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The Dublin Unified School District on Tuesday selected Emerald High School as the official name for the community’s second comprehensive high school, which is expected to break ground next month.
The Emerald High name is a nod toward the Tri-Valley city’s Irish namesake, according to DUSD spokesman Chip Dehnert. Originally founded in the 1890s, Dublin, California was named after Dublin, Ireland due to the significant Irish immigrant population of the local community at the time.
“(The community) wanted a name that was unique and clearly associated with Dublin,” Dehnert said. “Something that would maintain relevance over time.”
Inspired by Ireland’s nickname as the “Emerald Isle,” Emerald High School was chosen based on three categories the Board of Trustees set forth: a school can be named after an outstanding individual, a curriculum concentration, or a geographic reference.
A naming committee, composed of students, community members, parents and staff in November, was given the task to deliver three names that fit into either of categories. The committee received 264 submissions, and after getting rid of redundancies, the committee had 120 to choose from.
“The committee then worked out a process to get from 120 to ultimately down to three,” Dehnert said. “A part of what they did was filter through existing categories that were provided from board policies, and some of the names were able to be removed based on that.”
Some suggestions included “Amador High School” or “Dougherty High School” but because of the pre-existing Amador Valley High School (Pleasanton) and Dougherty Valley High School (San Ramon), those names were tossed.
The committee also drove away from names that would be divisive. One name suggestion in particular was “East Dublin High School,” which was later eliminated with officials believing it would create more tension to the Dublin’s so-called east-west divide.
By February, the naming committee had three names: Alamilla Springs High School, Parks High School and Emerald High School.
Alamilla Springs was based on an area in Dublin from the 19th century where travelers would visit coming into the Bay Area. It was a natural spring, according to Dehnert, and served as “an oasis.”
The name Parks High School was a reference to Camp Parks, the military base that has been in Dublin since the 1940s.
Two public hearings were supposed to be held in March, but due to COVID-19, the second hearing was halted until this month. On Tuesday, the name “Emerald High School” — which was the top choice of the naming committee — was unanimously approved by the board.
Emerald High’s construction is split into two phases. The first phase, currently in development, is making way to accommodate 1,300 students. The project is estimated to break ground next month.
Phase 1 is estimated to be completed by fall 2022, the project is funded with $158 million through Measure H, which will cover a significant amount of costs for the overall $166.2 million phase. The estimated cost of each phase will be $258.2 million, with Phase 2 costing $92 million.
Phase 2 has yet to be given a projected completion date but is estimated to fit the remaining amount of students needed.
Emerald High School will be located in an empty parcel of land between Central Parkway to the north and Dublin Boulevard to the south, where Grafton Street and Finnian Way intersect. The lot is 23.46 acres.
Dehnert stated that in the last 10 years, there has been an approximately 92% increase in student population for DUSD compared to other Tri-Valley districts. To make way for those new students, Emerald is being built.
