Davis High School was established in what was then a rural setting, and was meant to serve approximately 1800 students from predominantly agricultural based families of north Modesto and Salida. As Modesto and Salida have grown, so has Davis High School. Davis later served more than 2800 students. However, after the opening of Joseph Gregori High School in Modesto, CA, Davis High School's student population again dropped below 2000 as a large portion of the student body enrolled at Gregori for the start of the 2010-2011 school year.
Campus
The campus consists of three locker rows, an activity court or quad area used mainly for lunch consumption and student body activities, and approximately 100 classrooms. The campus is bordered, on the North Side, by Rumble Road, and on the West side by Tully Road. The South side of the campus is bordered by the Davis football field, tracks, and soccer fields. To the East, adjacent to the campus, is Davis Park, a recreational area. There is also a picnic area that used to have awnings covering the benches. After Davis became a closed campus, students continued to frequent the park during school hours, subjecting them to consequences for being out of bounds per board policy.
Curriculum
The school participates in the California Partnership Academies program, which provides school-within-a-school opportunities for students interested in pursuing careers in health sciences and public safety: The Health Careers Academy, exclusive to the Grace Davis campus, is a four-year "school-within-a-school" program filled with college preparatory classes. Avid it stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination this program helps students get into a four-year college after they graduate high school. The Davis High School Public Safety Academy is a three-year "school within a school" program, with a recommended freshman pre-academy year, which offers a college preparatory academic curriculum as well as vocational experiences for students interested in careers in criminal justice and public safety. This program provides a thematic approach for core courses in the field of public safety and career exploration. The sophomore year introduces the academy concepts in the English, science, world history, and Public Safety Tech I classes. In the junior and senior years, students will continue to explore careers in public safety through their government, English, advanced math, and science classes, in addition to taking a CERT/First Responder course. Upon completion of the CERT/First Responder course, students are eligible to be members of the on-campus emergency preparedness and response team.
Extracurricular activities
Student groups and activities include A.C.T.S., Academic Decathlon, anime club, band, Black Student Union, California Scholarship Federation, chess club, conflict mediation, gamers' club, gay-straight alliance, dance, drama, French club, FBLA, FFA, Future Fashion Designers, FHA, international club, Latino Student Union/Hispanic Youth Leadership Council, mock trial, music, Reach and Teach Tutoring, racing club, recycling, Science Bowl, Science Olympiad, and VICA/Skills USA. Student publications include a newspaper, Corinthian; yearbook; and Corinthian TV, which airs on SchoolTube.com.
Athletics
Grace M. Davis High School belongs to the Modesto Metropolitan Conference in the Sac-Joaquin Section of the California Interscholastic Federation. Prior to the conference's creation in 2004, the school belonged to the Central California Conference. The teams, known as the Spartans, compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. The Spartans have generally dominated the Modesto high school sports scene especially in football, winning the Modesto city title several times with 2007 being the latest since 2002. The Spartans are the only Modesto high school football team to play for a Sac-Joaquin Section title, losing to Elk Grove High School of Sacramento 22-3 at Modesto Junior College Stadium in 1984. The Spartans athletic teams have won nine Sac-Joaquin Section titles in:
