A.C. Davis High School (Washington)

Angus Charles Davis High School
Address
212 S. 6th Ave. Yakima , Washington USA
Information
Type	IB World School high school
Established	1884
School district	Yakima School District
Principal	Ben Ramirez
Faculty	~100
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	~2,000
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Orange and Black
Mascot	Pirates
Yearbook	Lolomi
Website	http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Davis/

Angus Charles Davis High School (Davis High School) is a high school in Yakima, Washington, USA, serving students in grades 9-12. It is part of the Yakima School District and has approximately 2,000 students.

History

File:Davisoldbuilding.jpg

The old North Yakima High School building, constructed in the early 1900s, was torn down in the late 1970's. The new building was re-dedicated as A.C. Davis High School.

North Yakima High School, which was renamed A.C. Davis High School in 1957 when Eisenhower High School became the second senior high school in Yakima, began classes in 1884, and was housed in the Columbia Building. By 1896, the school's enrollment reached 40 students and classes were relocated to the Central School Building. With an ever-increasing student body, in 1900, the school was once-again relocated to the Lincoln School. In 1905, land was procured on South 7th Avenue and Walnut, with plans to build a new, larger high school. As it turned out, that foresight was well thought out, because after the Lincoln School burned on Jan. 6, 1907, the high school took up temporary residence at the Methodist Church on Fourth Street.

The new school building, which began construction in 1905, was completed in 1908. The new building cost $84,980, had 23 classrooms and increased capacity to 690 students. Angus Charles Davis served as principal from 1908 through 1913, and was superintendent until 1947. In 1978, after an extensive, thirteen-year remodeling project, which cost upwards of $5 million, the Yakima High School was re-dedicated as A.C. Davis High School, in honor of its early principal and long-time superintendent.

One of the keynote speakers at the school's re-dedication was Cathy Douglas Stone, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice, William O. Douglas who is, perhaps, Davis's most notable alumnus. Douglas, who played on the basketball team and was valedictorian of his graduating class, went on to teach English at North Yakima High School before pursuing his dream of being a lawyer and, ultimately, a Supreme Court judge.

Plans

In May 2009, a $114 million bond was approved by Yakima voters to remodel and renovate area schools. Davis was allocated $42 million of that bond money (plus another $42 million in State-matching funds), to refurbish the school.

Principals

Angus Charles Davis
Frances Wesley Jones
Clarence Klise
Forest J. Dollinger (1913–1914, 1916–1918)
Dr. Warren Dean Starr
Dr. Raymond Lindley
Dr. Robert McLaughlin
Arthur Church
Donald Davidson
Karen Garrison
Jose Vidot
Lee Maras (2002–2007)
Ben Ramirez (2007-current)

Academics

A.C. Davis is the only school in the Yakima Valley to offer the prestigious International Baccalaureate diploma program for high school students. The program is nationally and internationally recognized by both secondary schools and universities such as Oxford and Harvard. It is considered by universities to equal or exceed the rigor of the CollegeBoard's AP (Advanced Placement program) in high schools. Every year over one hundred students participate in the International Baccalaureate program at the school. The most involved students take up to 6 to 7 IB classes their junior and senior years to earn the IB diploma, strengthen their educational background, and earn college credit. However, students can take any number of IB classes related to their educational and personal interests. IB courses that are offered include the following: music, art, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematical methods, mathematical studies, history of the Americas, Spanish B (for non-native speakers), Spanish A (for native speakers), French B (non-native speakers), theory of knowledge, and English A (for native speakers). These courses vary in duration from 2 trimesters to 2 years. Theory of knowledge is currently offered for 2 trimesters, and physics for a year. All other IB courses at the school can be taken for up to 2 years.

The program is highly successful at educating bright and enthusiastic students who want to make a difference in their schools, communities , and nation. Every year students gain admission to highly selective universities. Within Washington IB program graduates frequently attend the University of Washington, Washington State University, Seattle University, and Whitman College. Outside of Washington students attend internationally recognized centers of learning such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Cornell, Duke, NYU, Columbia, UCLA, Dartmouth, Northwestern, the University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University. Other students seeking a comparable educational experience, but in more intimate environment, attend liberal arts schools such as Middlebury and Grinnell colleges. Some students even venture to continue their studies in other countries, and still others adopt to participate in foreign exchange programs for a year before going to a university.

Students who opt not to participate in the IB program have a myriad of other educational opportunities and career paths. Davis students oftentimes participate in Yakima Valley Community College's Running Start program to earn their high school diploma as well as their Associate's degree prior to graduation. The ESL (English as a Second Language) program assists Spanish speaking students adjust to an English learning environment.

Library programs are considered some of Davis's greatest assets. Students and teachers provide general tutoring in a variety of subjects and SAT preparation. Several computer labs with internet access are provided to Davis students and to the public. The library stays open late during school nights to make internet access and federally-funded tutoring services available to students who may or may not have these resources in their home.

Extracurriculars

Athletics

Davis is Division 4-A school, a member of the Washington Interscholastic Athletics Association (WIAA), and competes in the Columbia Basin "Big Nine" Athletic Conference. The school supports several interscholastic sports, including: baseball, basketball, bowling, cross-country, fastpitch softball, football, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track, volleyball and wrestling. The Davis Pirates have a long-standing rivalry with cross-town high school, D.D. Eisenhower High (more familiarly known as "Ike").

Clubs and activities

Currently, there are approximately 36 academic and recreational student clubs at Davis, including MeChA, Knowledge Bowl, DECA, FBLA and Lolomi (student yearbook). The yearbook has been called the Lolomi since 1921, but before that was called many different names, including Papoose, Quietus, Potlatch, and Wigwam. These yearbooks are available for viewing at the Yakima Valley Regional Library.

Music

A.C. Davis offers music programs in the areas of choir, orchestra, and band. The school offers jazz choir, chamber choir, two orchestra ensembles, jazz band, wind ensemble, concert band, and a percussion ensemble.

The A.C. Davis band and orchestra first came about in 1927 under Avery Olson. The band began with about 20 students, but since then has grown to over 100. Each autumn, the A.C. Davis Buccaneer Marching Band prepares a marching show and performs at home football games, as well as local competitions, such as Cavalcade of Bands in Tri-Cities, Washington, and Puget Sound Marching Festival in Everett, Washington. A.C. Davis and Eisenhower High School marching bands co-host the Harvest Marching Festival in Yakima, Washington. In the spring, A.C. Davis hosts a band contest as well as a choir contest for bands and choirs around the region. A.C. Davis's concert ensembles regularly receive superior ratings at these contests for their excellence.

Students have been consistently honored as solo musicians as well. At the Washington State Solo and Ensemble competition, A.C. Davis High School sends several students to the state level each year in both instrumental and vocal music performance. The Davis percussion ensemble is currently one of the top-ranking musical groups in the state.

The A.C. Davis drumline has performed a student-written half-time shows at basketball games for two years and has done clinics with the Blue Man Group as well as received high rankings at marching band and solo and ensemble competitions.

During the 1940s and 1950s, the orchestral and band director was William Herbst, and the choral director, during this same time period, was Mildred Forsling.

Noted alumni

• Oleta Adams, internationally-acclaimed singer and performer.

• Jamie Allen, former MLB baseball third baseman (Seattle Mariners).

• Jerry Burling, Class of 1954, Winner, National Emmy Award (1977). [4]

• Raymond Carver, American author.

• Don Crow, former MLB baseball catcher (Los Angeles Dodgers).

• William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice; a plaque commemorating the fountain and courtyard at Davis High School in his name was dedicated in 1980 by the Class of 1968 and a statue of Douglas was erected in the courtyard in 2005 in his memory.

• Joe Hipp, former professional heavyweight boxer.

• Thomas Domingo Rodriquez Kranz, noted trial attorney in Denver, Colo.; University of Notre Dame alumnus; on the Board of Trustees at Walla Walla Community College.

• Mel Stottlemyre, Jr., former MLB baseball pitcher (Kansas City Royals).

• Todd Stottlemyre, former MLB baseball pitcher (Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks).

• Taylor Stubblefield, former college football player; set NCAA career receptions mark (325) while at Purdue University.

External links

• Official school website
• Buccaneer Band
• Yakima School District website
• Great Schools - Davis High School
• Coalition of Essential Schools
• CityRating School Rankings - Davis High School profile
• "North Yakima High School Class of 1912" Yakima County Genealogy
• "Yakima Memory" a collection of photos of early Yakima, including North Yakima High School
• Photos of old A.C. Davis High School building and the construction of the current building
• Davis Grad, Jerry Burling, NBC's First Fifty Years