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Fairplay – SCR

Our First Site – Sacramento Creek Ranch, Fairplay Program

📍 Address: 2234 Busch Run, Fairplay, CO
🕒 Hours: Monday–Thursday, 7:30 AM–4:30 PM

A group of children from Fairplay High Rockies Community School sit side-by-side on a log bridge over a shallow creek, surrounded by green bushes and trees, with blue sky and clouds overhead, enjoying a sunny day outdoors. A group of children at High Rockies Community School sit on the floor of a garage-like room, facing forward. Shelves with supplies and a whiteboard are visible. The door opens to a sunny Fairplay outdoor area where two adults are standing.  

Learning at Sacramento Creek Ranch

High Rockies Community School’s Fairplay program lives at Sacramento Creek Ranch, in partnership with Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT). Just outside of town, learning unfolds in open meadows, along forested trails, beside beaver ponds, and along Sacramento Creek. The land itself becomes the classroom, supporting outdoor, community-centered learning rooted in place and shaped by the rhythms of the mountain seasons. Set on conserved land, students learn within a landscape grounded in stewardship, community, and care for place. They observe wildlife, study ecosystems firsthand, track seasonal change, and build a deep sense of belonging to the land they call home.

Our Fairplay Learning Spaces (Today)

Our Fairplay program is designed so learning begins outdoors and flows inward only when needed. Each day, students move fluidly between spaces depending on weather, activity, and focus.

Outdoor learning spaces include:

Indoor and semi-indoor learning spaces include:

Students move seamlessly between these environments throughout the day, building independence, resilience, and comfort learning in dynamic conditions.

The Barn Project: What’s Coming Next

Two people stand at a podium outside Fairplay High Rockies Community School, a wooden building with solar panels. A table, shovels, and construction signs suggest a groundbreaking event. An American flag hangs above the entrance.

Education Center in the Barn at Sacramento Creek Ranch

We are in the process of transforming the barn at Sacramento Creek Ranch into a dedicated indoor learning and community education space for our Fairplay program.

This future space will support hands-on, interdisciplinary learning while continuing to center outdoor education. It will allow us to gather, collaborate, and deepen learning during colder weather without losing our strong connection to place.

Anticipated opening: February 2026

The project reflects strong community partnership and a shared commitment to creating meaningful learning spaces for rural students.

A group of adults and children from Fairplay High Rockies Community School, wearing hard hats and safety vests, use shovels to break ground at a construction site, smiling and posing in front of a wooden building.

HRCS and MALT help break ground for the Barn Education Center

Barn Project Updates

Groundbreaking – Fall 2025
Students, families, partners, and supporters gathered at Sacramento Creek Ranch to celebrate the official start of the barn renovation. This milestone marked an exciting step forward for the Fairplay program and the broader community.

 

 

 

 

 

An Average School Day

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