Judge Ronald N. Davies High School, commonly referred to as Davies High School, is a public high school located in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It is managed by Fargo Public Schools, of which it is the fourth and newest high school. Davies High School serves grades 9 through 12. It is named after Ronald Davies, a former North Dakota based federal judge best known for ordering the integration of Little Rock Central High during the civil rights crisis of the 1960s.HistoryDavies High School is an excellent example of community-driven endeavors, partnerships, and successful long-term planning efforts. It has its origins in the first-ever Community Dialogue, held in 2002. Several hundred members of the community voiced their preferences on how the district could better serve its families, in regard to class and building size, grade configurations, and proximity to schools. This charted a course for the Long Range Facility Plan (LRFP) in 2003, which included a district-wide configuration of grade K-5 elementary schools, grade 6-8 middle schools, and grade 9-12 high schools. In 2004, a Transition Task Force made up of administrators, teachers, parents, and consultants began meeting for discussions and decisions relating to the new configuration. In the spring of 2005, updates were made to the LRFP to reflect the eventual construction of a third high school, and the board held a series of public meetings to discuss the LRFP and the impending school boundary changes coming in 2006. In the fall of 2007, the board opened the naming process to all students, parents, and community members. It also held a public meeting to discuss and collect input on the early stages of planning for the new facility, and issued $43 million in bonds to fund the new high school. Five potential names were finalized for the new school: Lake Agassiz, Ronald Davies, Dakota, Great Plains, and Liberty. The name of Judge Ronald N. Davies – the federal district judge from Fargo whose decisions in Little Rock in 1957 opened the door for desegregation of the nation’s schools – was chosen for the building. In the spring of 2008, the mascot and colors were chosen through both public and student input. The board also held a public meeting with citizens, and classroom meetings with middle school students, to gauge input on several transition plans for students into the new high school. In October of that year, the district held a formal groundbreaking ceremony with members of the Davies family, the district, and community. Construction lasted nearly three years. On August 21, 2011, amid several days of fanfare and public events, the new building opened to students and the community.
