Back to School

On Aug. 23, Davis students left summer behind, packed up their backpacks and sharpened pencils to begin another year of fun and learning at the nine public elementary schools, three junior high schools, and Davis, Da Vinci and King high schools.  As the year begins, the Davis Joint Unified School District renews its commitment to community and students.  While times are tumultous, the district continues its mission of providing a high-quality education to Davis students, serving the children of Davis while reflecting the community’s values.

The schools in Davis as well as the community of Davis are devoted to working together for a wonderful purpose:  the benefit and education of Davis children.  Davis is a community known for its commitment to education at all levels, and the  schools in Davis and the community enjoy a wonderful feedback loop.  The schools are supported by the community, so they are able to offer students a wide variety of innovative programs to enrich the educational experience; creating more incentive for the community to be involved and supportive.

The district includes nine elementary schools:  Birch Lane, Cesar Chavez, Fairfield, Fred T. Korematsu, Marguerite Montgomery, North Davis, Patwin, Pioneer and Willett.  There are three junior high schools:  Emerson, Harper and Holmes; one main high school: Davis Senior High; and alternative schools, including Martin Luther King Junior High, Da Vinci Junior High and Da Vinci High.  The district website posts each schools’ accountability report card, so parents can stay abreast of where the schools stand. In terms of excellence, Davis schools are bright stars in the area.  In fact, the schools are so good, many residents point to them as a major reason to live in Davis.  Nora Shimoda wrote in the Davis Enterprise in April of 2010 that one of her main reasons for moving to Davis was to ensure an excellent education for her children, making financial sacrifices to do so.

Part of the Davis school system’s success is each school’s sense of community and personality. For example, on Cesar Chavez Elementary’s website, you can learn about the large mural that was painted during the 1997–1998 school year.  Artist Rita Alvarez, put together a grant proposal and presented a mural project, an ode to Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco, to be painted on the campus.  The result is a great source of pride and character for the school.

North Davis Elementary has links to classroom websites on its school website, as well as a helpful links page for both students and parents.  Many of the school websites post bike routes to the schools for parental convenience, and the lunch menus at each school are not hard to find.  By adding helpful, practical details along with interesting facts, the website of each school is a resource consulted each day by parents, integrating them into the fabric of the schools.

The elementary schools are small and intimate, welcoming communities where students get a foundation in the basics.  As they move through the district, students get to meet new friends from other elementary schools at the junior high level, and then everyone comes together for a collective experience at Davis High. Through these school communities, the Davis Joint Unified School District is committed to providing an excellent academic experience for all students.  The Mission and Vision Statement of the district reads:  “It is the Mission of the Davis Joint Unified School District, in partnership with parents, to provide a quality educational program for all students that develops the knowledge, skills, abilities, and values for our students to reach their full potential.”

The schools live out that mission in concrete ways.  The district and schools boast programs of all kinds, devoted to keeping education interesting and making learning fun.  Programs include a Gifted and Talented Education program (GATE), which serves high-achieving students.  Additionally, Spanish immersion programs are in place at Cesar Chavez and Marguerite Montgomery elementary schools, with classes also at Emerson Junior High.  This program began in 1982, and is currently being updated with the help of a federal grant.  Other programs in place are too numerous to list here, as they vary with each school and they are constantly changing and evolving to fit the needs of the students they serve.  For a more complete picture, check out the website.

Another part of school’s success is parental involvement.  Parents who are involved in their children’s education are another piece of the puzzle in helping children succeed.  Consequently, parents are a big part of the picture for Davis schools.  The schools work hard to include parents in their children’s education:  each school publishes a newsletter to keep parents in the loop, and the district has invested in ParentConnection, an Internet service that allows parents to track their children’s progress.  The system allows parents to see news updates from their child’s school, update demographic information and contact information, and access their child’s current schedule as well as check on attendance records.  The program also gives parent’s the ability to check on their student’s progress, check on missing assignments and see graduation requirements as their child enters high school.  At the end of the semester, grades are posted on the system and when the time comes, parents can check CAHSEE and CEDLT results. Parents can also sign up for daily e-mail updates from the high school to stay abreast of what’s happening at school. These Web resources are helpful tools for parents to have access to information about their child’s education, and a nice counter to teenagers who offer mono-syllabic answers to questions about school and homework.

The district’s website is another helpful resource for parents; with information ranging from math resources, tips for Internet safety, the daily lunch menu and the safest bike routes to each school.  This mix of practical and educational information demonstrates how the district considers not only education, but safety and nutrition: showing a concern for the whole student.

The district’s goal to involve parents does not stop at the district level.  Parents are encouraged to attend parent-teacher conferences, where they get information not only on their child’s progress, but also on ways to extend the learning at home.  Dena Martin, whose daughter Victoria is a fourth grader at North Davis Elementary, says, “The teachers always give me tips on how I can help reinforce concepts they are learning at school, and they send home information with the homework that gives parents activities they can complete to reinforce those concepts.”  The involvement is not confined to education and homework:  the parents are encouraged to get involved in the classroom community.  Dena points out, “Most teachers seem to enjoy parental involvement and allow parents to help in the classroom . . . I always see several parents helping throughout the school year in the classroom.”

The schools also take time and effort to ensure each child reaches his or her full potential, and that problems are resolved before he or she grows up.  Dena shares her daughter’s early issues with reading:  when Victoria was first learning to read, Dena says, “she really struggled.”  A Student Study Team (SST), consisting of the teacher, a school psychologist, a reading specialist and a parent, is convened to asess all aspects of the student and to make a plan to ensure the student does not fall behind. Dena shares, thanks to this program “my daughter has received extra help in reading and math.  She really struggled with reading when first learning to read and has come a long way.  On the last STAR test, she scored above average for math.  If the school did not intervene at the time they did, she could still be struggling.”

With budget cuts everywhere these days, Dena worries that some of this extra help might be on the chopping block.  One thing that helps parents in the Davis district rest easy is the commitment the community has in the schools.   The Davis Schools Foundation is an active fundraising initiative that supplements the school’s funding.  This organization has been around for several years, and when the budget cuts started coming down, the organization was ready to mobilize a response and have a significant impact.  In 2010, the Davis Schools Foundation spearheaded a fundraising effort to draw attention to the plight of the schools and to raise money to save programs and jobs.  The 2010 Dollar-A-Day program was a major success, raising the funds for a $1.4 million grant to the district for the 2010-2011 year.  This helped ensure a smaller class size in kindergarten to third grade; keeping it at 25 instead of 30.  The money also saved six counselor positions at junior high and high schools, the career center at the high school, and a half-time vice principal position at the high school.

Across the board, class size was reduced:  keeping kindergarten through third grade capped at 25 students in a class instead of 30, allowing ninth graders smaller English and math classes, and 10^th graders smaller English classes.  The money also provided more core classes like English, math, science and social studies for 7^th through 12^th graders.  These are just a few differences made by the program.  The money was raised in the Davis community, through individual donations, local businesses chipping in and fundraising efforts; all efforts indicate a strong sense of community behind the schools, demonstrating that the Davis community truly values the education provided at the schools.

Another way the schools respond to the community’s concerns is through the Green Schools Initiative.  Davis is well-known as a village that cares for the environment.  The schools in Davis pass on that value to students, by making green education a priority.  The mission of the Green Schools Initiative at Davis states that the “Davis Joint Unified School District is committed to educating our students about climate change, global warming, recycling, energy efficiency and other aspects of sustainability.”  The initiative accomplishes this by creating “Green Teams” at each school, consisting of students, faculty, staff and parents, and providing classroom activities about green education, as well as reducing energy use and improving energy-effeciency.  Each year, the Green Schools Initiative hosts an expo to showcase the improvements the schools have made, and to celebrate and share with the community their commitment to being green.

All of this results in a well-rounded, memorable education for Davis schoolchildren, which helps lead to a life-long love of learning.  So as students enter this year of school, there is more excitement at what is to come than regret at the loss of summer.  For one, Dena’s daughter Victoria is looking forward to the new school year.  She says, “I like going to the library and reading books, I get to play with new and old friends, and I can’t wait to go swimming in 3^rd grade PE.”  All over Davis, school children are finding things to look forward to as they settle into the rhythm and routine of another excellent school year.