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Location
315 West 14th Street (corner of 14th and Oak)
Phone
(530)757-5400
Website
http://dshs.djusd.net/]
Principal
Bryce Geigle (2022-present)
School District
DJUSD

The side of the DHS library (© Graham Kolbeins 2003) Davis Senior High School (referred to as DHS or Davis High) is one of three high schools (the other two being King High School and DaVinci High School) in the Davis Joint Unified School District. The 14th Street campus opened in 1961; the original high school now houses Davis City Hall. In 2003 the enrollment was at 1,958. It was ranked 10th in the state of California for the year 2003. Reflecting the Davis demographics, the school is predominantly white (68-70% of the student body). There have been occasional racial incidents that are sometimes hotly debated in The Davis Enterprise but have never been addressed beyond politically-correct assemblies in the student gymnasium. Other incidents are covered up almost entirely. Aside from the racial undercurrents at DHS, the school lays claim to an air of liberalism, supporting activities such as the Gay Straight Alliance and the Multi-Cultural Food Festival. The official school newspaper is The HUB.

You can also Rent-a-Band, Madrigal Choir, or a DHS Orchestra from the music department. In 2007 and again in 2011 the music department was a recipient of a "National Grammy Signature Schools" award for excellence, one of a select few so recognized in the nation.

The school's mascot is the Blue Devils. It's named after a legion of French Para's named the Blue Devils. About once every year someone writes the Davis enterprise to complain about the mascot being a devil. Individuals who excel in athletics can be designated the DHS Athlete of the Year.

In June 2012, a noose was found hanging from the uprights of the south goal post at the Davis High Stadium during the Juneteenth celebration. (some details here).

Architecture

The Davis High campus is frequently under construction, as the original buildings/classrooms are demolished and new ones are constructed. The new gymnasium opened in 2002, and two new buildings, including a performing arts center, were completed in the winter of 2004, and opened for use in the early spring of 2005. The campus' most striking architectural feature is the $4.1 million library/classroom building that was constructed in the late 1990s.

The Library from the front.

The old Gym

If you look closely you can see the clock is on 4:20. This is due to my brother placing the hands there when he went to DHS circa 2000. It remained in that position for many many years due to DJUSD not wanting to fix it —StevenDaubert

 

Statistics

The highest teacher salary at DHS is $66,676 a year and salaries begin at $32,614. The principal makes $91,624 a year and superintendent Winfred Roberson rakes in $109,000. Every year an average of $6,127 is spent on each student. Students on average score a 1280 on the SAT (2020). There is a 1.1% dropout rate at Davis High, but usually students who get sick of the school or have other reasons for not being able to attend choose Independent Study or King High School.  Around 2007, the average SAT was 1783, which earned the school a position of 17th in the state according to the LA Times.  In 2013, the average held high at 1780.  Note that the historical numbers are from the 2400 point SATs, while the current tests score to a maximum of 1600. 

Academics

DHS boasts a very good academic record, especially for a public school. In 2020, 84 percent of graduates reported that they would be attending college, whether 4-year or 2-year (here are the statistics).  In 2007, the figure was 98 percent.  The school offers many Advanced Placement and Honors courses, and students can cross-enroll at Sac City College or (for the most high-achieving students) UC Davis. Part of this high-achievement atmosphere can be attributed to the high level of education of Davis as a whole, and people who choose to live in Davis frequently do so either out of ties with the university or because of the public school system. But like any other high school, the academic abilities of students cross a whole spectrum, and there are classes available for everyone from recent immigrants without English skills, developmentally delayed students, overachieving college-bounders, mathematical idiot savants, and your run-of-the-mill slacker-geniuses.

Performing Arts Center

The Instructional Performing Arts Center opened in Feb. 2005. The Performing Arts Center was intended to be a state-of-the-art replacement to the adjacent Veterans Memorial Building. The Performing Arts Center is also intended to suit the needs of the Band students, who had previously performed concerts in the MPR, a small room with bad acoustics. It is home to the Brunelle Theater.

ROP Stagecraft is also taught in the Performing Arts Building.

The district recently instituted a policy charging the schools, including the DHS, for concerts in the building.

Drama Performance

Davis High School Drama has been invited to perform Tartuffe at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival http://www.facebook.com/pages/Davis-High-School-Drama-Scotland-2012/291336720914354. The invitation comes after many years of excellent productions led by Ms. Gwyneth Bruch since the early 90's (1990's!).

History

plaque provided by Davis Asians for Racial Equality

Former Principals

Athletics

Davis High School has a proud tradition of athletic excellence, currently under athletic director Jeff Lorenson. DHS is a member of the California Interscholastic Federation Sac-Joaquin Section. The Blue Devils have more team championships (95) than any other school in the section, although that statistic is skewed by the fact that Jesuit, the team with the second-most championships (83), is an all-boys school. The Blue Devils have been extremely successful in water sports, with 25 section championships in swimming and 17 in water polo. DHS won five section championships in the 2005-06 school year, in Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys Soccer, Boys Water Polo and Girls Swimming.

The following is a breakdown of Sac Joaquin Section Championships won by DHS:

# Sport School Year Won
3 Baseball 99-00, 03-04, 13-14 
1 Boys Basketball 94-95
2 Girls Basketball 74-75, 75-76
5 Boys Cross Country 00-01, 04-05, 05-06, 06-07, 07-08
10 Girls Cross Country 91-92, 92-93, 96-97, 00-01, 02-03
03-04, 04-05, 05-06, 06-07, 07-08
1 Football 88-89
2 Boys Golf 82-83, 98-99
1 Gymnastics 78-79
5 Boys Soccer 98-99, 99-00, 00-01, 05-06, 07-08
3 Girls Soccer 97-98, 98-99, 06-07
9 Boys Swimming 87-88, 95-96, 96-97, 97-98, 98-99,
99-00, 00-01, 01-02, 02-03
16 Girls Swimming 76-77, 77-78, 78-79, 79-80, 89-90, 90-91, 91-92, 92-93,
93-94, 95-96, 98-99, 01-02, 02-03, 03-04, 04-05, 05-06
5 Boys Tennis 84-85, 86-87, 88-89, 03-04, 06-07
6 Girl's Tennis 82-83, 84-85, 97-98, 99-00, 02-03, 03-04
1 Girl's Track & Field 06-07
8 Volleyball 83-84, 84-85, 85-86, 87-88, 88-89, 89-90, 91-92, 01-02
12 Boys Water Polo 76-77, 78-79, 80-81, 82-83, 85-86, 86-87
97-98, 98-99, 99-00, 00-01, 01-02, 05-06
6 Girls Water Polo 00-01, 01-02, 02-03, 03-04, 04-05, 07-08

There is a smaller quad in the upper right [North East] part of the campus that has a hexagonal memorial to "Thong Hy Nguyen" a student who was stabbed to death in that spot in the 83.

See also:

Campus Eats

Other than the Educated Eatery, which has now been closed down due to budget problems and lame administrators, and the food service provided by the Sysco food and the traditional "hot lunch" there's not much else. However during lunch DHS is an open campus. This explains the crush of high-schoolers running amok downtown and especially the new class who can't drive so they just go on the Sophomore walk. There is talk of remodeling the MPR and making a food court, and then they would make DHS a closed campus. Such talk has been going on for many years now, with no actual work being done.

After undergoing some renovations (around March 2012) a new student-staffed eatery named Cafe Diablo has been opened. The line is that the old eatery had to be closed due to mold concerns. Like the old eatery, it will be staffed by students (enrolled in the ROP Food Service class) and serve breakfast food (Blue Devil HUB video here).

Campus Personalities

Notable persons who can be seen wandering the DHS campus are:

  • Norm used to be a campus supervisor and may show up as a substitute campus supervisior. He was a Navy Seal and served in Vietnam. I believe he also had a psychology degree from U.C. Berkeley. Norm rides a motorcycle for fun on his free time. Some students found him intimidating.
  • Dan Ariola, a PE teacher and Baseball coach who can be seen mowing the baseball field or throwing batting practice to his players. One of the greatest guys you’ll ever meet. By far the biggest legend at Davis High. 
  • Mr. Bruce is a very long term substitute teacher and yard supervisor. He came to Davis many decades ago as a graduate student in economics and taught economics at St. John's University in New York back in the 80's. Instead of yelling at the students to go to class he counts down the seconds until class at ten second intervals. That is cool, but in the last minute between count downs he sings, raps, shouts slogans, and tells people they are going to turn into pumpkins if they do not get to class on time. During class he makes sure students are doing their calculus homework at the right picnic table. He says he likes this job, because if he fails so what. If students are on campus after lunch Mr. Bruce will frequently ask, "Are you suffering from ELE." He makes it sound like a dread disease but it is really Excessive Love of Education, or being on campus when the administration would prefer that you go home.
  • Peter Wagner is another substitute teacher. He has invented many strange types of bicycles. He frequently brings one or more to school. He has been written up in newspapers on a number of occasions, and had an exhibit at the local museum. You can read more about Peter and look at some of his bikes on this Davis Wiki page http://daviswiki.org/Peter_Wagner#preview

Links and Resources

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