History of Mullen

Mullen High School is named for John Kernan Mullen, famed businessman and philanthropist and founder of the Colorado Milling and Elevator Company.  Together with his wife, Catherine, Mullen envisioned the founding of a high school in Denver for orphaned boys.  In 1928, working with Bishop Henry Tihen, Mullen contacted Father Edward Flanagan, the founder of Boys’ Town, for advice on how best to design and operate such a school.  Following Father Flanagan’s recommendation, Mr. Mullen wrote to an order of religious men working in Santa Fe, New Mexico and invited them to be the directors and teachers of his planned school – they were the Christian Brothers of St. John Baptist de La Salle.

St. John Baptist de La Salle was a 17th century French priest who established gratuitous schools for the children of the poor and working classes, as well as an order of religious men to teach in and run the schools.  An innovator both in the Catholic Church and in education, St. La Salle was a pioneer of the practical liberal arts curriculum, the simultaneous method of classroom instruction, early childhood education, and formal teacher training.  In 1950, he was named the Patron Saint of All Teachers of Youth. Small wonder that John Mullen chose these credentials and these men to lead his new school!

In June, 1928, Mullen opened negotiations with the De La Salle Christian Brothers.  Unfortunately, both Catherine and John Mullen died before the project could be completed, but their daughters and their husbands carried on with their plans. They purchased a 420-acre plot of land on the outskirts of Denver known as the Shirley Farm Dairy. An agreement was made that would allow the dairy to remain in operation in exchange for the students’ opportunity to work in the dairy and receive training in agriculture and mechanics. And so, on April 8, 1932, 17 boys and three Brothers moved into the new J.K. Mullen Home for Boys.

Since that historic day, Mullen High School has experienced four distinct eras of change and growth:

·     The Orphanage Farm Years, 1931 – 1950, when the school was conducted for orphan boys only, who both attended school and worked in the dairy farm;

·     The Boarding School Years, 1950 – 1965, when paying boarders and day students joined the orphans as students and the school’s farm operations ended and its name was changed to J.K. Mullen High School;

·     The Boys’ High School Years, 1966 - 1989, when the last of the orphans graduated, the boarding section closed, and the school became a four-year college preparatory high school for boys;

·     The Modern Years, 1989 – present, when the school became a co-educational high school and modernized its facilities and programs to become the campus and the school that today is Mullen High School! 

While much has changed since those early years on the farm, the heart and soul of Mullen always have remained the same. Our Lasallian mission to provide a human education to the young, with attention to those most in need, is as alive and vibrant today as when our school’s doors first opened to the youth of Denver. Our core Lasallian principles of faith in the presence of God, concern for the poor and social justice, respect for all persons, inclusive community, and quality education remain the hallmarks of the Mullen High School experience. Above all, our tradition of educating in the Holy Presence of God, done with constant care and vigilance for the life of every student, continues to make us a family and to make Mullen not just a school, but a home for our hearts and a place of salvation for our souls.  This is the Mullen story, and We Are Mullen!