Amphitheater Public Schools

Amphitheater Public Schools
F. O. Holaway Elementary School, one school part of Amphitheater Public Schools
Address
701 West Wetmore Road Flowing Wells, Arizona 85705
Coordinates	32°17′10″N 110°58′57″W / 32.28611°N 110.98253°W / 32.28611; -110.98253Coordinates: 32°17′10″N 110°58′57″W / 32.28611°N 110.98253°W / 32.28611; -110.98253
Information
Type	Public school
Founded	July 3, 1893
School district	10
Superintendent	Patrick Nelson
Enrollment	17,000
Campuses	22
Website	http://www.amphi.com/

Amphitheater Public Schools, also known as Amphi or District 10, is the third largest public school district in Tucson, Arizona, in terms of enrollment, with over 16,000 students and a staff more than 5000 employees Amphi was established on July 3, 1893. With its headquarters in Flowing Wells, presently serves segments of North Tucson (an area that is known as Amphitheater), Casas Adobes, Catalina Foothills, and the communities of Oro Valley, eastern Tortolita, and Catalina northwest of the city.

Following the Mexican–American War of 1848, American pioneers began to settle the Tucson area in increasing numbers. Ranchers and settlers developed homesteads in the rural area northwest of the city along the banks of the Rillito River. The community of Rillito was gradually established, and by 1889 the Rillito School District was organized (later to become the Flowing Wells School District).

Rillito residents desired a local school so district children would not be required to travel to the Congress Street School in downtown Tucson. The Rillito School Board proposed a site for a school, but a number of settlers asserted that the proposed location was as undesirable as the Congress Street School. These settlers resided on the eastern edge of the Rillito School District and eventually petitioned the Pima County Board of Supervisors to establish an independent school district. On July 3, 1893, Amphitheater Public Schools became a reality. According to Amphitheater High School graduate and historical writer for the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, David Leighton, the founding board members were rancher and assayer Edward L. Wetmore (the Wetmore family is the namesake of Wetmore Road in North Tucson), homesteader and carpenter Levi Marston Prince (namesake of Prince Road in North Tucson), and rancher Joseph D. Andrews.

The district's unique name relates to the geography of the Tucson basin. J. D. Andrews looked north toward the Tortolita Mountains and the Santa Catalina Mountains, east to the Rincon Mountains, south to the Santa Rita Mountains, and west to the Tucson Mountains and was reminded of an enormous amphitheater.