New Haven Independent

It was Day 2 of a weekend “Tribute to Davis Street School.” Davis was built in 1918. It’s an anchor of upper Westville. In July, the city will begin demolishing it. The K-5 community will temporarily move to vacant Vincent Mauro and become a K-6, part of a “summer of schlep” for — count ‘em — 15 school populations during the latest phase of the citywide renovation and rebuilding program.

If all goes according to plan, Davis will return by January 2011 to a new $45 million home that looks something like this model. It’ll be bigger than the old building. Classes will start from pre-K and run through eighth grade. And it will have a separate cafeteria, gym and auditorium for all the music that goes on at the arts-themed regional magnet school.

Some of those artistic pursuits were on display at Sunday’s celebration. Click on the play arrow to watch Amber Lane read from her “Spring Fever” poem and the school’s “21 C Band” (for 21st Century) slide into Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke.” Pictured at the top of the story are some members of the 21 C Violin Ensemble. A lot of kids play violin at Davis. (Read some more about that at the bottom of this story about another recent event at the school.)

The school community’s history, as well as its present and future, took center stage Sunday. Kyle Skubas came back, for instance. He graduated in 1995. He’s now a Web marketing manager for a Massachusetts-based company called shoebuy.com. He’s pictured with his mom, Sarah Skubas, who seved as PTA president for five years starting in the 1980s.

Davis is a school on the move, figuratively as well as literally. Its test scores have risen markedly. There’s an energy about the place, along with a sense of impending growth. The school’s traditions and its future were both embodied Sunday by emcee Lola Nathan. She’s been the principal since 1988, and continues at the helm for the next phase.

Citywide school construction chief Sue Weisselberg (pictured with Nathan at Sunday’s event) said the bids for the first phase of work, abatement and demolition, came in 20 percent under budget. “Right now it’s a good bidding climate,” she reported. She said she hopes to keep the streak going and earn similar savings for the entire project.