Tensas High School is the public secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 which services all of Tensas Parish

Tensas Parish, Louisiana

Tensas Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is St. Joseph. In 2010, the population of Tensas Parish was 5,252; it is the least-populous of all sixty-four parishes....

 in northeastern Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. Tensas High School, a term coined in 2006, was formerly known as Joseph Moore Davidson High School. It is located in the parish seat of St. Joseph

St. Joseph, Louisiana

St. Joseph is a town in and the parish seat of Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,340 at the 2000 census. The town is 69 percent African American. St. Joseph is the entry community to Lake Bruin State Park located on Lake Bruin, a relatively clear oxbow...

. Pupils in grades 7-12 from throughout the parish may enroll. This includes those who previously attended the defunct Newellton High School

Newellton High School

Newellton High School was a rural public high school in Newellton in northern Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, along the Mississippi River. NHS operated throughout most of the 20th century until its closure in 2006...

 in Newellton

Newellton, Louisiana

Newellton is a town in northern Tensas Parish in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population is 1,227 in the 2010 census, a decline of 255 from 2000. Newellton is some 65 percent African American. It is just west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake....

 and Waterproof High School in Waterproof

Waterproof, Louisiana

Waterproof is a town in Tensas Parish, Louisiana, United States with a population of 834 as of 2000 census. Waterproof is approximately seventeen miles north of Ferriday, one of the two principal communities of Concordia Parish...

. The current enrollment is 237.

Davidson High School was named for Joseph Moore Davidson (1894-1918), a United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 soldier from St. Joseph who died shortly before the signing of the armistice

Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...

 in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Tensas High School is operated by the elected seven-member Tensas Parish School Board

Tensas Parish School Board

The Tensas Parish School Board is an entity responsible for the operation of public schools in Tensas Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is headquartered in the town of St. Joseph....

. Pupils in pre-kindergarten through grade 8 still attend Newellton Elementary School, located on the former Newellton High School campus. Tensas Elementary School in St. Joseph hosts grades pre-K-6. Because of population decline, there is no longer any public school in Waterproof.

Two months after the consolidation of Tensas High School, violence broke out at the campus on November 2, 2006, when fourteen male students were arrested by the office of Sheriff Rickey Jones.

In May 2010, three whites and thirty-seven black students graduated from Tensas High School. Ten whites graduated from the private

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

, Tensas Academy, and four whites from a second private school, the Newellton Christian Academy.

The principal of Tensas High School in the 2010-2011 year is LaKeyshure Washington-Marzell. Don Barton is the assistant principal.The school sports teams are known as the Panthers.