News from Davis Schools

By Susan Lovenburg

President Obama Speaks to Students

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

This morning President Obama urged students across the country to take responsibility for their education.  The full text of his talk is available on the Davis Joint Unified School District website.  A video excerpt is available on CNN.org.

Davis Students By the Numbers

The 2009-10 school year began with 8506 students attending Davis public schools.  Though the numbers will undoubtedly fluctuate, this is 28 students fewer than last year’s enrollment.  These students attend one of sixteen Davis public schools:

• Elementary: Birch Lane, Chavez, Fairfield, Korematsu, Montgomery, North Davis, Patwin, Pioneer, Willett
• Junior High: Emerson, Harper, Holmes
• High School: Davis Senior High, DaVinci High, King High
• Davis School for Independent Studies

Historical Perspective

Following years of steady increase, the district’s enrollment peaked in 2002-03 at 8827 students.  There followed three years of decline (2003-04: 8711, 2004-05: 8642 and 2005-06:8537), a slight bump up in 2006-07 (8647), further deline in 2007-08 (8484), and a small increase in 2008-09 (8573).

Davis Joint Unified Student Enrollment, California Department of Education DataQuest

Enrollment Projections

In their most recent analysis, the district’s demographer, Davis Demographics & Planning, projected another small increase this school year.  Their ten year projection anticipates 8900-9000 students by 2018-19. During that time K-6 enrollment is projected to remain fairly stable, but secondary school enrollment (grades 7-12) may grow by up to 10% as a result of older students moving into the district.

Davis Demographics will update these enrollment projections in spring 2010.