Da Vinci Arts Middle School

The front entrance of da Vinci Arts Middle School

da Vinci Arts Middle School, also known as da Vinci Middle School, is a public middle school in the Kerns neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It is an arts focus school in the Portland Public School District.^[1]

History

da Vinci Arts Middle School was designed in the classical revival style of architecture by the architect George Jones, who designed almost all of the schools in the Portland public school district between 1908 and 1932, along with Floyd Naramore.^[2] This school opened in the year 1928 as Monroe Girl’s Polytechnic High School, named after president James Monroe. Before the construction of this building, the Girl's Polytechnic program had been held at the Portland High School, which was deemed unfit in 1928.^[3] It remained the Girl’s Polytechnic until 1968, when it was renamed James Monroe High School and was opened to boys.^[4]

In 1993, parents of students at Buckman Arts Magnet Elementary School formed a proposal for an arts focused middle school. The district finally accepted the proposal, and the school opened in 1996 with 140 students and a very small staff. It wasn’t until 1998 that the school had a full-time principal, and there was no counselor until 2000. So far, da Vinci had been a program and had shared the building with other programs, but in July 2003 the school board changed da Vinci’s status into a school, and it has remained a school since then.^[5]

Due to concerns about math and science test scores being too low,^[6] da Vinci’s schedule was changed in fall of 2016 to allow for increased class time in the math and science classes. Students at da Vinci protested these changes, because it would mean students would no longer have the same teacher for language arts and social studies for all three years at middle school. Also, sixth graders would be in separate classes from the rest of the school in all subjects except art.^[7] By doing that, the new schedule might disrupt the sense of community that the core classes have. The schedule change went into effect in September 2015.^[8]

Curriculum

The art gallery at da Vinci Arts Middle School, displaying student artwork.

Da Vinci Arts Middle School is an arts magnet school. Their mission statement states that they “will seek innovative ways to integrate the arts throughout the curriculum, provide focused arts instruction, and create a rich, inquiry-based learning environment with high standards of academic excellence.” To fulfill their mission, they offer students two electives of visual art, dance, music, or drama.^[9]

Extracurricular activities

The school has many after school programs, such the Destino dance team, a rock band known as Trogdor, a Black Student Union, a Queer-Straight Alliance, a ukulele choir, a jazz ensemble, and a chess club.^[10] The school has put on numerous plays, as well as three student-written rock operas.^[11]

References

Coordinates: 45°31′29″N 122°38′25″W / 45.52467°N 122.64024°W / 45.52467; -122.64024