Dublin residents are gearing up for the much-anticipated opening of Emerald High School—the first new comprehensive high school in Alameda County in five decades—set to alleviate overcrowding in a rapidly growing city. As reported by CBS News Bay Area, the Dublin Unified School District, facing a 92% increase in student population from 2010 to 2020, is opening the doors of Emerald High to counterbalance the surge, specifically taking the load off Dublin High, which has been stretched to capacity across town.
In a boomtown scenario, the student population is nearly 13,000. Dublin has been on the brink of needing expanded facilities, a notion not lost on locals excited for the fall inauguration. “Our Dublin community has needed a second high school for over a decade now,” Emerald High Principal Francis Rojas explained in a statement to CBS News Bay Area. “The population has just boomed, as you can see. When you drive through Dublin, what used to be empty fields, there are housing developments.” Desks and chairs still boxed, the phase of unpacking and settling into the pristine grounds at Emerald High awaits the 350 freshmen poised to transition from portable classrooms at Dublin High.
Emerald High School will feature traditional educational spaces, a grand student union, a sophisticated lecture hall, and new science labs. Moreover, students like Fumni Minett, a high school freshman, are enthusiastic about the 31,000-square-foot gymnasium and the campus that mimics the lush Dublin landscape. In a conversation with CBS News Bay Area, Minett shared her excitement, saying, “It’s really cool to me, because as you can see, this place looks like a college campus. It is like Dublin. It resembles Dublin, how green we are. It resembles our scenery.”
Anticipation in the community is palpable with parents like Ann Singh, who have watched Dublin transform over the past two decades, eager for this fresh establishment. “I'm personally really excited, because one of the reasons we moved to Dublin 20 years ago was for the good school and the community,” Singh told CBS News Bay Area. “To finally see this happen, it is exciting.” Emerald High has chosen a unique mascot—the Aerouant, a Celtic dragon—as Principal Rojas divulged to CBS News Bay Area, stemming from a student-led search that undoubtedly will become a great conversation piece.
The formal transition for staff to the shiny new establishment begins on June 3, according to a post from Emerald High School's Instagram. It sets the stage for freshmen and sophomores to take their inaugural steps on August 13. Funded through bond measures with groundbreaking in 2020, this school is shaping up to be more than just a place of learning, symbolizing both a response to population growth and an investment in the future of Dublin's community.
