Valley Oak Elementary School

Street view from east

Location

1400 E. 8th Street

Phone

(530)757-5470

Website

http://www.djusd.k12.ca.us/ValleyOak/

District

one of the Schools in the DJUSD

Year opened

1953

Valley Oak Elementary is a school in East Davis on East Eighth Street that closed down as an elementary school in June 2008.  . The school was originally called East Davis Elementary when it opened in 1953, but changed its name to Valley Oak Elementary in 1965. 

It has many murals that have been created over the years by generations of students.  The presence of the school brings a stop-light-controlled pedestrian crossing that is an annoyance to cyclists. All vehicle operators would be wise to take an alternate route during times when school is commencing or letting out.

Quoting from the School Accountability Report Card, "Valley Oak Elementary School opened as East Davis School in 1953 with 130 students. Our student enrollment has increased to about 650 students from ethnically, linguistically, and socio-economically diverse backgrounds." The School Accountability Report Card is available from the DJUSD website, here: http://www.djusd.k12.ca.us/District/

 

Principals

Mary Ponce (2006-2008)

Velma Lagerstrom (2005-2006), interim

Stephanie Smith (2003-2005)

Consuelo Coughran (1988-2003)

Mary Lin Pitalo (ca 1979-1980)

Leo Masson (1967-1973)

Donald Kirkpatrick (1965-1967)

Mary Ellen Dolcini (1958-1963)

August Blanchard (1957-1958)

Robert Mansfield (1955-1957)

Edith Scarborough (1953-1955)

 

Closure

On June 26, 2006, the Best Uses of Schools Advisory Task Force recommended the Board of Education to close down the school due to falling enrollment, particularly with the opening of Fred T. Korematsu Elementary School. On February 22, 2007 the Task Force officially voted 6-1 in favor of closing Valley Oak Elementary and will present its final recommendations to the School Board on March 1. Davis OPEN is a group dedicated to keeping neighborhood schools open in Davis.

"Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened" Theodore Giesel (quoted on bulletin sign)

3/19/07 students and parents marched protesting the closure of the school

Future

Today, the school is a combined campus containing Da Vinci and a children's center. There was talk in 2007 of turning Valley Oak into a charter school.

Photos

Closing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of electrical engineers examine circuit diagrams on a mural.

Go Dragons! Sixth grade for life. - KenNeville

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they have really dangerous roofs, i no from experiance -SeanReedy

• Apparently you didn't take any English courses while you were there. -JeffreyNonken
  • I don't think Sean even went there, but you are correct, he doesn't know English at all. -JohnDudek
    • "I don't think Sean even went there. But you are correct, he doesn't know English at all." -RichRifkin
      • Either way could be correct. The roofs are not THAT dangerous. - ElisaHough
    • The roof here isn't that dangerous, though it has great quantities of dust on the slick parts and moss on most of the shingled sections, given the pitch it is no more dangerous than any other roof to walk upon. ~DavidPoole

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2006-12-31 23:11:51   This is the LAST elementary school that Davis should close. —ChebaccoThirty

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2007-01-01 14:12:08   Why is that? —ElisaHough

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2007-02-24 20:17:52   Why no mention of Dweezil being the world's scariest school mascot? —KokoSorensen

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2007-02-25 11:40:56   Because you haven't added any mention. Who is Dweezil? It would be neat if you could add some information about him to this entry. —JabberWokky

— Dweezil is the dragon mascot that can be seen in the photo above. I dont think she is that scary, maybe just goofy and possibly annoying. -DagonJones

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2007-03-20 11:48:39   it is a shame that they build a new school in a wealthier whiter neighborhood and close down this wonderfull diverse school that has some of the best English Learner programs in the United states. The school has also spent large sums of money on brand new renovations in the past few years. It seems like a waste to close the school right after spending so much money —MattHh

• One of the first things you learn in economics is that is is irrational to make decisions based on sunk costs. The renovations have already been done and you can't get the money back. If the school is going to be a big problem to operate in the long run, it should be closed regardless of how much money was spent on it. That being said, I think it's quite sad that yet another neighborhood school is being closed down. :( —WilliamLewis
• Though your point about considering sunk costs is valid, I would like to point out that it doesn't take into account the costs of replacement. To build new when there exists old, what is the relative cost of upgrading this school vs. the cost of building a new school, as you made mention this is the long term. I wonder why it is that operating this school in the long term will cost more than the creation of a new school and its subsequent operation. I think there is some underlying issue with funding.. but not sure about that one. ~DavidPoole

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2007-03-21 23:48:32   *waahhh* They're talking about shutting down MY elementary school! I remember Jason Aller playing chess in second grade, and when the school picked the dragon as its mascot (although I didn't think brown was a "cool" color)! Oh, well... Nothing is forever. :-( —CentralDavisite

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2007-11-06 14:00:30   I am disappointed at the closing of this school because my niece attends there and she loves it. She is an immigrant of two years and during this time I have seen her go from no english to conversational english. The location is very convinient for her, and I'm not sure where she'll go instead. —drpottsiv

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2008-06-03 17:13:48   ok Dweezil the dragon stands in front of the school and hugs poor little children while singing at least once a week. It's creepy. let's just say that 90% of the kids that go there are afraid of him or hate him (or her, nobody knows for sure)! —smiley221

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2008-06-18 03:16:24   closing it? Lame —StevenDaubert

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2008-06-26 15:44:43   So basically this is the school that they chose to close because this is the poor area, right? —BrentLaabs

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2008-09-05 14:28:58   There goes the most interesting looking elementary school in Davis. —thelonepiper555

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2010-01-18 16:41:25   valley oak was my favorite school ever. and yeah, dweezil was wierd, but i just avoided her(it was a her) when she was hugging people. —katethegreat

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2010-01-18 16:44:26   i think it was just a stupid idea to build korematsu in the first place. the builders who promised it to the people who moved into that neighborhood were not thinking. —katethegreat

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2010-10-04 18:22:57   I only went to this elementary school for one year but I think it was a really good school and i'm sad they closed it. It really helped me get used to being new in town and make a bunch of friends.And I don't think Dweezel is weird at all, i know the woman who dressed up in the costume and she's actually very nice and not creepy or stalker-ish. —ViviS

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2012-01-29 09:33:08   Favorite teachers: Mr. Millie, Ms. Krueger 6th grade, Mr. kelleher and his snake gabby 3rd grade, ms. payne pre-k. anybody remember the "big cheese slide" they took out? or the 6th grade trips to walker creek or sly park? or am I the only one with the memory of an elephant here? —ChristopherFoote