Amphitheater Public Schools

Amphitheater Public Schools, also known as Amphi or District 10, is the second largest public school district in Tucson, Arizona in terms of enrollment. [ [http://www.amphi.com/files/F07024B705CB47D5BD2F202EEBC8DF81.pdf 2006-2007.pub ] ]

District history

Following the Mexican-American War of 1848, American pioneers began to settle the Tucson area in increasing numbers. Ranchers and settlers developed homesteads in the rural area northwest of the city along the banks of the Rillito River. The community of Rillito was gradually established, and by 1889 the Rillito School District was organized (later to become the Flowing Wells School District).

Rillito residents desired a local school so district children would not be required to travel to the Congress Street School in downtown Tucson. The Rillito School Board proposed a site for a school, but a number of settlers asserted that the proposed location was as undesirable as the Congress Street School. These settlers resided on the eastern edge of the Rillito School District and eventually petitioned the Pima County Board of Supervisors to establish an independent school district. On July 3, 1893 Amphitheater Public Schools became a reality. The founding board members were rancher and assayer Edward L. Wetmore (namesake of Wetmore Road in North Tucson), land investor and cabinetmaker Levi Marston Prince (namesake of Prince Road in North Tucson), and rancher Joseph D. Andrews.

The district's unique name relates to the geography of the Tucson basin. J.D. Andrews looked north toward the Tortolita Mountains and the Santa Catalina Mountains, east to the Rincon Mountains, south to the Santa Rita Mountains, and west to the Tucson Mountains and was reminded of an enormous "amphitheater".

The original Amphitheater School opened in October 1893 with 11 students. In 1904, the district opened a permanent school building on the southeast corner of East Prince Road and North First Avenue in Tucson. Due to decreased enrollment, the school closed temporarily in 1910, quickly reopening with the enrollment increase. A final site for Amphitheater School was selected and the new school opened in 1913 at the present site of L.M. Prince School and Amphitheater Middle School on East Prince Road near North Stone Avenue.

The school expanded to include four additional classrooms in 1924. By 1928, the district established the Amphitheater Carnival, an annual community event that endured until 1958. By 1934 district enrollment had grown to over 500 students from 48 students in 1919.

By the 1930s, district residents desired the establishment of a district high school rather than continuing to send district high school students to Tucson High School in the Tucson Unified School District located near the University of Arizona in central Tucson. Using a combination of state and federal (Works Progress Administration) funding, Amphitheater High School was completed in 1939 on East Prince Road under the direction of E.C. Nash, the district's first superintendent appointed in 1937. Amphitheater High School became Tucson's second high school.

The Amphi district experienced gradual population growth, ultimately being dubbed Tucson's first suburb in the 1930s by the Arizona Daily Star newspaper. As residential and commercial growth progressed northward along the Oracle Road corridor, additional school sites were developed. The district boundaries and population continued to expand with the growth of the Tucson area, and by 1942, the district extended north of the Rillito River into the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. By 1943, the district boundaries were finalized and extended north to the Pima County line. Dramatic growth transformed the district in the 1950s from a rural district into one of relatively urban character. Marion Donaldson was hired as district superintendent in 1951 and served in such a capacity until 1967, directing the development of the district.

Donaldson brought innovation in educational programs that received national recognition and also championed the construction of new schools in a community with a very limited tax base. A new middle school was constructed with federal funds and later bond money. By 1956, the middle school on West Yavapai Road became the campus for Amphitheater High School and the old building on East Prince Road became Amphitheater Middle School.

The tremendous growth in the Tucson area following World War II in the 1950s prompted changes in the district. A divide gradually emerged in the district between the urban neighborhoods of North Tucson and the increasingly affluent suburbs north of the Rillito River. There was a continuing effort to purchase land for future school sites in the face of rising land costs in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. In 1955 a 20 acre parcel northwest of North Oracle Road and West Ina Road cost the district $7,000 and was considered too far north and too costly. The parcel became the site of Winifred Harelson School in 1960. In 1958, Lawrence W. Cross became the assistant superintendent for the district.

The construction of Walker School in 1963 north of the Rillito River brought the “open classroom” and educational innovations to the district under the leadership of Evelyn Carswell as principal. The concept for learning at Walker School was focused on the individual student and individualized schedules, small and large group settings, and an ungraded school. These innovations brought national attention to the Amphitheater District, but eventually these changes were perceived as too radical and a return to more traditional educational structure was the final outcome.

Beginning in 1962, the Canyon del Oro School opened at the base of Pusch Ridge in the Santa Catalina Mountains serving as a middle school and later the district's second high school. Population growth continued in the district as additional schools opened. By 2001, the district opened a third high school (Ironwood Ridge High School) to meet the growth needs in Oro Valley.

At present, Amphi has a current enrollment of nearly 17,000 students across the convert|109|sqmi|km2|sing=on district [http://www.amphi.com/district/parent/files/783BD05AA5D840EDBED01065FC9DE889.pdf] . Amphi is an economically diverse district, serving disadvantaged communities in North Tucson, and affluent communities in Oro Valley and the Catalina Foothills [http://www.amphi.com/~heritage/] .

District schools

The following is an encyclopedic list of schools of Amphitheater Public Schools. The date of establishment, and in some cases the date of campus reconstruction or relocation is listed for each school, along with the community in which the school is located.

High schools

* Amphitheater High School, (est. 1939, 1956), Tucson
* Canyon del Oro High School, (est. 1965 as a high school), Oro Valley
* Ironwood Ridge High School (est. 2001), Oro Valley

Middle schools

* Amphitheater Middle School (est. 1893, 1913, 1956), Tucson
* L. W. Cross Middle School (est. 1974), Casas Adobes
* La Cima Middle School (est. 1989), Casas Adobes

K-8 schools

* Coronado K-8 School (est. 1976), Catalina
* R.B. Wilson K-8 School (est. 1996), Oro Valley

Elementary schools

* [http://www.amphi.com/schools/keeling/ Helen Keeling School] (est. 1947), Tucson
* L.M. Prince School (est. 1953), Tucson
* F.O. Holaway School (est. 1957), Tucson
* Winifred Harelson School (est. 1960), Casas Adobes
* Nash School (est. 1960), Tucson
* Lulu Walker School (est. 1963), Casas Adobes
* Marion Donaldson School (est. 1971), Casas Adobes
* Mesa Verde School (est. 1978), Casas Adobes
* Rio Vista School (est. 1986), Tucson
* Copper Creek School (est. 1988), Oro Valley
* Painted Sky School (est. 2000), Oro Valley

Alternative schools

* Amphitheater Alternative High School, (est. 1981), Casas Adobes
* El Hogar
* Rillito Center

References