Principal Francis Rojas Fosters a Community Vision for Emerald High School

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust – French Novelist

Since his appointment as Inaugural Principal in July 2022, Francis Rojas has been working to build the infrastructure of the Dublin Unified School District’s newest school. In the absence of a physical school site, Emerald High School (EHS) has been functioning and guiding its inaugural class over the past year on the Dublin High School campus. According to the construction mapping schedule, Phase I of the project at Emerald was to have been completed in December 2023. However, various factors precluded this milestone. Instead, timelines were modified, and a public ribbon cutting was conducted at the new site on Saturday, June 10^th. What will greet returning students and a newly minted freshman class this fall are buildings that house learning and various sports fields.

Weeks prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony, OneDublin.org was granted a sit down with Inaugural Principal Rojas and a tour of the new campus. While the facilities are impressive, we have maintained the view that the central nervous system of any school is the students, staff and leadership. At the same time, it is important not to forget the mere construction of this second comprehensive high school has been fraught with numerous challenges, both fiscally and emotionally.

At the very heart of the challenge of someday bringing another high school online was the rampant acceleration of housing units in Dublin over the span of +15 years. This can be illustrated by a simple comparison of census growth throughout the Tri-Valley. In the span of a decade between 2010 and 2020, Dublin added over 46,000 (Source: United States Census Bureau) residents. This 57.6% growth rate far outpaced our neighbors in Livermore and Pleasanton. What preceded this period was a massive economic downturn in California which was partially fueled by negative amortized loan mortgages that were beginning to default. It was a strange economic “tsunami” where many homes began to foreclose, stricter regulation came into the banking industry – yet there was acres of undeveloped land in Dublin ready for excavation.

While these macro-economic events were occurring, Dublin High School was steadily falling into disrepair. Established in 1968, the school site was definitely showing its age and was in desperate need of renovations. In 2004, nearly ¾ of Dublin voters approved Measure C which mostly funded a campus renewal which included the Performing Arts Center and Gymnasium. Subsequently, another bond measure was passed in 2012 which secured funding for the completion of the Science & Engineering building. Before EHS could even exist in theory, the district had to contend with a private movement to establish a new charter high school. This effort was led by the Tri-Valley Learning Corporation. This application would have syphoned off existing DUSD resources and surely would have further derailed an ability to build a new high school campus. TVLC made an application to the district for the ability to move forward and was rebuffed twice at the county and state level. Upon the second failure, they moved their energies to Livermore.

With the economy rebounding and new residential subdivisions beginning to take shape, the emphasis on the need for a new high school took center stage. With a renewed vigor on this topic, the challenge boiled down to the basis concept of supply vs. demand. While it would seem logical to visually identify the general vicinity of where a second campus should be located, it was necessary to identify plots that could/would be sold to support a school rather than for a mixed-use development. One of the boiling points occurred in 2017 when the public was invited to voice their opinion about repurposing the structure that housed the Zeiss campus before they relocated to Dublin Blvd. Other plots under consideration were deemed too far away from sewer and electric access – additional costs that would ultimately be borne by the district. At long last, a deal was hammered out to develop the vacant lot south of Central Parkway and opposite Grafton Station that was once slated for other purposes.

So, before their doors swing open in August for the 2024-25 academic year, the history of Emerald High School cannot be viewed in a vacuum. In its preconception, there have been numerous peaks and valleys. However, this dream will soon become a reality. While students and staff await this “rope drop” moment, Principal Rojas has been attending to most every detail imaginable associated with this undertaking. All the while, he has made an earnest effort to involve all stakeholders to ensure that the collective vision meets the needs of this community. Our discussion with Inaugural Principal Rojas was free-form and we asked him to be as expansive as possible. We are pleased to share our visit.

OneDublin.org: An element of Emerald High’s missions is “Graduate Aims”. These characteristics are arranged in a clover illustration and include: Courage, Critical Learner, Character, Compassion and Community. The sub-headings include selected action items. Please explain the genesis of this array and what the school community was attempting to accomplish in doing so.

Francis Rojas: “The Design Team went through a brainstorming activity in 3 groups about what they would want our students to gain from their experience at our future school (below are examples of the activity). We spent time to prioritize and group the characteristics and values, then developed the clover and descriptions for each graduate aim. During parent information nights, student orientations, 9th grade health class, we begin with our Graduate Aims as the guiding principles and foundation of the work we are doing at EHS.”

The EHS Design Team is a group of community partners, inclusive of school leaders, teachers, staff, parents, and students, who prepared for the opening of the school in the 2023-24 school year, as well as established the guiding principles for the school for future years. Facilitated by their partners from the UC Berkeley School of Education Leadership Programs, the Team developed the comprehensive aspects of Emerald High School for all students by engaging in the design-thinking process and learning about the future of innovation in education, pathways to college and career, local and global workforce development – all through an anti-racist, equity lens.

OneDublin.org:  For a school district that has historically housed one comprehensive high school in DHS, a casual observer may assume that the goal was to simply replicate the programs/experience at Dublin High. However, you emphasized the importance of Emerald developing its own identity. How might this be realized – programmatically and environmentally?

Rojas: “Building a brand new high school from the ground up is an opportunity not only to create something new, but also an opportunity to expand upon the great programs DHS has established, adapt existing systems and structures to be more relevant and meaningful for the community it serves, as well as eliminate ones that are ineffective, harmful, or reproduced for the sake of tradition (it’s always how it’s been done). Communities change and evolve, and our school programming should change as well to ensure that all students experience a learning and social environment that is relevant and meaningful to the students and families right in front of us and into the future – not those of the past.

This includes our academic offerings, assessment and grading approaches, instructional best practices, social emotional wellness supports, extracurricular activities, use of time and space (bell schedule and facilities use) and community engagement opportunities. Just because DHS does things a certain way doesn’t mean EHS has to do the same. Emerald needs to develop its own identity and ways of doing things, while maintaining the DUSD and state standards for learning.”

OneDublin.org:  Prior to your arrival at DUSD, you had built a solid administrative foundation through your experiences at both Logan High School in Union City and Milpitas High School. The Emerald community has been graced with a “blank slate” in terms of building something new. However, speak to any transportable best practices that you’ve developed/observed that might benefit this school site in the short and long term.

Rojas: “I believe in collective and collaborative leadership and learning for all in our community and as the principal of the school, I always take the stance of a co-learner. Although I have my own experiences in school leadership and pride myself in everything I have learned along the way and eager to contribute best practices from my previous schools, every school has its own unique contexts and needs. Therefore, my school leadership experiences through my own-lived experiences are “places to start” and a springboard for the co-construction of Emerald’s own culture, systems, and structures.

These include grade level guidance counselor caseloads, inclusive special education approaches (co-teaching) with increased general education learning opportunities for students, access and advisory periods to provide students with time built in the school day for support and enrichment, schoolwide mental wellness support, college and career opportunities through CTE pathways, ROP and college dual enrollment, and so much more. With a blank slate, my own expertise and experiences combined with those of our staff and students, we can do anything!”

OneDublin.org: This is a vital and yet very delicate time for students in this community. On the one hand, academic achievement has soared to historic highs all throughout the district. At the same time, the pressure to succeed is caused by multiple factors. In some cases, this stress can be compounded by terror and uncertainty on the other side of the globe. Please articulate your philosophy on the concept of wellness/balance and how Emerald High School may serve as a hub for those that may benefit from this support.

Rojas: “Within the context of our Emerald HS community, I embrace and am proud of the high achievement of our students, the passion, rigor, and expertise of our faculty, the servant leadership of our staff, and the strong community engagement of our parents. In our classrooms and out in the community, whether it be in athletic tournaments, speech and debate competitions, performances, and club activities, our 350 9th grade students have already proven that they can rise to the challenge and make it to the top. However, we must balance achievement and accolades with physical, mental, spiritual and social health. We go back to the Emerald Clover of Graduate Aims: Courage, Character, Compassion, Critical Learning, and Community, and much of it has to do with our sense of self in relation to others.

Therefore, in addition to the much needed, required Contemporary Health course developed by DHS health teachers, many who are now on EHS staff, we have also intentionally designed a Wellness Center at EHS to support our students with mental wellness, and support schoolside efforts to promote wellness through our Wellness Ambassadors programs, ACCESS Period activities, and community partners. In parallel, our EHS PFSO is collaborating with our guidance and wellness counselors to provide parent learner sessions about dealing with adolescence, navigating US academic and social systems, college and career readiness, and supporting each other through community. Academic achievement and college readiness is not a competition against others for the highest GPA, number of AP courses and classes completed. It is not about quantity and breadth, but rather about quality and depth.

We must ask ourselves: How well do we learn more about ourselves in the context of the world we live in locally and globally? How do we strengthen our need for reflection, resilience, and call to action in the face of challenge, failure, and injustice? How do we strive and thrive beyond college admissions and aim for a higher calling of purpose through career? How are we making a difference not only for ourselves, but for others in our community? As the principal for EHS, I believe that finding that balance between self and others is the key to success – by defining and strengthening our own individual identities, sense of wellbeing, and critical learning with grace and joy, each person in our community can thrive, transcend challenges, and achieve their higher purpose and potential by helping and with the help of others.”

OneDublin.org:  Finally, one of the abstracts that we discussed was that “struggle is important”. At a high level, this concept is a massive topic. However, at the street level, it could represent something as concrete as stepping away from writing code on a keyboard and instead picking up a tape measure, pencil and hammer in a woodshop class. Please expand upon how you would like to challenge your students by trying new things or how to effectively manage real or perceived setbacks.

Rojas: “Encouraging students to embrace challenges and try new things (or “old” things that have been replaced by technology) is crucial for their growth and development. At Emerald High, we would approach challenging students and helping them effectively manage setbacks by:

• Encouraging Exploration: We would create an environment where students feel safe and encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and try new activities. This could involve introducing them to a variety of sports, exercises, or physical activities they may not have experienced before. By exposing them to new challenges, they can discover hidden talents and interests they never knew they had.
• Promoting Resilience: We would emphasize the importance of resilience and perseverance in the face of setbacks. Rather than viewing failures as roadblocks, we would encourage students to see them as opportunities for growth and learning. We would share personal anecdotes or stories of people who have overcome adversity to inspire and motivate students to keep pushing forward, even when things get tough.
• Setting Realistic Goals: We would work with students to set realistic, achievable goals for themselves. By breaking down larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks, students can experience success along the way, boosting their confidence and motivation. We would emphasize the importance of setting goals that are challenging yet attainable, pushing students to reach their full potential without becoming discouraged by unrealistic expectations.
• Providing Constructive Feedback: We would provide constructive feedback to students, highlighting their strengths, while also identifying areas for improvement. Feedback should be specific, actionable, and delivered in a supportive manner, helping students understand what they did well and where they can focus their efforts to improve. By framing feedback as a tool for growth rather than criticism, students can learn to embrace feedback as an opportunity to learn and develop their skills further.
• Fostering a Growth Mindset: We would promote a growth mindset among students, emphasizing the belief that their abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. We would encourage students to view challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, rather than obstacles to be avoided. By fostering a growth mindset, students can develop the resilience and determination needed to overcome setbacks and achieve their goals.

By challenging students to try new things and effectively managing setbacks, we aim to instill in them the confidence, resilience, and determination needed to succeed not only in school but in all areas of their lives.”

It was a fascinating and at times eye-opening conversation about the thought processes that must guide the big picture and the details that inhabit the specifics. It also revealed a sense of humility that must be embraced to ensure that all perspectives are valued, and in many cases endorsed. OneDublin.org would like to thank Francis Rojas for sharing his time and perspective in support of this profile. From the metaphysical perspective, the emerald is said to support strength of character and is a good stone for physical regeneration and recovery. In our opinion, Principal Rojas possesses these characteristics and that will ultimately be a positive for future Aerouants.