Late in 1905, the first high school classes were taught in the Douglas schools system at what was then Seventh Street School.

At the time, a basic education was the first eight grades. Students completing those grades were considered to have an education that would adequately serve them in most jobs. High school classes were regarded as the equivalent of today's junior college studies.

During January of 1907, high schoolers moved into the newly-built Grammar School. Six students became Douglas High School's first graduates in May 1908. The class of 1909 had only three members.

Shortly before the 1910 commencement, Douglas High School opened at 840 12th Street. Three expansions added metal and wood-working shops, home economics classrooms, science laboratories, and a small gym on the campus' northwest corner.

In 1947, plans were announced for anew Douglas High School. The school board purchased 17 acres north of 15th Street, between Estrella and Florida Avenues, and successfully promoted a bond issue.

Construction completed Oct. 19, 1949 let 385 pupils in 10th, 11th and 12th grades move into three classroom wings and use an auditorium. Ninth graders remained at what became Douglas Junior High until 1959.

On Dec. 11, 1948, the community dedicated Veterans Memorial Field House honoring Douglasites killed during WWII. The building, moved in four pieces off Fort Huachuca by Reay Transfer and Storage of Douglas, was reassembled on Estrella Ave.

The DHS gymnasium contains a full-sized basketball court plus large bleachers and two practice courts. With addition of dressing rooms, offices and a lobby, Veterans Memorial Field House became one of the largest high school gyms in Arizona.

It was the first in a string of post-WWII facilities. A print shop established in 1949 was followed by classrooms for wood and metal shops. In 1950, a cafeteria and kitchen opened.

Beginning in 1953, agriculture classes were held in a Quonset hut north of the gym, establishing a vigorous Future Farmers of America program. it was one factor in the number of graduates topping more than 100 throughout the 1950s.

The first 200-plus DHS class was 1965 when 213 received diplomas. Those students had used a new cafeteria and a fourth classroom wing erected in 1960. In 1964, a double-story fifth wing was added.

This campus, with some modifications, served into the 1990s. Then, modular buildings, known as East Campus, held an alternative high school featuring flexible class schedules.

In 1995, a sixth DHS wing was built, and in 1996, a new library took shape on the campus' east side. In 2000, the spacious facility as named for Bette Levra, a DHS counselor for 24 years and the school's first female principal.

Notable events: The first Bisbee-Douglas football game was played in 1906. It's the oldest high school football rivalry in Arizona. The Copper Pick, a trophy made of copper mined in Bisbee and smelted in Douglas, was first awarded in 1944.

-Ms. Cindy Hayostek, District Historical Researcher

Sources:

G. Genevieve Wiggins, "A History of Douglas Public Schools 1901-1965".

Norman Littrell, "Douglas Schools from 1965-1995".

The following issues of the Douglas Dispatch: 15NV1923, 20OC1926, 22MY1929, 26MY1933, 05NV1933, 22MY1938, 06SP1939, 30JA1944, 26FB1944, 28NV1946, 28MY1948, 20OC1948, 12MR1953, 19AG1964, 10MY1983, 26FB2008.