Dublin High School (California)

Dublin High School is a four-year high school located in the East San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the two high schools in Dublin, California along with Emerald High School and serves about 3,200 students.
By the peak of the California Gold Rush in the 1850s, Dublin had established itself as a significant crossroads city in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Murray School District, consisting of the quaint Murray School, was established in 1866 to meet the educational needs of an ever-increasing population. This proved satisfactory until the late 1950s after World War II, when real estate developers chose Dublin as a site for large-scale suburban development. The population subsequently skyrocketed, from 750 to 13,641 by 1970.
The city scrambled to expand the school system, opening and closing several schools within the next few decades. Dublin High School was established amidst this process in 1968—first as the second high school in Pleasanton, California, sharing the campus of Amador Valley High School by means of a staggered schedule for the 1968–69 school year. The school moved to its current campus in Fall 1969. Its first senior class graduated in June 1971. After the incorporation of the City of Dublin in 1982, Dublin High combined with the Murray School District to form the Dublin Unified School District in July 1988.
In organizational meetings during the summer of 1968 in Pleasanton, chaired by the new Dublin Assistant Principal Robert Hagler and attended by a committee of students, the school colors and mascot were proposed and adopted by the student body later that year. Given the school's Irish place name, Hagler had suggested that the mascot (the Gael) and colors (red and blue) of nearby Saint Mary's College of California might be an appropriate starting point for the discussions, and the committee eventually agreed with Hagler's idea, while adding white to the colors. In a gesture of good will, Saint Mary's donated athletic gear to the new school's athletic department.
73.2% of Dublin voters approved a $184 million bond measure in the November 2004 election, which the Dublin Unified School District planned to use in funding various school renovation projects. Dublin High School was the primary beneficiary of the measure, with $120 million dedicated to a complete renewal of the campus (which began in 2008 and was completed in 2015). The renewal included a new 500-seat Center for Performing Arts and Education, a modernization of the 1968 gymnasium, and a new courtyard.
Over time, this too proved insufficient. Dublin's population continued to drastically increase in the 21st century, reaching a total of 46,036 by the year 2010. By 2015, the Dublin Unified School District outlined a second comprehensive high school as one of its top priorities—as listed in its Facilities Master Plan—citing a survey showing Dublin High faculty members' desires for additional classrooms and renovations of old facilities. By September 2020, plans to build and open the new Emerald High School were finalized.
Dublin voters also passed another $99 million bond measure in 2012 to fund the construction of a 47,000 sq. ft. Science and Engineering Building, which was completed in April 2021.
In the meantime, 2017 saw a beginning of protest and outcry from Dublin High teachers, who had struggled with increased class sizes without proper staffing accommodation or financial compensation. As negotiations for appropriate pay raises and contractual improvements stagnated for months, members and supporters of the Dublin Teachers Association (DTA) took to the streets in a candlelight march to the District office, culminating in a series of statements at the ongoing School Board meeting. This was the first of several marches which took place within the next couple years. In March 2019, the DTA threatened to go on strike if negotiations remained stagnant; a tentative agreement including a pay raise and class size limitation was reached in April.
Dublin High is home to select Academies focusing on specific career paths:
Dublin High School offers the opportunity for students to gain lab experience in the biomedical field. Students interested in the Pre-Med Track may join the Health Science and Medical Technology Academy, more commonly known as the Biomedical Academy. The academy starts accepting students at the end of 8th grade; selective interviews are held to determine placement. The academy offers classes focused on the intersection between biology and medicine, with an emphasis on lab skills. The academy is closely affiliated with the school's HOSA club and offers a mentorship program in the eleventh grade to further career development.
Students also have the opportunity to pursue engineering via the Engineering and Design Academy. This exclusive academy allows students to network with industry professionals and get priority to take a variety of engineering classes. In 2021, a three-floor Science and Engineering finished construction, allowing for expansion of the academy as well as general classes.
There is also a Culinary academy on campus for students to pursue this route. In this academy the main course is Catering, a course that actually caters to venues such as weddings and dinners. Those who take part in the culinary academy for 3 years receive a scholarship of a few hundred dollars upon graduation.
Dublin High School offers a few performing arts programs. The Irish Guard Marching Band and Color Guard competes in the Western Band Association (WBA) and Northern California Band Association (NCBA) in the AAAAA Division and has a membership of 147 students as of 2017. The Irish Guard has performed at field show competitions, home football and basketball games, concerts, and community events. The marching band and the off-season concert and jazz bands have performed in Hawaii, Disney World, Canada, Ireland, and Carnegie Hall, among others. The concert band performed at Symphony Center in Chicago in April 2014. In March 2016, the marching band travelled to Ireland to perform in the annual Saint Patrick's Day parade in Bray. The Director of Bands at Dublin High School is Jack Bainton. Another program that the High school provides is the "String Orchestra" which the Director of Bands leads.
Dublin High also hosts an active Drama department, which offers courses and clubs that culminate in fall plays, spring musicals, student-directed One Acts, and attendance at the annual Lenaea High School Theatre Festival in Folsom, California.
Dublin High also offers three choir programs: concert choir, show choir, and advanced treble choir.
Created in 2015, the Freshman Mentorship Program (FMP) offers incoming freshmen guidance in transitioning from middle school to high school. As of 2017, the Program had 148 student members and 28 faculty advisors.
Frequented especially by upperclassmen starting the college admission process, the Career Center acts as a resource and guidance center for them. Presenting scholarship opportunities, processing work permits, and hosting guest speaker events.
In 2019, Dublin High opened its Wellness Center in to cater to students' emotional needs and bring awareness to mental health. Besides general counseling, the center also offers courses on adulting and smoking prevention, among others.
The Academic & Resource Center (often shortened to "the ARC") serves as the tutoring center, providing access to technology (through Chromebooks), printers, textbooks, school supplies, and one-on-one assistance with curricula. It is located on the second floor of the Science and Engineering Building.
Frequently in use, Dublin High School offers an olympic-scaled track surrounding a state of the ark football field, where a "D" (for Dublin) is engraved in the center of the field. You may also find a 330,000 square foot open-grass field, including two baseball fields and a softball field. The 110,000 square feet of grass in-between these fields are considered multi-use, occasionally hosting football practices and is also where you can find the discus and shotput areas for Track & Field.
Dublin High School is served by three different bus routes, most of which take students from Dublin High to East Dublin and back. This service is provided by Wheels, an LAVTA bus service.
The school also has two parking lots, one located on Brighton Drive and one on Village Parkway. In 2021, the Village Parkway parking lot was expanded at the old site of the now-defunct Dublin Swim Center. Student parking is only available to juniors and seniors.
Dublin High students have the option to participate in the Dublin Partners in Education (DPIE) program. The program is most popular for its accelerated summer courses, which earn credit towards high school graduation and allow students to access more advanced courses the following year.
Dublin High School competes in the EBAL (East Bay Athletic League) valley league, including other schools such as Granada, Dougherty Valley and Livermore high schools.
On February 22, 2012, MythBusters stars Adam Savage and Kari Byron participated in a panel session at the Dublin High School Engineering and Design Academy Open House. 1,000 people attended the sold-out event.
Teacher Eugene Chou won the 6th annual Project Lead The Way California Teacher of the Year award on February 2, 2017.
The Dublin Unified School District was recognized by Green Street Scene in 2009 with a Green Building Award for the use of green technology in the renewal of Dublin High School.
Dublin High has been given the California Distinguished School award five times. (1990, 1992, 1996, 2003, and 2017).
It was given a California Department of Education statewide rank of 10 (out of 10)
It was awarded a silver medal in the 2015 U.S. News & World Report ranking of high schools.