Teenagers are an often-overlooked demographic in Davis, with older ones often being mistaken for UCD undergrads. (Granted, many undergrads are in fact 18 or 19 years old, technically making them teenagers, but in this page we'll address teenagers as youth who attend the local junior highs and high schools). This often works to their advantage, allowing them to blend in while DJing at KDVS, get a free bus ride at the Memorial Union or watch movies during the evening hours in Wellman Hall. Many local youth have parents employed with the university.
Junior High Kids
Schools
These individuals generally attend Holmes Junior High School, Emerson Junior High School, or Harper Junior High School, which are the three local public junior highs, each with grades 7 through 9. Much smaller numbers of students attend Davis School For Independent Study, St. James Catholic School (7th and 8th grade), Grace Valley Christian Academy or Davis Waldorf School (7th and 8th grade). All of these schools offer various extracurricular activities.
Transportation
Children in Davis often are instilled with independence from an early age in the form of the bicycle. Swarms of them ride to school every weekday, so try to avoid the areas around the schools around 8am and 3:15pm. Also beware that police officers often hold watch at major intersections near the schools during these times, issuing citations to kids for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign or not wearing a helmet.
Several Unitrans bus lines also cater to the local Junior Highs. The E line serves Holmes. The S line serves both Holmes and Harper from South Davis. The K and D bus lines serve Emerson.
Points of Interest
High School Kids
Schools
Most high schoolers attend Davis Senior High. Some attend DaVinci High, Davis School for Independent Study, or King High School. A small number drop out of school, get their GED or simply graduate early. It is not uncommon for students to cross-enroll in a local high school and either UCD or Sacramento City College, especially if they have surpassed the math or foreign language levels available at the high schools.
To get more specialized forms of education, some teens attend school in outlying areas. Natomas Charter School (with a fine arts emphasis), Sacramento Waldorf, Christian Brothers High (co-ed Catholic) and St. Francis High (all-female Catholic) are all options.
