Dublin High School Student Madeline Timm Provides a Student’s Perspective on Proposed Schedule Change
Madeline Timm
During Tuesday night’s Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, Dublin High School incoming junior Madeline Timm took the podium to speak in favor of the proposed schedule change. Parents and members of the community also participated in the Public Hearing, primarily sharing concerns about the timing of implementation, building on comments made at the two Town Hall meetings.
During a lively debate, the Trustees acknowledged both their support for the District’s proposed College & Career Readiness Program and concerns over the implementation timing. A vote on next steps for the program will take place at the June 24 Board Meeting where the District will present additional details and implementation options, as well as a budget request to fund the program.
Below is Ms. Timm’s statement to the Board (which she provided to OneDublin.org):
“Good evening, my name is Madeline Timm. After attending last night’s meeting at Dublin High School I wanted to address the School Board as an incoming Junior.
“After hearing several negative comments/remarks from concerned parents, I wanted to give you my opinion as a student who is a middle of the pack student and an athlete for DHS. My schedule changes day to day. Some days I have no homework and no practice, on others my day is packed with homework, practice and/or life groups. Having the opportunity to decide how to use the GAEL period to my personal benefit, whether that means I use it to decompress or seek peer or teacher tutoring/mentoring, would give me the flexibility to adjust my day’s schedule. I feel this time would give me the opportunity to have more time to understand a subject, get the help I need sooner and get the clarification I need before I leave campus.
“I heard parents concerned about the students being guinea pigs for this program and a while we will be, I don’t see it as negative. The changes are necessary to keep up with our rapidly changing world. The only negative I can see is that if the program doesn’t work my day will be 40 minutes longer than it currently is, and at a minimum I gain time to regroup at a point in my day, clarify my thoughts, and prepare for the rest of my day both during and after school.
On the heels of a Town Hall meeting presented at Fallon Middle School last Thursday, the Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) offered a second community-based opportunity to learn about a significant change to the regular bell schedule at Dublin High School under the moniker of the College & Career Readiness Program (CCRP). As was previously reported by OneDublin.org, this initiative would seek to add a 7th period to the Dublin High school day and to extend the release time to 3:21 PM in the 2014-15 academic year.
The initiative is based largely upon the results that have been achieved at Stevenson High School in a suburb of Chicago. This particular school site has roughly twice the enrollment of Dublin High School. However, 20 years ago, Stevenson implemented and continuously refined many of the principles of the Professional Learning Community (PLC) that have been adopted across the country. These principles represent radical changes to pre-existing statutes that are employed in many schools. Some of these changes include enhanced collaboration for teaching staff, embedded interventions throughout the school day and an added period where interventions are included, but one that would allow high achieving students to “jump start” work on their required studies inside of the master schedule.
On Monday, the discussion was both lively and relevant. Both parents and students were allowed to chime in on their thoughts to this potentially new process. The dialogue will continue at the regularly scheduled Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting slated for a 6:30 PM start. OneDublin.org would highly encourage all interested parties to participate in this critical discussion which has the potential to be implemented in the 2014-15 school year. While no decision will be decided upon by the trustees on Tuesday, the potential remains that a decision will be rendered at the June 24th meeting.
Best Prototype and 3rd Place Award
For the second year, Dublin High School student engineers had a chance to showcase innovate projects to the community and compete for prizes in the Dublin High Entrepreneur Competition & Showcases. The event, organized by DHS Engineering & Design Academy teacher Eugene Chou (who was recently profiled in BuzzFeed), included live demonstrations and a rapid fire series of student presentations in front of a panel of eight judges from Chevron, Google, IBM, Oracle, Sandia National Laboratory and the University of Notre Dame.
The top award ultimately went to TypID, a cloud-based software application that checks for student cheating and assignment copying. The team was also awarded $500 by Pearson plc for the “Best Education Application” in the HS Hacks competition earlier this year. Second place went to the Water Savior project for a shower adapter that helps save water while warming up the shower, and third place (and the Best Prototype award) went to the Automatic Canine Water Fountain to provide a more water efficient and clean drinking solution for dog parks.
First Place Team
While the format of the event was a Shark Tank-like rapid fire series of presentations, the real winners were the students who were able get a taste of real-world product design and creation, including identifying a problem, evaluating solutions, prototyping and building a business case. Each team had to present their idea to the judges, with Engineering Academy teacher Katina Lewis keeping a strict eye on the clock.
Over 100 Engineering Academy students (from the Principles of Engineering and Introduction to Engineering Design classes) participated during the school year. Out of all projects developed, sixteen were selected by teachers and students for inclusion in the Entrepreneur Competition, with eight teams making it to the final round. Each team had 5 minutes to present and 2 minutes to answer questions from the panel of judges. Prizes included a poster signed by MythBusters Adam Savage and Kari Byron from the Dublin High School Engineering Academy Open House Starring MythBusters and swag from companies represented by the judges including Google.
In addition to the live presentations, student teams also competed for the best display in the showcase competition.
After difficult deliberations, the judges announced the winners:
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Dublin High School Proposed Schedule Change Overview for the College and Career Readiness Program
Parents and Students at Thursday’s Town Hall Meeting
The next opportunity to learn more about the proposed Dublin High School schedule change (to enable the implementation of a College and Career Readiness Program) and to provide feedback is Monday June 9, 6:30pm in Dublin High School. The School Board is likely voting on the budget increase required for the change at the June 24 board meeting. According to Superintendent Dr. Stephen Hanke, if the Board does not approve the budget by June 24 there will likely not be time to implement the changes for the upcoming school year. As a result, a series of town hall meetings to communicate a vision for the change and to seek community input are being held back-to-back. The first town hall (read more here for a detailed summary), was held on Thursday June 5, and was well attended.
In addition to the second town hall on June 9, there will be a public hearing on Tuesday June 10 during the regularly scheduled School Board meeting which starts at 6:30pm in the Dublin Unified School District Boardroom (7471 Larkdale Ave.). Note that the public hearing is currently listed as the last agenda item so join the meeting in progress when you are able to do so even if arriving at 6:30pm is not possible.
Dublin High Proposed Schedule Changes 2014-16
If you are unable to attend any of the town halls or the public hearing (and all Dublin High parents and students are strongly encouraged to attend), below is more information on the proposed change. A detailed plan and FAQ on the changes is not currently available, but will be shared when published by the District.
Note that while a Board vote is required for the plan to proceed, based on discussions with Board members it appears highly likely this change is going to be approved and implemented for the 2014-15 school year. Parents and students are therefore encouraged to raise issues and concerns now so that there is time before the start of the school year to mitigate concerns where possible. Below are email addresses to key people for questions and/or concerns you have about the change.
Key contacts for questions / concerns:
Dublin High School Volunteers and Administration
In one of the great ongoing traditions in the Dublin Unified School District, an end of school year lunch was hosted Friday by Superintendent Stephen Hanke and district staff in the boardroom. While Dublin is blessed to have scores of active parents/guardians supporting a myriad of programs at their respective schools, it often takes a core group of committed people to act in leadership positions.
On a monthly basis, the Superintendent’s Council convenes at the district office. These usually occur on a Friday morning. Leadership from each site’s Parent Faculty Club (PFC) and School Site Council (SSC) are invited to attend. Over the years, the purpose of this meeting has been two-fold. For one, it is an opportunity for the district to directly communicate with site leaders on a reoccurring fashion. An additional benefit has been the sharing of best practices – perhaps successful concepts that can be implemented at different schools.
Several years ago, district staff members would cobble together homemade meals for this event. However, with a now fully developed culinary program under the direction of Jackie Lawson, a “professionally” prepared meal was served. With the confluence of multiple activities at the end of a school year, the lunch also serves as a celebration for those that choose to go above and beyond. OneDublin.org would like to express our gratitude to all parent/guardian volunteers in the district and to offer our best wishes for 2014-15.
It was a rather interesting night in the gymnasium at Fallon Middle School on Thursday evening. The Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) presented the first of two public town hall meetings to discuss and gather family feedback on a proposed bell schedule modification at DHS in the fall. Part of the impetus for this change was DUSD’s examination of overall academic results. While the district has experienced sustained API growth over the past 10 years at all of its sites, there are a segment of students that are continuing to experience challenges – often resulting in achieving either a “D” or “F” on their respective transcripts. The district’s overall goal has been to prepare all students for college or career readiness. Additionally, the District’s Homework and Grading Committee has evaluated both topics. While DUSD has produced students that have matriculated to “Top 100” universities throughout the United States, there has also been a segment of students that have found the academic rigor at Dublin High to be a challenge. This statement can resonate at any high school site in California.
In concert with adopting many of the principles of a Professional Learning Community (PLC), a small group of DUSD staff members made a pilgrimage to Adlai E. Stevenson High School in the Chicago-land area earlier this year. Stevenson HS is considered the “birthplace” of PLC. A previous article in OneDublin.org detailed a recent visit by the former Superintendent at Stevenson, Dr. Timothy Kanold. He shared portions of the blueprint at Stevenson that helped to shape and improve academic performance at this site. As an example, 19 years ago, 60% of the students at Stevenson had a D or F on their transcripts. Today, they have reduced this number into single digits. These improvements were largely accomplished through several mechanisms: by adding a 7th period that was dedicated to targeted interventions, moderately extending the school day and by increasing the number of collaboration occasions for all teachers. The overall processes have not yet been perfected. However, it is difficult to argue with the results.
As with any change to an existing structure/schedule, there is an anticipated response from the community. What would this mean to incoming freshmen to DHS? What would this mean to a child entering their senior year? All families are bracing for the roll out of the new Common Core Standards – would a schedule change be prudent at this time? These are just some of the questions that came out of the town hall session at Fallon tonight. On the surface, it would appear that the District is a proponent of these modifications based partially on the Stevenson HS model and the fact that enrollment at Dublin High is in a high growth mode – and will continue to be so in the next several years.
Dublin High School’s Center for Performing Arts and Education Opens with Community Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
On Monday evening, the epicenter of a momentous occasion was on the north end of the Dublin High School campus. The ceremony marked an event that was five years in the making. With the successful passage of Measure C – a bond measure to initiate infrastructure improvements of many DUSD schools, the design elements for a Performing Arts Project commenced. After many design iterations, the DSA permit approval was signed off in early 2012 and construction began later that summer. Since then, the many changes to the DHS landscape have been visible by simply driving down Village Parkway.
For months, many of the improvements were not apparent as most of the work was being conducted underground. A state of the art HVAC system was being developed below the surface of the theater. The thinking was that a performance venue with a large volume of interior space would require a ventilation system that would move cool air efficiently at the base of the theater – as opposed to forcing air from above, thus creating much more noise. In the ensuing months, the structure began to take shape. Miles and miles of electrical conduit were streamed throughout the building. A dual fly-rigging system was installed and the finishing touches were applied over the next two years. While the CPAE center had a “soft” opening with the Jazzin’ for a Cure production in mid-May, Monday’s ceremony served as the pinnacle event.
In attendance were numerous dignitaries, including the entire DUSD Board of Trustees, several Dublin City Council Members and past graduates. Among the speakers were Dublin Mayor, DHS teacher and Dublin High School alum Tim Sbranti, DUSD Board President Sean Kenney, Superintendent Stephen Hanke and DHS Principal Carol Shimizu. Mr. Kenney went out of his way to ensure that the audience would acknowledge the hard work and support of previous Trustee members and that this new structure would not have been made possible without them and the support of citizen voters in Dublin.
Dublin High School Commencement
Despite fiercely competitive entrance criteria for colleges nationwide, Dublin High School‘s Class of 2014 seniors have been rewarded with acceptance letters and emails, and scholarships, from across the country.
A complete list of colleges acceptance Dublin High School seniors is listed below, including MIT, Stanford, Cornell, Georgetown, every University of California (UC), every CSU campus and many more. The success of this year’s graduating class builds on the achievements of the Dublin High Class of 2013 (last year’s Dublin High School college acceptance results are available here). The complete list of awards and scholarships were announced on May 21 at the Dublin High School Senior Awards Night.
In addition, eleven seniors in Dublin High School’s Class of 2014 have chosen to serve their country by enlisting in the military, along with several students entering vocational schools or joining the workforce.
Over thirty Dublin High School alumni have contributed articles to OneDublin.org’s Life in College series. This unique series of articles by former Dublin High School students covers life at colleges across the country including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia / JTS, UC Berkeley, Chapman UC Davis, UCLA, UCSD, West Point, St. Mary’s, Pace, University of Chicago, UNR, Santa Clara, University of Arizona, Carroll College, Hamline University, Penn State, Sonoma State, Syracuse, Santa Barbara City College and more.
Dublin High School Class of 2014 students are also taking advantage of cost-effective Community College Transfer Programs into 4-year colleges. According to Dublin High School Counseling, 98% of Dublin High School students destined for a local community college are intending to transfer into a 4-year college for their junior year. More information on Community College Transfer Programs is available here.
MIT Bound Dublin High School Senior Jennifer Lee
All told 97.8% of the Dublin High School Class of 2014 reported plans to attend college this Fall. Dublin High School was recently awarded a Silver Medal in the U.S. News and World Report Best High Schools report, was is included in Newsweek’s list of America’s Best High Schools and received a statewide rank of 10 (out of 10) and a similar schools rank of 10 (out of 10) from the California Department of Education for its 2013 API of 877 (full results available here).
Congratulations Dublin High School Class of 2014 and good luck on your finals!
The full list of colleges that extended offers of admission to Dublin High School Class of 2014 seniors is provided below (source: Dublin High School Counseling’s Senior Exit Survey 2014). Dublin High School Counseling has made available a wide variety of resources for parents (available here…).
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Dublin High School Junior Kendra Wilcox Selected to Attend Prestigious Oregon Shakespeare Festival Summer Seminar
Dublin High Junior Kendra Wilcox
Dublin High School’s Drama Club has made annual treks to Ashland, Oregon for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for several years, providing Dublin students the opportunity to experience world-class theatre both from the audience and back stage. One talented Dublin High School junior, Kendra Wilcox, will spend part of this summer immersed in theatre, with a select group of 65 high school students from across the across the United States (Hawaii to New York, Michigan to Texas). Ms. Wilcox, “I am honored to have been accepted into this program by the same people that I have admired since I started acting. I was inspired by them to start theatre, and they have led me to the most amazing part of my life. I’m thankful for the opportunity to learn from and work with people who have so motivated and influenced me.”
First started in 1981, the OSF Summer Semina for High School Juniors (now in its 34th year, running July 28 through August 9) is a rigorous two-week program designed for a diverse group of dedicated theatre students who have recently completed their junior year in high school. Students stay on the campus at Southern Oregon University where OSF’s theatre professionals present workshops and forums on a variety of topics. Students gain insight into the workings of a successful repertory theatre company, participating in forums and workshops on such topics as theatre administration, stage management, costume construction, scenic painting, properties, sound and theatrical lighting, as well as Renaissance dance, stage combat, marketing, audience development, fundraising, auditioning techniques and voice for the stage. In addition, students will attend nine OSF productions and work together on a variety of projects.
Marine Corps NROTC Scholarship Recipient Edward Perea
Dublin High School’s annual Senior Awards Night filled the Dublin High Student Union with students, parents, educators and members of the community. Nearly $1.5 million in scholarships and awards were presented to Dublin High School Class of 2014 students for their academic achievements, including over 30 merit scholarships for colleges nationwide and a U.S. Air Force ROTC Scholarship awarded to senior Ryland Lyons valued at $180,000.
Dublin High School Prinicipal Carol Shimizu, “Tonight’s award ceremony celebrates the academic achievement of dedicated students who have attained the high expectations they set for themselves. This event culminates four years of hard work. To date, tonight’s recipients have received a grand total of $1,454,320.00 in scholarship money. This figure includes community, national, and collegiate awards. Tonight also honors 18 years of parenting that has enabled these students to be successful.”
Included in the event was the traditional passing of the gavel ceremony where outgoing senior and student body president Luke Legins (attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) introduced incoming student body president Tatiana Bouri.
MIT Bound Dublin High Senior Kimberli Zhong
The Dublin High School Class of 2014 featured five National Merit Scholarship finalists including Kimberli Zhong and Jennifer Lee who will both be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Students were recognized for academic achievements across a wide variety of subjects and interests (full list below) and one student, senior Patrick DeClercq, received the Perfect Attendance award for not missing a single day of school throughout all four years of high school.
OneDublin.org prepared the fifth annual edition of the popular “I am Dublin High” video (see below) featuring over 110Dublin High School Class of 2014 seniors sharing their post-high school plans.
OneDublin.org 