Deer Creek Public Schools serves students in northwestern
Oklahoma County
Oklahoma County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,633, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and largest ci ...
and southwestern
Logan County Logan County is the name of ten current counties and one former county in the United States:
* Logan County, Arkansas
* Logan County, Colorado
* Logan County, Idaho (1889–1895)
* Logan County, Illinois
* Logan County, Kansas
* Logan County, ...
in
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. As of October 2018, the district enrolls 6,646 students.
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
Oklahoma County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,633, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and largest ci ...
and
Logan County Logan County is the name of ten current counties and one former county in the United States:
* Logan County, Arkansas
* Logan County, Colorado
* Logan County, Idaho (1889–1895)
* Logan County, Illinois
* Logan County, Kansas
* 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 times of heavy rains.
This region of Oklahoma was part of the
Unassigned Lands
The Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma were in the center of the lands ceded to the United States by the Creek (Muskogee) and Seminole Indians following the Civil War and on which no other tribes had been settled. By 1883 it was bounded by the Chero ...
and was settled during the Oklahoma
Land Run of 1889
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of former Indian Territory, which had earlier been assigned to the Creek and Seminole peoples. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part of Canad ...
. Before the
land run
A land run or land rush was an event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened to homestead on a first-arrival basis. Lands were opened and sold first-come or by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run. The s ...
began, the area was surveyed into sections by the federal
Public Land Survey System
The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is the surveying method developed and used in the United States to plat, or divide, real property for sale and settling. Also known as the Rectangular Survey System, it was created by the Land Ordinance of 1 ...
, with each section measuring by one mile, and divided evenly into homesteads, called quarter-sections. Sections were organized into larger entities, called
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
s, that consisted of 36 numbered sections. Following a pattern set during the settling of the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
in 1787, the
Organic Act
In United States law, an organic act is an act of the United States Congress that establishes a territory of the United States and specifies how it is to be governed, or an agency to manage certain federal lands. In the absence of an organ ...
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
Oklahoma County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,633, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and largest ci ...
.
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, the federal
Works Project Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, in ...
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 façade 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
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
. Rose Union is 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 2008–2009 school year, the four elementary schools enrolled a total of 1,850 students in grades pre-K through 5.
[Student Population](_blank)
, Deercreekschools.org A fifth 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
Oklahoma County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,633, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and largest ci ...
, 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 seventh and eighth grades. The old middle school is now the intermediate school for the sixth grade. Deer Creek High School enrolls 1,356 students in grades 9–12.
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
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...
.
Sports
All schools in this district have the same mascot, the "Deer Creek Antlers".
Construction
Two more elementary schools and another middle school are planned.
Construction
, Deercreekschools.org 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 fifth 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 fifth and sixth grade students of the district
References
External links
School District
Deer Creek Elementary School
Prairie Vail Elementary School
Rose Union Elementary School
Grove Valley Elementary School
Spring Creek Elementary School
Intermediate School
Middle School
High School
4th And 5th Grade Center
Deer Creek Parent Voice Oklahoma
Deer Creek Parents and Community
Deer Creek Plac
{{Oklahoma High School Athletic Districts
School districts in Oklahoma
Education in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma
Education in Logan County, Oklahoma
Edmond, Oklahoma
School districts established in 1921