Dublin students, parents and staff excited for opening of brand new Emerald High School
An East Bay city struggling to keep up with its ever growing population is getting a brand new high school.
The number of residents in Dublin has been increasing so fast that you could call it a boomtown. Statistics show that between 2010 and 2020, Dublin was the fastest growing city not just in the Bay Area, but the entire state.
New numbers from the state's finance department released this week show its population was still growing last year. That growth has translated into the population of kids in Dublin's schools, which now serve nearly 13,000 students.
Dublin Unified is on the verge of opening the district's brand new Emerald High School to help alleviate some of the stress on Dublin High, which is situated across town.
Emerald High is the first new high school to open in Alameda County in 50 years. It will provide a major upgrade for students and staff who have been squeezed into portable classrooms.
CBS News Bay Area met with one of the students who had some input in its design. Fumni Minett is a high school freshman in the Class of 2027. You might call her a short timer on the Dublin High School campus grounds.
When asked if she was going to miss the Dublin High gym, Minett said, "No, because I have been inside Emerald's gym and it is so much better."
The gym at Emerald High on the east side of Dublin is just one of the amenities at the new $374 million school set to officially welcome students like Minett in this fall.
"This is the portable office here at Dublin High, and it is our humble beginnings of the brand new high school " said Emerald High Principal Francis Rojas. The portable was formerly a science classroom at Dublin High.
Minett along with 350 other Emerald High Freshman have been attending classes on the Dublin High campus all year.
The big move for teachers and staff is looming in just a matter of weeks. Rojas described his anticipation he's feeling.
"New office smell. It will feel like Christmas morning," Rojas said.
The Dublin Unified School District says its student population grew by 92% between 2010 and 2020. A second high school has been decades in the making to ease overcrowding.
"It is a really small footprint. But as you can see, all of our buildings are two and three stories tall, except for the gymnasium and the locker room," said Rojas.
The campus includes a grand student union, lecture hall and science labs in addition to the impressive 31,000 square foot gymnasium.
Phase 2 and Phase 3 are still under construction, and boxes filled with chairs and desks still need unpacked, but the mood right now is elevated.
"Very exciting. Our Dublin community has needed a second high school for over a decade now," said Rojas. "The population has just boomed, as you can see. When you drive through Dublin, what used to be empty fields, there are housing developments."
Not to mention that the new location means a shorter commute by 25 minutes for some students.
Funded by bond measures, construction on the Emerald High project broke ground in 2020. Now nearly a quarter century later, Minett says she is looking forward to walking the brand new halls to class.
"It's really cool to me, because as you can see, this place looks like a college campus," she said. "It is like Dublin. It resembles Dublin, how green we are. It resembles our scenery."
And the school mascot?
"A group of students recommended the Aerouant. I said, 'What is that?' And they said, "We googled Celtic dragon, and that is what came up,'" Rojas explained. "So that landed on top. It is a great conversation piece.
"I kind of love it because we can shorten it to arrows," said Minett.
Parent Ann Singh will have two children attending Emerald High.
"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 said. "To finally see this happen, it is exciting."
After all of the planning and construction momentum is building.
"I love this school already," said Minett.
