About Davis Elementary
R. Earle Davis was built in 1951-1952 and opened in the fall of 1952 for students as Brookland-Cayce Grammar School #2. The original building consisted of twelve classrooms and served students in grades one through six. Within several years, a six- classroom wing was added, and one of the original rooms was converted into a library. Shortly, thereafter, another wing was built consisting of an additional six-classroom wing, and a library was built in 1969. In 1974, the name Brookland-Cayce Grammar School #2 was changed to R. Earle Davis Elementary School. The name change was recommended by the Parent Teacher Association to honor Mr. and Mrs. R. Earle Davis, lifetime friends of the school community. In 2003, a 4 million dollar renovation of the entire school was conducted adding a new fine arts area, a new kindergarten wing, and a new kitchen and cafeteria. Currently the school facilities are home to 435 students in child development through grade five. Davis Elementary serves students from urban neighborhoods of the Greater Columbia area. The overall make-up of the school consists of the following: 322 African American students, 64 Caucasian students, 41 Hispanic students, and 8 students who are of a mixed racial background. There are 317 students that qualify for free and reduced meals (73%). There are 412 students assigned to 20 regular classrooms with an average size of 20 students per class and three special needs classrooms. The school has one self-contained emotionally disabled special education class, one pre-school disability class, and one self-contained generic special education class. The school also has one full time special educational resource teacher and one full time speech teacher. A child development class serves four-year-old students in two half-day sessions. The school has a full time principal, assistant principal, guidance counselor, media specialist, physical education, art, and music teachers, two Reading teachers, one instructional coach/teacher, and one literacy coach. We have an ESOL instructor who works with our students two and one-half days per week. The school also houses a part time mental health counselor provided by Lexington Mental Health. The majority of our students live in the school attendance zone set forth by the school board. Approximately forty-five of our students live outside the Davis school zone.