It All Started with a $500 Loan

The Davenport area is the home of hard-working, industrious people with both urban and rural ancestry.

Boasting some of the most fertile farm ground in the world, Davenport is a community whose founder, Antoine LeClaire, played a role in the exploration of the Mississippi River region in the early 1800s. It also is a community where the first female public school superintendent served from 1874 to 1878 and a major school building program was accomplished during the throes of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

It was 1858 when LeClaire provided a $500 loan to help establish the present Davenport Community Schools from several separate school systems in the area. Since then, the district has grown by building on its industrious heritage with innovative programs that serve the needs of all children.

Today, about 16,500 students attend the Davenport Community Schools, one of the largest school districts in a state that is well-known for its excellent educational programming.

Among these students, nearly 1,000 receive their high school diplomas each year, prepared to put to work the "Skills for Life" they have learned here.

Community & School District Progress Go Hand-in-Hand
Historic Happenings