Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Junior High School

4000 East Covell Boulevard

School District

Davis Joint Unified
Grade

7-9
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
Type

public

School Map for Davis Joint Unified School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on December 07, 2022

Harper is a terrible school. The education is bad and the staff is horrible. But the sports are good hence why I gave 1 star.
Submitted by parent on April 25, 2022

Had to attend a different junior high for my freshmen year in 2009 because of how bad the bullying had gotten. Davis schools are just really bad in my opinion.
Submitted by parent on December 09, 2018

Horrible. My daughter was bullied starting at Birch Lane andbthe same girls ganged upbon her at Harper. School officials were notified, spoken to, complaints filed and there was NO action taken. We moved to another city where she excelled in learning and the bullying stopped. Beware parents. Davis schools are “falsely advertised “ as being the best. They are not and you will risk your child’s emotional and physical well-being taht will impact the rest of their lives. I’d suggest homeschooling/charter/any other options but Davis school public school district.
Submitted by parent on June 21, 2018

Harper has the nicest and newest campus of the Davis middle schools. It's located next to greenbelts that allow students to ride their bikes easily to and from school.
Submitted by other on November 14, 2017

It was the worst school ever and the teachers gave detention to me for asking to go to the bathroom several times. I did not learn much from this school and was very underprepared for High school.
Submitted by other on June 17, 2014

I attended this school all three years, and found it to be a really great experience. While the math and Spanish programs left something to be desired, the music program was excellent, and all the core classes were taught very well. However, there tend to be a lot of new teachers that are rotated each year, so the quality of education can depend on that. A lot of the classes could be stress inducing, and some teachers had that pressure cooker mentality, though I would say the parents and the students themselves were mostly at fault. I personally didn't get too stressed out. Probably the best thing about this school is the high level of tolerance and diversity, which you wouldn't expect with such a high percentage of white people. The students and faculty are overall really nice people, and it's less cluique-y than a lot of junior highs and high schools. The atmosphere is really positive, and I would definitely recommend this school.
Submitted by parent on June 11, 2014

My second daughter just graduated from this school, and I still have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I think the facilities are quite nice and the teaching staff quite friendly. However, some subjects left quite a bit to be desired. The Spanish teachers were not native speakers, which is kind of difficult to achieve in California; two of the math teachers were unduly hard on the grading and ended up failing a good proportion of the class (I am a mathematician, and can attest that my daughter knew the material, but she got a D- nevertheless). However, there are other teachers that make up for the lack of quality of others. The band teacher is quite loved by the kids and does a very respectable job; the science teachers are quite good too, etc. By no means these "shortcomings" make this into a bad school, but I know it could be better.
Submitted by parent on July 03, 2013

My daughter loves this school and as a parent so do I. Her teachers have been fantastic. Orchestra, French, track,, Algebra teachers were exceptional. There are lots of lunch time activities so the school really tries to create a niche for everyone. What impressed me too was how respectful the school is of its parents. Teachers quickly respond to email and are very understanding regarding absences. The one time I couldn't get a parent connection to work the principal immediately put me in touch with the person who could solve the issue. Fundraising was done by a simple worksheet at the beginning of the year based on teacher input so that you could donate to specific activities or classes (i.e.- $5 for world languages, $20 for science) or to PTO directly. There never appeared to be an issue finding parent volunteers. Harper is a great school.