DUBLIN — An aerouant is a dragon-like creature from Celtic mythology. It’s also the mascot of the first new public high school to open in Alameda County in more than 50 years.
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Emerald High School officially opened to 900 of its first-ever freshman and sophomore students on Tuesday. It’s the first new public high school in Dublin since Dublin High opened in 1968. The most recent new public high school in Alameda County before that, Foothill High in Pleasanton, opened in 1973.
The $374 million new school boasts fabulous new amenities, such as 2,400-seat gym fit for three full-court basketball games at once, a mental health-and-wellness center, a massive sky-lit student union with a scratch-kitchen cafeteria, a 137-seat lecture hall, a new track and field with 3,885 bleacher seats, eight tennis courts, and an eventual total of 80 classrooms, though portions of the school still under construction.
“It’s pretty big, smells new,” said freshman Michelle Ma, waiting Tuesday with her friends in the campus courtyard before her 8:30 a.m. first period P.E. class.
Ma said she is excited to attend Emerald High because it offers opportunities outside of the previously overcrowded Dublin High.
“I’d definitely rather come here. It’s newer,” Ma said. “Also there’s a chance for a debate team here. I’m not too sure about the debate team at Dublin, and I love debate.”
Her friend, freshman Melaina Destro, marveled at the campus before her first period Spanish II class and said “it’s so clean.”
Destro was most excited to be joining the cheerleading squad, she said.
“I just came here because I think this school is nicer and cleaner,” Destro said. “Dublin is also a lot more crowded.”
Emerald High freshmen last year shared the Dublin High campus, which originally could only accommodate about 2,500 students when it was first built. Some portable classrooms expanded the capacity to about 3,500 last year, which left many classes packed and crowded.
Freshman Alex McKinzie said he was happy to go to Emerald because it is within walking distance of his nearby home. If he went to Dublin High, he would have had to take a bus or catch a ride with his family in the morning.
“It’s a big campus and it’s really nice. And it’s new,” McKinzie said, adding that he plans to try out for the football team.
McKinzie’s friend since 7th grade, fellow freshman Hayden Tran, said the campus is “not that big” compared to Dublin High, “but it looks nicer.”
“Dublin is really overcrowded,” Tran said. “It has a lot of people there. I think here is better.”
Between 2005 and 2018, the Dublin school district was the fastest growing district in the state, averaging roughly 700 new students per year, according to Superintendent Chris Funk.
Students arrive on the campus of Emerald High School for the first day of school on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Dublin, Calif. The campus is still under construction and is the first new comprehensive high school to open in Alameda County in the last 50 years. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
This new school has a possible capacity of 2,450 people, including 58 employees, once fully completed. The next two phases of the school’s construction will include the opening of the second learning “tower” and then finally the unveiling of a 600-seat theater and performing arts center.
The tower is the second of two three-story learning facilities that eventually will add to the currently open 42 classrooms in the first completed tower. The whole campus contains 226,835 square feet of space.
In 2016, voters approved Measure H, a $170 million bond; Proposition 51 added another $4 million in bond money. In 2020, voters approved the $200 million Measure J to foot the $374 million bill for the school in one of the state’s fastest growing urban regions.
The school is missing baseball and softball facilities, as well as a pool for swimming and diving. But Funk said those sports are still being organized, and the district is still deciding how to facilitate practices, whether that be back at Dublin High or at other city facilities.
The Aerouants’ marching band will continue to partner with the Dublin High Gaels, combining the two programs as Emerald continues to grow. Should students and parents decide they want their own marching band program, Funk said the district is also willing to pay the price for that.
“I’m just very appreciative of the support by our community with the various bonds,” Funk said. “And I know it’s been a long wait, but I think the district has delivered a beautiful state-of-the-art campus for our community.”
