanced colleges and universities. Although it was primarily a girls' school, boys were accepted at the lower grades. It was primarily a boarding school, but it also accepted a limited number of non-residents. Academic courses included English, mathematics, history, art, literature, science, a number of languages, astronomy, psychology, political science, and arithmetic. It also had art, music and gymnastic classes. Lectures were also given by people of national reputation. The school produced a Shakespearean play each spring at Elitch Theatre. The school newspaper was The Spokesman.

The school was located at 14th and Marion Streets in Capitol Hill. Built in 1898, perhaps by Frederick Sterner, it was a Renaissance Revival style building with round arched windows and balconies. The school had large classrooms, a music room with a pipe organ, an auditorium, a swimming pool, a bowling alley, and dormitories. In 1906, a three-story addition was added with an alley bridge from the main building, that looked like a Venetian bridge. There were then a total of three buildings. Then, the trustees added a park and clubhouse by 1910. After Wolcott's marriage in 1912 and until 1922, Mary Kent Wallace ran the school. The school closed in 1924.