Peoria Unified School District

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Peoria Unified School District
Image:PUSD Img.png
"Every Student, Every Day, Prepared To Meet Tomorrow"
Location
6330 West Thunderbird Road
Glendale, Peoria, Arizona, 85304
USA
Information
Superintendent Dr. Denton Santarelli
Type Public
Grades Preschool-12
Established 1888
Homepage

Peoria Unified School District #11 provides primary and secondary education in Peoria, Arizona and parts of Glendale, Arizona.

Contents

[edit] Early History

Peoria Unified School District #11 began in 1888, covering 49 square miles (127 km²). During the first school year, the class size fluctuated from 5 to 15 students.[1]

The following year the district opened with a class size of three students.[1] Maricopa County was considering merging Peoria District #11 with Washington Elementary School District #6. According to William Bartlett:[1] One day early in July, Mr. Mann, stopped a covered wagon along Grand Avenue; the wagon had several children inside. Mann discovered that the driver had 9 children and was heading to Phoenix or anywhere else that would provide employment, and told the driver "You have got a job right here". Eight of the Bills children enrolled in Peoria School and District 11 survived.[1]

In 1905, the first building was destroyed by fire; a bond election to build a new school passed by only one vote. A controversy arose about how many rooms the new school should have; many residents claimed that Peoria would never need more than two rooms in a school. A $3,200 two-room school was finally built on 83rd Avenue and Washington Street.[1]

[edit] Recent History

Today, Peoria Unified School District contains 30 elementary schools and 7 high schools. There are about 37,000 students in the district. Over the past twenty years, the district has built at least one school per year because of rapid growth in Glendale and Peoria.

In May 2007, the PUSD Governing Board voted to completely close all high school campuses during lunch by taking away parental choice. A number of other metro Phoenix districts have made similar changes recently.[2]

The PUSD Governing Board instituted a closed campus for the 2006–2007 school year. Despite a walkout[3] , continuing rancor and conflict at the board meetings,[citation needed] and a petition signed by over 2600 parents and students,[4] the governing board has stood firm on this, and students are now required to stay on campus throughout lunch time.[5] Despite the new policy appearing to be a reversal of a policy approved in the 2005-2006 year, which allowed juniors and seniors with C averages to leave with parental permission forms signed,[6] district spokesman Jim Cummings said the new rules do not alter past policy.[4] The closed campus policy has remained in high schools throughout the district in the 2007-2008 year, and is scheduled to continue.

[edit] List of High Schools

[edit] List of Elementary Schools

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e History About Peoria Elementary. Peoria Unified School District #11 (2003-11-04). Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
  2. ^ Leung, Lily (2007-08-21). "Buckeye Union freshmen, sophomores adapting to forced stay on campus for lunch". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
  3. ^ Moravcik, Meghan (2007-08-07). "Blanket permission slips won't circumvent policy". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved on 2007-12-13.
  4. ^ a b Kelly, Charles (2007-11-08). "School district sticks to closed campus policy". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
  5. ^ Section 5.1.3.1 (Release of High School Students During the Lunch Period) of Governing Board Policy Section 5 (2007-10-23). Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
  6. ^ Moravcik, Meghan E. (2007-05-09). "Peoria Unified closes high school campuses during lunchtime". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.

[edit] External links