OneDublin.org

DUBLIN, CA–OneDublin.org returned to Fallon Middle School over the past two weeks to observe and celebrate innovation demonstrated by the Physical Education Department. While we have witnessed these sections previously, what is unmistakable is the enthusiasm demonstrated by both the students and the parent population.

In sequence, we were on site to view the final presentation of the Tinikling Showcase – participating through all grade levels. Tinikling is a traditional Philippine dance that dates back to the Spanish colonial era. It requires bamboo as a percussive instrument and it is banged in tandem against the ground between two people and conducted in rhythm. At Fallon, these rods were replicated with oversized PVC piping and wood blocks. While it looks fairly innocent at first, it requires great coordination to avoid a potential ankle injury. We spoke with two P.E. staff members to learn more.

OneDublin.org: Describe the steps and typical time frame for students to become proficient in Tinikling. Read more…

DUBLIN, CA–The Dublin Unified School District announced the 2019 semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program, and one of those semifinalists is none other than OneDublin.org’s Dublin High School Student Reporter Neha Harpanhalli. Neha is one of 19 Dublin High School seniors who have been named semifinalists (along with 16,000 other students across the country from 1.6 million entrants).

Neha has written over 30 articles for OneDublin.org since joining the team back in 2016, and is also a co-founder of Stay On Course – a mobile app developed to help high school students track their progress towards fulfilling graduation requirements. The app has been adopted by the Dublin Unified School District. (Neha wrote about the experience of creating the app here.)

According to the National Merit Scholarship website: “The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®)—which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.6 million entrants each year—and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.”

The full list of 2019 Dublin High School National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists is: Read more…

SACRAMENTO, CA–We’ve written several times about the importance of sleep for student wellness and safety, and the development of the adolescent brain and how that impacts behavior through high school and beyond. A consistent theme has been the importance of placing guard rails on school start times. California has led the nation on many issues and for school start times is one signature (Governor Brown’s) from leading on school start times.

California Bill SB-328 is the latest attempt by the California legislature to place limits on school start times, requiring the “schoolday for middle schools and high schools, including those operated as charter schools, to begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m.” To get the bill passed by both the Assembly and the Senate several changes were made – school districts will have until July 1, 2021 to implement the change (one year later than originally proposed, with additional language around collective bargaining agreements) and rural school districts are exempted completely (no waiver required).

Read more…

DUBLIN, CA–One of the pleasures of contributing to OneDublin.org is the opportunity to meet highly motivated young people and inspiring teachers. While nothing can replace the enthusiasm of students that have the whole world ahead of them, every so often you meet one that may someday change the world. We’ve encountered very few like 2018 Dublin High School graduate, Neil Bedi. He followed a full track of academics through, Green Elementary, Fallon Middle School and ultimately, DHS. Through a chance discussion while he was putting in volunteer hours at the Dublin Partners in Education office, we sat down to discuss his long-term goals. It was a revelation. His focus and maturity were evident. But the truly enlightening portion of the conversation was to understand his outlook on life – outside of his own.

Mr. Bedi departed this weekend for his next adventure. He will enroll in an accelerated seven-year medical education program (SMED) at Boston University. In this circumstance, he will complete two years of undergraduate work, slide into a modular program in year three and then transition into four years of medical school. As one would imagine, this unique program that is layered with so much rigor is open to only a small subset of students from across the country. However, Neil seems to have embraced this challenge and feels confident that he can place his own stamp on the experience. We sat down and continued our conversation.

OneDublin.org: First off, tell us about your experience promoting up through Dublin High School. Please share some of the highlights. Read more…

DUBLIN, CA–With all due respect to Thomas Wolfe, “you can go home again.” In 2015, we completed our “Difference Makers” series with a profile on Tim Sbranti. At the time, he was concluding his career at Dublin High School to become a Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Congressman Eric Swalwell. It seemed logical the former longtime City of Dublin Mayor would support another Dublin High School graduate as Mr. Swalwell was ascending to Washington D.C.

Dublin High School Athletic Director Tim Sbranti

But an itch needed to be scratched as a rather unique opportunity became available – the position of Athletic Director at DHS. At the time of our initial profile, we learned that Mr. Sbranti had a passion of sports and he led his expertise in tennis, basketball and volleyball. As the academic year is now commencing, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to sit down with him to discuss this new career adventure.

OneDublin.org: In your estimation, what is the state of Dublin High School Athletics?
Read more…

DUBLIN, CA–Our next Life in College profile takes us to Southern California and UCLA where Dublin High School Class of ’17 alum Pranav Singh is currently pursuing a BA in Linguistics and Computer Science.

OneDublin.org: What do you have to say to high schoolers who are starting the process of college applications?

Pranav: “Be sure of yourself. In applications, focus on conveying who you truly are. The admissions decisions are determined by one word: belonging. They have their own, ever-changing idea of what type of student will belong to their campus, so even though you won’t know ever know why, you’ll end up where you should end up. Trust me.

“College is the scariest thing in the world until you set foot on campus. Every new journey will present you with a new ‘scariest thing in the world.’ Take them as they come, and attack everything head-on. Don’t be scared of anything.”

Read more…

DUBLIN, CA–On a sun-kissed Saturday morning, numerous Dublin residents and dignitaries gathered to witness the ceremonial opening of the newest school site in the Dublin Unified School District – Cottonwood Creek School. Located off of Fallon Road and Jordan Ranch, Cottonwood is the newest Kindergarten through Eighth grade (K-8) campus serving the school district. Initially, it will incorporate grades through the seventh until 2019-2020 when it expand to include eighth grade students.

While the opening was cherished with much fanfare, Dublin Mayor David Haubert went to great lengths to articulate that the fruition of this project was a product of four years of hard work between the City of Dublin and the Dublin Unified School District. Under the leadership of former Superintendent Steve Hanke and the sitting Board of Trustees, it was evident that there would be a critical need for an additional school site that could provide scalability – up to and including the ability to house students at multiple grade levels. Read more…