Deer Creek Public Schools

Deer Creek Public Schools serves students in northwestern Oklahoma County and southwestern Logan County in Oklahoma. As of October 2018, the district enrolls 6,646 students.[1]

Deer Creek Public Schools
District information
GradesK - 12
SchoolsDeer Creek High School, Deer Creek Middle School, Deer Creek Intermediate School, Deer Creek Elementary, Prairie Vale, Rose Union, Grove Valley, Spring Creek
Students and staff
Students6646 (October 1, 2018)
District mascotArchie the Antler
ColorsBlue, White, Black
Other information
WebsiteDeer Creek School District

There are nine schools in the district: Deer Creek High School, Deer Creek Intermediate School, Deer Creek Middle School, Deer Creek Elementary School, Deer Creek Prairie Vale Elementary School, Deer Creek Rose Union Elementary School, Deer Creek Grove Valley Elementary School, Deer Creek 4th And 5th Grade Center, and Deer Creek Spring Creek Elementary School.

History

Deer Creek opened in 1921. Deer Creek is a growing community sprawling over the border between Oklahoma County and Logan County. It is named for the nearby Deer Creek, which snakes through much of the district and occasionally causes the schools to close by flooding during the spring rains.

This region of Oklahoma was part of the Unassigned Lands and was settled during the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889.[2] Before the land run began, the area was surveyed into sections by the federal Public Land Survey System, with each section measuring one mile (1.6 km) by one mile, and divided evenly into 160-acre (0.65 km2) homesteads, called quarter-sections.[3] Sections were organized into larger entities, called townships, that consisted of 36 numbered sections. Following a pattern set during the settling of the Northwest Territories in 1787, the Organic Act dedicated section No. 16 for the support of public schools. In the Deer Creek Public School District, both northern quarters and the southwestern quarter were sold to raise funds to build the school. The first school was built on the southeast quarter-section, at what is now called N. MacArthur Boulevard and W. 206th Street in the unincorporated part of Oklahoma County.

During the Great Depression, the federal Works Project Administration built a one-story, red-brick school at the far southeastern corner of this quarter-section. This building included a half-court basketball gymnasium, about a dozen classrooms, and a small library. A gymnasium and separate cafeteria were added later. The buildings have since been demolished, but the trees that surrounded the building are still present, and part of the building's brick facade is used on the entrance to the high school's auditorium.

Schools

Since the early 1980s, the district has expanded considerably due to exurban sprawl. It now has five elementary schools, none of which are at the original location. Prairie Vale Elementary School was the first school built away from the original site. It is near the western border of the City of Edmond and on the border of northwest Oklahoma City. Deer Creek Elementary moved several miles south and serves primarily students living in the Memorial and MacArthur area of Oklahoma City. Rose Union is one mile (1.6 km) northeast of the original site and draws students from the largest section of the school district. Grove Valley covers the nw 192nd and Portland (Highway 74) area. In the 2008-09 school year, the four elementary schools enrolled a total of 1,850 students in grades Pre-K through 5.[4] A 5th Elementary, Spring Creek Elementary, opened in August 2013 and is located off of Rockwell and 150th.

Deer Creek High School (DCHS) is located in northern Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, north of Oklahoma City and west of Edmond on the northwest corner of NW 206th Street and MacArthur Boulevard. The high school has dramatically expanded over the past half-decade. The high school facilities include a two-story annex, a freshman academy, Alumni Hall, the old gym, a PAAC (Performing Arts & Athletic Center), a multi-sport complex, and a new football stadium.

A new middle school is located on NW 234th Street just east of N. May. It is for 7th and 8th grades. The old Middle School is now the Intermediate school for the 6th grade. Deer Creek High School enrolls 1,356 students in grades 9-12.[4]

Awards

Deer Creek Middle School, Deer Creek Elementary, Deer Creek Grove Valley, Deer Creek Prairie Vale, and Deer Creek High School are Blue Ribbon Schools.

Sports

All schools in this district have the same mascot, the Deer Creek Antlers.

The Deer Creek Football team won the 3A state title in 2000.

The Deer Creek High School Boys' Cross Country team won the 4A state championships in 2006 and 2007 and the 5A state championship in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

The Deer Creek High School boys' track team won state in 5A in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The Deer Creek Girls' Basketball teams won the 4A state championship in 2006 and the 5A state championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

They made the jump to 5A sports in 2007-2008.

The Deer Creek High School Boys' Golf team won the 5A state championship in 2007.

The Deer Creek High School Girls' Soccer team won the 5A state championship in 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. The Deer Creek High School boys' soccer team won the 5A state championship in 2015

In 2010, Deer Creek High School opened a new football stadium.

The Deer Creek High School Girls' Golf team won the 5A state championship in 2013.

In 2016, Deer Creek Public Schools moved from Class 5A to Class 6A. Class 6A is the largest class a school district can move to in Oklahoma.

Construction

Two more elementary schools and another middle school are planned.[5] Grove Valley Elementary recently opened in August 2009. All three existing elementary schools have had classrooms added.

The new expansion of the High School is currently done and many teachers have moved classrooms. The current high school building began in the early 1980s as the two short arms (originally intended to form an X shape) that point northeast and southeast on the east face of the classroom building. Since then, it has been expanded several times, more than tripling its original size to accommodate the rapidly growing student body.

A recently passed $142 million bond issue will fund the construction of a new middle school on NW 234th St. near May Ave., a 5th elementary school near NW 150th and Rockwell, several more additions to the high school campus, multimillion-dollar athletic and activity buildings including a large gymnasium and an attached performing arts center.

The new middle school is currently open and running, with seventh and eighth graders inside. The old middle school is now called the Intermediate school, accommodating the 5th and 6th grade students of the district

References
  1. https://sde.ok.gov/documents/2019-01-25/2018-19-district-enrollment-grade
  2. Maloney, Ann, Organization of Oklahoma Territory (accessed June 15, 2010).
  3. Howard, William Willard, The Rush to Oklahoma, Harper's Weekly 33 (May 18, 1889): 391-94.
  4. Student Population Archived 2008-06-09 at the Wayback Machine, Deercreekschools.org
  5. Construction Archived 2009-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Deercreekschools.org

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