From first grade to sixth grade I went to a magnificent elementary school. It was a small private school called Cheeseman Academy and it was on the outskirts of Cheeseman Park in Denver, Colorado. In fact, weather permitting, we had recess in the park most days.
Paranormal enthusiasts know Cheeseman Park as a haunted park that was in part Steven Spielberg’s inspiration for Poltergeist. I think that’s in part where my interest in ghosts and the macabre stemmed from. There was something there. An energy I didn’t understand but always felt. In fact, I used to have wicked crazy dreams about a ghost on Cheeseman’s third floor. Not only while I went to school there, but long after I graduated.
However, sometime in my 20s the dreams stopped. I figured I had outgrown them. Now I think they died when Cheeseman was torn down.
Ah, what a beautiful old brownstone it was. A man named Neil who went there when it was called The Peter Pan School left a comment on one of HJ’s posts about the school and brought back so many wonderful memories.
If there had been witches and wizards it sort of would’ve been like a Hogwarts. Smaller, but with as much character and personality.
When I talk to people who went there (because a couple of people have found my Haunt Jaunts post I guess from Googling Cheeseman), they remember it fondly too. It had a power. It was a remarkable place to go to school. (Have I said that already?)
I’d really love to capture other students memories of Cheeseman. And to collect any remaining photos that may exist of it. It’s such a shame it’s gone now. That is one place I would’ve loved to return to and get lost in the nostalgia.
But maybe I could do that if I made a documentary of it?
The thought keeps nagging me. We’ll see if it persists. If it does, maybe I just might give it a go!
