.....Upper Lake Gulch was formed to serve the predominantly German Catholic community of southeastern Douglas County. The first school in the district burned down in 1917, and the students were sent to Castle Rock or elsewhere for a few years. A teacher at the first Upper Lake Gulch School was Frances Ryan, who would later become the wife of radio personality Lowell Thomas. She taught for the 1913-1914 school year.

.....A brick building was then constructed in the early 1920's, and still stands, although the windows are now broken out and the chimney has crumbled.

.....The school was closed permanently in 1952, when it consolidated with several other schools to form the Cherry Valley School District (#40). The building still stands on a hill to the west of Garton Road, off Lake Gulch Road southeast of Castle Rock.

.....Miss Sarah A. Gleason, who would later become Colorado Teacher of the Year, spent her very first year of teaching at Upper Lake Gulch. She had graduated from Douglas County High School in Castle Rock in 1926, and taught at Upper Lake Gulch for the 1926-1927 school year. Of the 7 students in her class, two of them were 8^th graders and four of them were siblings. She took them on hikes, led them on their lessons, and occasionally (with parental permission) took some of them home with her to Sedalia in her Model T on the weekends. She lived with the Ehman family in their ranch house and helped out with the chores in addition to her teaching duties. When the school year came to a close, it became obvious that there would be no need for a teacher the next year, as the 8^th graders would be finished at Upper Lake Gulch and the family of four students were moving away. Sarah applied for another job, and the school was closed for the 1927-1928 school year.