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History
Bienvenidos a Davis
Davis History (pdf) La Historia de Davis (pdf)
Davis was established in 1901 at the northwest corner of Main and St. Mary’s and has been a vital part of Barrio Anita since it’s construction. In 1981, Davis became an official Bilingual School as part of Tucson Unified School District’s magnet/desegregation plan.
Today, we have around 300 students enrolled in our Dual Language / Spanish Immersion program. Our program is considered a 90/10 program, in which students in kindergarten and first grade are immersed in a classroom where 90% of the content is delivered in Spanish. The percentage of English increases at each grade level, eventually balancing out at 50/50 in fifth grade. We also have a strong focus on social justice, which includes a march to honor Cesar Chavez in Barrio Anita every March.
Davis boasts an amazing garden program and our garden includes an adobe oven, a chicken coop, many compost bins, several ramadas with rain water harvesting systems, and many grow beds for classes to use. Davis was also the recipient of a grant by the Community Food Bank, which gave us an amazing aquaponics system, located in our library.
We are also very fortunate to have our Specialists program, where students go to art, music and physical education classes every week for 40 minutes each. We also have a vibrant library program (including an aquaponics system!) and students go to the library weekly for lessons and book checkout.
We have a strong Mariachi program, led by our director Jaime Valenzuela, son of famed Alfredo Valenzuela, who began the program in 1981. Almost two-thirds of our students participate in our music program in our Extended Day Program and our performing Aguilitas group is comprised of 1st – 5th graders and has approximately 70 members.
Davis was established in 1901 at the northwest corner of Main and St. Mary’s and has been a vital part of Barrio Anita since it’s construction. In 1981, Davis became an official Bilingual School as part of Tucson Unified School District’s magnet/desegregation plan.
Today, we have around 300 students enrolled in our Dual Language / Spanish Immersion program. Our program is considered a 90/10 program, in which students in kindergarten and first grade are immersed in a classroom where 90% of the content is delivered in Spanish. The percentage of English increases at each grade level, eventually balancing out at 50/50 in fifth grade. We also have a strong focus on social justice, which includes a march to honor Cesar Chavez in Barrio Anita every March.
Davis boasts an amazing garden program and our garden includes an adobe oven, a chicken coop, many compost bins, several ramadas with rain water harvesting systems, and many grow beds for classes to use. Davis was also the recipient of a grant by the Community Food Bank, which gave us an amazing aquaponics system, located in our library.
We are also very fortunate to have our Specialists program, where students go to art, music and physical education classes every week for 40 minutes each. We also have a vibrant library program (including an aquaponics system!) and students go to the library weekly for lessons and book checkout.
We have a strong Mariachi program, led by our director Jaime Valenzuela, son of famed Alfredo Valenzuela, who began the program in 1981. Almost two-thirds of our students participate in our music program in our Extended Day Program and our performing Aguilitas group is comprised of 1st – 5th graders and has approximately 70 members.
Davis School circa 1916. Photo courtesy of Arizona Historical Society.
Davis today