A.C. Davis High School (Washington)

A.C. Davis High School is a high school in Yakima, Washington, serving students in grades 9-12. It is part of the Yakima School District and has approximately 2,600 students.

A.C. Davis High School
Address
212 S. 6th Ave.

Yakima
,
Washington

United States
Coordinates46.5967°N 120.5163°W / 46.5967; -120.5163
Information
TypeIB World School high school
Established1884
School districtYakima School District
PrincipalHeather Hastie
Faculty102
Grades9-12
Enrollment2,273 (2016-17)[1]
CampusUrban
Color(s)Black & Orange
   
MascotPirates
YearbookLolomi
Websitehttps://web.archive.org/web/20070429200820/http://www.ysd.wednet.edu/Davis/

History

North Yakima High School (which was renamed 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.[2]

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.[3] In 1978, after an extensive, thirteen-year remodeling project, which cost upwards of $5 million, the Yakima High School was re-dedicated as 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 becoming a lawyer and, ultimately, a United States Supreme Court justice.[4]

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.[5]

Principals

Angus Charles Davis (1908-1913)

Alan Hickman
Frances Wesley Jones
Clarence Klise
Forest J. Dollinger (1913–1914, 1916–1918)[6]
Arthur Church (Last Principal of Yakima High School)
Donald B. Davidson (First Principal of A.C. Davis High School, 1957
Rolla Gould
Dr. Warren Dean Starr
Dr. Raymond Lindley (1974-1977)
Robert Alexander (1977-1981)
Owen Hurst (1981-1985)
Dr. Robert McLaughlin (1985-1993))
Karen Garrison (1993-2000) - First Female Principal
Jose Vidot (2000-2002)
Lee Maras (2002–2007)
Ben Ramirez (2007–2013)
Ryan McDaniel (2013–2021)
Heather Hastie (2021-present) - Second Female Principal

Academics

Davis is the only school in the Yakima Valley to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program for high school juniors and seniors. Every year over one hundred students participate in the International Baccalaureate program at the school. The most involved students take 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 course offerings include: 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). Each of these courses lasts for 2 years with the exceptions of Theory of knowledge (2 trimesters) and Physics (1 year).

A plurality of IB students opt to attend the University of Washington, the most academically selective public university in the state, which ranks Davis 19th out of 231 private and public Washington high schools.[7] Every year some students go further afield to attend top-ranked institutions including Ivy League and Stanford Universities. Study abroad and foreign exchange programs are also popular options for graduating seniors.

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

Music

Davis offers music programs in the areas of choir, orchestra, and band. The school offers jazz choir, chamber choir, show choir, treble choir, concert choir, three leveled orchestras, two jazz bands, wind ensemble, advanced band, concert band, and two percussion ensembles. In addition the music program offers multiple beginning guitar classes and an IB Music class tied to the Wind Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra respectively. During the course of an average day the music faculty serve around 600 students.[8]

The Davis band and orchestra first came about in 1927 under Avery Olson.[9] The band began with about 20 students, but since then has grown to nearly 200. 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. Davis and Eisenhower High School marching bands co-host the Harvest Marching Festival in Yakima, Washington.[10] The A.C. Davis Marching Band has established itself as one of the most competitive groups in the state and the Wind Ensemble was selected as a concert hour performance group at the 2019 NAfME Northwest Division conference in Portland, OR. During the 2019–2020 school year the Davis Band Program was selected as the Northwest Division winner and one of five national finalists for the William P. Foster Award for Excellence in music Title 1 schools.[11]

In the spring, Davis hosts the YVMEA Band, Orchestra, and Choir Festivals for groups around the region. A.C. Davis's concert ensembles regularly receive superior ratings at these contests for their excellence.[12]

Students have been honored as solo musicians as well. At the Washington State Solo and Ensemble competition, 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, winning the WIAA State Contest in 2019.[13][14]

The 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[15] as well as received high rankings at marching band and solo and ensemble competitions.

Extracurriculars

Athletics

Davis competes athletically against the largest schools in the state by enrollment as a member of the 4A Division of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) and the Columbia Basin "Big Nine" Athletic Conference.[16] The school supports several interscholastic sports, including: baseball, basketball, bowling, cross-country, cheer, 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"). In 2012, the Davis boys' basketball team won the state 4A basketball championship - the first since 1965.The only wrestling team to go undefeated was in 1972, won the State Championship and was rated very high in the nation.

Clubs and activities

Currently, there are approximately 36 academic and recreational student clubs at Davis, including MeChA, Knowledge Bowl, FBLA and Lolomi (student yearbook).[17] 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.

Noted alumni

References
  1. "Davis High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  2. Yakima Centennial Commission. Yakima: A Centennial Perspective. Franklin Press: Yakima, p.60
  3. Yakima Centennial Commission. Yakima: A Centennial Perspective. Franklin Press: Yakima, p. 60.
  4. Murphy, Bruce Allen. Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O. Douglas (2003). Random House.
  5. "Taking Stock of the Bond." The Yakima Herald-Republic. May 21, 2009. Accessed: Nov. 29, 2009.
  6. "Yakima Memory" (original image can be found in the Yakima Valley Museum)
  7. "UW High School Rankings" (PDF). UW High School Rankins. UW High School Rankings.
  8. "Davis High School", Great Schools
  9. "Band Director 1927-1942: Avery Olson" Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Davis Buccaneer Bands Online
  10. , Harvest Marching Festival
  11. "Current Band Website"., A.C. Davis Buccaneer Bands Online
  12. "Ensembles" Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, A.C. Davis Buccaneer Bands Online
  13. "A.c. Davis Buccaneer Bands Online". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-06-29., A.C. Davis Buccaneer Bands Online
  14. "Current Band Website"., A.C. Davis Buccaneer Bands Online
  15. , Davis Drumline to Open for Blue Man Group
  16. Davis High School. "Athletics." Accessed: Nov. 29, 2009. "A.C. Davis High School". Archived from the original on 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  17. "Clubs & Activities." Davis High School. Accessed Nov. 29, 2009. "Clubs & Activities". Archived from the original on 2009-11-27. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
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