Rising UC Admission Rate for Danville and Pleasanton High Schools, Dublin and Livermore Falling Short
Dublin, CA – In California, a good measure of how well a high school does at motivating and preparing its students for college is the percentage of its graduating seniors admitted to the well-respected and highly-competitive University of California (UC) System. This statistic is calculated for each high school as the Number of Graduates Admitted to the UC System divided by the Total Number of Graduates.
As the graph below shows, a wide disparity exists among the Tri-Valley public high schools in terms of the percentage of graduates admitted into the UC System for the 2008-2009 school year. The three top performing schools using this measure were Monte Vista High School (43%), Foothill High School (36%), and San Ramon Valley High School (34%). The three lowest performing schools in the Tri-Valley were Granada High School (18%), Dublin High School (17%), and Livermore High School (16%).
The trend in UC Admission Rate among the Tri-Valley public high schools for the 2008-2009 academic year is similar to the observed trend in UC Admission Rate from 2000 to 2009. As the graph below shows, Monte Vista High School (39%) has been leading the pack over the past nine years with Foothill High School (31%) and San Ramon Valley High School (31%) tying for second place. During that same period, Dublin High School (17%), Granada High School (17%), and Livermore High School (15%) continue to lag behind other Tri-Valley public high schools in terms of UC Admission Rate of their graduates.
In addition to the UC Admission Rate, another objective statistic used to assess and rank different high schools in California is the UC Enrollment Rates, which represent the percentage of graduates from each high school that actually attend one of the UC campuses. Like the trend observed with the UC Admission Rates, Dublin and Livermore high schools fall well short of the other high schools in the Tri-Valley in terms of UC Enrollment Rates. Considering that UC’s Master Plan dictates that UC enroll the top 12.5% of California’s public high school graduates, the numbers for Dublin High School (10%), Granada High School (8%), and Livermore High School (8%) are well below the statewide average, whereas the remaining Tri-Valley public high schools are signficantly above the statewide average — Monte Vista High School (24%), Foothill High School(24%), California High School (18%), Amador Valley High School (17%), and San Ramon Valley High School(15%).
On a sobering note, in addition to the wide discrepancy between the higher-performing and lower-performing schools, a strong case can be made that the UC Enrollment results are significantly skewed in favor of the lower-performing schools. “The reason is that the higher-performing schools have a much greater percentage of their graduates electing to enroll at premier institutions such as Stanford, MIT, Caltech, and the Ivy League universities, instead of at a UC school. The effective disparity between the lower-performing and higher-performing high schools, therefore, is even larger than the percentages imply,” remarked Tri-Valley Learning Corporation Board Member Tim Hall of Dublin.
9:13 AM on April 26th, 2010
Here we go again..more articles on how Dublin high students are not making it to UC. It would be more relevant to post articles how many are making it to 4 year colleges. These articles do nothing except de-moralize folks who are looking to send their kids to high school in the next couple of years. I really am not sure what these articles are intending to do. Yes, we all know Dublin high has a much lower student body (1500 or so, compared to 2500+ kids in other schools). Maybe students are going to local CSU, private colleges, I think a big percentage is going to community colleges. Maybe some do pursue other vocational goals. I really fail to understand what these articles are doing. Is the knowledge supposed to inspire DUSD administration to step up?
11:22 AM on April 26th, 2010
There is a myth being spread around by OneDublin.org that DHS is already an excellent high school and on the same level as the other better high schools in Tri-Valley. AD is just trying to educate us DHS is not as good as we are being told by DUSD and its affiliate – OneDublin.org.
10:38 AM on April 29th, 2010
I agree this article is mis-leading and servers no purpose – other than provide fodder to promote the cause for Tassajara Prep. We know several families with children in DHS that have and are doing quite well – taking AP classes and getting admitted to very prestigious Universities like Stanford, Duke University, MIT… you can spin statistics anyway you want, but it’s not doing the citizens of Dublin any good to throw out one-sided and misleading articles like this one.
12:50 PM on April 29th, 2010
Do you have the latest admission data from DHS for this year? So far, I only heard two Ivy’s (or Ivy equivalent) – one is MIT and the other is Columbia. I remember someone posted the admission data (to Ivy’s) for one high school in San Jose. They have 14 admitted to just MIT alone and more than 50 to all the Ivy’s. There is simply no comparison.
6:41 PM on January 7th, 2011
It is refreshing to see all of the passionate postings. A UC school may not be the right choice for all students. In this day and age many families may be choosing to send their children to a JC before a 4 year institution due to financial constraints. I know this comment may offend some of my East Dublin neighbors, but my observation is that the demographics of Dublin may be slightly less affluent then Pleasanton/San Ramon.
9:35 AM on April 26th, 2010
Dublin high sucks, that’s why we need a new Charter High school.
10:55 AM on April 26th, 2010
How does that explain DHS seniors getting accepted to Cal poly, UCLA, UC san diego, mit, columbia? Part of it is demographics, motivation. While teachers need to step up, the other part is a motivated student can do good anywhere. What data do you have to support that DHS sucks? Is there crime, gangs? A lot of my neighbors (yes, I am in Dublin ranch) are sending their kids there. Kids are happy and doing well. Yes, some of them are looking to prep courses for AP and SAT exams but so do kids from monte vista and foothill.
11:18 AM on April 26th, 2010
Yeah, right, Cal Poly, what a great school! You need to get educated yourself before you speak out.
Doesn’t the statistics already include UCLA or UC San Diego? If you can be admitted by MIT or Columbia, don’t you think you would also be admitted by UC and be counted as part of the admission rate number?
1:18 PM on April 26th, 2010
Cal Poly is probably better than the lower tier UCs (Merced,Riverside,Santa Cruz)
2:25 PM on April 26th, 2010
Where I work (big fortune 500 company) we have many Engineers from
California Polytechnic State University (San Lois Obispo) http://www.calpoly.edu/aboutcp.html. It is one of the topmost Engineering schools in the country. About your claim that folks who got into the private colleges are in the UC data, I beg to differ. I know of kids who just applied to private colleges and skipped UC admissions all together.
4:10 PM on April 26th, 2010
Cal Poly is not even in the same category as UC schools. UC schools are national and research universities, but Cal Poly is not.
Wal-Mart is also a fortune 500 company. Does working for Wal-Mart make you very proud? It depends on what you do.
4:18 PM on April 26th, 2010
“I know of kids who just applied to private colleges and skipped UC admissions all together.”
This phenomena is not limited to DHS. Other Tri-Valley high schools would also have these kinds of students.
4:44 PM on April 26th, 2010
Cal poly (san lois obispo) has a very good engineering program. It is much better than UC santa cruz, santa barbara and other low tier UC schools. I just had a friend (whose son went to UC Berkeley) tell me that he wishes he had chosen smaller private colleges instead of Berkeley. Dont over-magnify the UC schools. Other than UCLA, berkeley, san diego, there isnt too much to say. With funding cuts, I think a lot of folks are looking at non-UC anyway.
5:15 PM on April 26th, 2010
Cal Poly is better than UC Santa Babara? You must be kidding me! There are quite a few Nobel Prize Laureates in UC Santa Babara.
5:19 PM on April 26th, 2010
Here is the link for the Nobel Laureates in UCSB:
http://www.ucsb.edu/nobel/index.shtml
5:23 PM on April 26th, 2010
“With funding cuts, I think a lot of folks are looking at non-UC anyway.”
I found this argument interesting. It is true that funding for UC schools got cut. But meanwhile, didn’t funding for CSU schools get cut too?
3:31 PM on April 28th, 2010
john z went to colleges that rank lower than cal poly – based on what i read here i guess that makes john z a failure – so sad…
us news & world report 2010 college rankings:
CalPoly (California Polytechnical State University – San Luis Obispo)
Tier 1 – Rank 6 – Score 72 – College Category: Universities – Master’s (West)
vs. john z undergrad (from linkedin):
Boise State University 1994 – 1998
Tier 1 – Rank 57 – Score 29 – College Category – Universities – Master’s (West)
and john z mba (from linkedin):
San Jose State University MBA
1999 – 2001
Tier 1 – Rank 38 – Score 35 – College Category Universities – Master’s (West)
3:51 PM on April 28th, 2010
James,
You brought a smile to my face. Wow, first of all, glad to have you back. We knew you were simply taking a sabbatical. Second of all, wow, Support.com must not have a lot of work for you these days for you to be spending time researching John Z.’s credentials.
5:15 PM on April 28th, 2010
Someone who lives close to James pointed out that he works for SupportSoft.com, not Support.com.
5:16 PM on April 28th, 2010
James, I know you have been using anonymous IDs to personally attack J. Z. many times. I have to be impressed by your courage to use your real name this time.
You are intentionally misleading people by mixing the concept of specific examples with statistics again. Nobody is saying students graduated from community colleges or CSUs cannot do better than those graduated from UCs or Ivy’s. I am sure you can find many specific examples (including J. Z.) that show they can do better. But statistically, students graduated from UCs or Ivy’s have much higher probability (note: not guarantee) of being more successful in their future lives. That is the difference between a good college and a not-so-good one.
6:23 PM on April 28th, 2010
When someone forwarded me this latest gem from James, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Our resident DHS cheerleader has finally lost his mind. First he threatened immigrant-owned local businesses, now he’s not even making sense. Mary should look into the benefits Support.com or SupportSoft.com offers, and see if she can get him some psychiatric services. She needs to do what’s best for her children at this point.
6:44 PM on April 28th, 2010
Let’s not get distracted from the topic at hand. James and Mary are just trying to stir up controversy, so they can come back and go boo-hoo, we are under attack. Those two deserve each other. The fact that they would go so far as to manufacture controversy on a trusted website just goes to show you how desperate DUSD/OneDublin have become. Very sad indeed.
7:03 PM on April 28th, 2010
Wait a sec – do you guys really think this is James? Did James all of a sudden forget to use capitals?
Come on now people. Anyone can type in “James” in the name line and have it link to OneDublin.org.
7:30 PM on April 28th, 2010
You are right. This is a distraction. OneDublin and DUSD have nothing to counter cold hard facts. Oh, and the list of schools DHS gets into is really nothing to write home about. I had hoped for more, especially given how crazy James played up the stats.
9:41 PM on April 28th, 2010
Hi, Guys, I think this is part of James’ marketing strategy for OneDublin.org. He is trying to use AD as a tool to promote his pathetic website. He is showing off on facebook now that OD got 16,000 visitors and 650 fans. So let’s be careful not to fall into his trap. I would suggest we put him in the “ignore” list. It would be even better if we can moderate posts from his IPs.
2:57 AM on June 2nd, 2010
To call John Z a failure because of the schools he graduated from is a nasty low blow insult that clearly is a reflection of what a failure you are in life “James”.
I am amazed by the number of people online who enjoy putting others down so much. What a sad, sorry life they must have.
9:21 AM on June 2nd, 2010
Can’t agree with you more, Top Dog. Clearly if James wants to make where John Z. went for college and b-school an issue, that means the rankings of those schools do matter. If he is not okay with where John got his degrees, how can he expect the rest of us to be okay with the 50% of the DHS grads who end up in community colleges? What’s up with all these double standards and flip-flopping?
I don’t think where John Z. went is relevant. What is relevant is the fact that he is trying to help the next generation reach for schools that were not accessible to him for whatever reason. Are you of the mind that what you had is good enough for your child, or do you believe that nothing is too good for your child? Should the people who are complacent with the underperforming status quo stop those who dare to dream for a better future? That really is what everything boils down to today. Think about it.
8:51 PM on May 26th, 2010
Really? Cal Poly not a good school? Accepting students with a HS GPA Of above a 3.7? Man, yeah what a awful school!
10:38 AM on April 26th, 2010
Negativity. There are so many economic reasons why there is a disparity! But once again Around Dublin is acting like a bully and throwing stones and objective statistics. Yes, we can strive ahead and we should hold students and faculty accountable for performance, but not every child is UC ready. End of story. Dublin does not have Monte Vista (Alamo and Blackhawk) demographics. It is okay for kids to go to private universities, vocational training, other professions. The role of a public high school is to serve its community and if you don’t like the community you are surrounded by, feel free to move. Parents of students whose kids are not going to UC should not feel like they have failed. In this economic time, many parents simply cannot afford to send their kids away to a four year school. As an fyi, my child was accepted to a UC and is a DHS senior.
11:13 AM on April 26th, 2010
I think the admission rate number is more important. That shows percentage of students are qualified to be admitted to UC based on their credentials. As you say, some parents may choose not to send their kids to UC because of financial reasons, but that would only affect the enrollment rate number. In terms of admission rate, DHS is even worse compared to other Tri-Valley high schools.
8:28 PM on April 27th, 2010
No one cares about your spawn, but if you must, please tell us which UC.
11:55 AM on April 26th, 2010
Dublin High will only get better when more new home buyers move into the area. Only when the demographic shift to more professional, education driven households will we see Dublin catch up to its neighbors.
Bottom line: 1. Build more larger new homes in the area. 2. Build lots of them. (thousands) 3. This will attract people who are relatively affluent into the city (as they can afford to buy into the area). 4. Watch Dublin High improve over time.
Looking at the historical data, it shows that educators can only do so much. It is really the demographics that dictate the achievement of the school. So, it’s simple: if you want affluent caliber achievement in the schools, attract more affluent people to live here…
4:37 PM on April 26th, 2010
well said!
5:09 PM on April 26th, 2010
Educators can do more. Check out this example:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-03-05/news/ct-met-urban-prep-college-20100305_1_metal-detectors-college-school-leaders
You could not get any worse demographics than this school, yet educators make it a big success.
6:39 AM on April 28th, 2010
We’ve been hearing the line that DHS will improve over time for the past 10+ years. If you bothered to understand the second graph, you’d understand that DHS has not improved one iota. DHS is not alone in that of course. Livermore and Granada also have failed to improve. Only the schools in Pleasanton, San Ramon, and Danville have. Repeating that lie in the face of irrefutable data is just pathetic at this point.
8:15 PM on April 30th, 2010
I suggest that everyone on this site read Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers”. It does a great job explaining what success is! It is not what University you go to, how much fame you have or how much money you make, but doing the things in life that make you happy. Do you see the suicides going on in Pleasanton and other “elite” communities because the students have too much pressure put upon them? Do you love your children?
9:45 PM on April 30th, 2010
As you said, those students who committed suicides are exactly “outliers”. I like to make a lot of money and have a lot of fame. I do not know whether that is success, but I like it.
12:10 PM on April 26th, 2010
AD is trying to force their charter school onto Dublin so whatever negative press they can produce then they will do it. It seems that their charter school in Livermore is doing nothing to help the Livermore Students to get into the UC system.
2:24 PM on April 26th, 2010
how long has the livermore charter school been up and running, is it even possible to measure what the school has done to get more students into UCs? on the other hand, dublin high has had ample time to improve scores and admission statistics. why are educational options bad for the dublin community?
4:13 PM on April 26th, 2010
It is funny how ignorant these people who are opposed to the charter schools are. Livermore Valley Charter School is a K-8 school and they do not even have one student applying for colleges yet. But somehow these people can draw a conclusion like this.
1:20 PM on April 26th, 2010
When I was volunteering doing phone banks for the Parcel Tax, we found an intersting statistic. A majority of Dublin residents do not have school age children.
I was speaking to an elderly couple who live next to me. I asked him what he thought about a possibility of a new high school. His response was,
“Didn’t we already vote against that?”
I advised him that a charter school is going to try to set up a high school in Dublin.
“Where” he asked me.
“East side” I responded.
“Who is going to pay to build the new school?” He asked.
“Probably tax payers via bond measure.” I responded
“I am not going to vote for that. I already voted against expanding the (Dublin) High School. I am on a fixed income.” He stated.
“Didn’t they close a school a few years back?” He asked.
“Yes they did.” I responded
“If they got a perfectly good school there, why should we pay for another.” He stated.
How are you going to convince the majority of “non-school age children” residents to pay for a new school when voted to expand the high school instead. Are parents who plan on enrolling the students at your charter school to pay for the building of the East Side school. Corporate Sponsership?
4:53 PM on April 26th, 2010
Charter school facilities are not funded by public bond measures.
Dublin took in the money that was set aside by developers for new schools and chose not to build the facilities. They then asked taxpayers for money.
This is a perfect example of scare tactics.
10:47 PM on April 26th, 2010
Seems to me everywhere I walk in East Dublin every household has kids playing outside. That’s the difference between East and West. East has more young family. The East has more than enough students for a high school, where it’s the West that has trouble with enrollment.
8:24 PM on April 27th, 2010
Oh the irony!
Here is this OneDublin/DUSD crony who’d have no problem asking this elderly couple to pay more in taxes for a failing school, yet, at the same time, would resort to spreading lies about what T Prep is all about.
Think about this for a moment. Everyone in East Dublin paid an impact fee for their new home that INCLUDED a second high school. Yes, our “elected” officials, including the one who is calling for OneDublin yet cannot keep her marriage together, voted against the second high school. That money didn’t just go away. It went somewhere. Still, we were asked to pay MORE in parcel tax for a substandard renovation of a high school in a part of town that continues to be on the decline? It is one thing if the school is outperforming them all like MSJ, but that’s just not the case.
9:53 PM on April 27th, 2010
I never thought about this, at least not until you mentioned. Where did the Impact Fee for a second high school go? Any elected officials can answer this?
5:17 PM on April 26th, 2010
I did not go to CAL Poly, but before you open your mouth about what it is, you may want to do some fact checking.
According to U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 America’s Best Colleges report, Cal Poly is ranked #1 in the Western United States for public schools whose highest degree is a Master’s for the 17th straight year.[20] The College of Engineering was tied for the #6 ranking for undergraduate engineering schools in the US whose highest degree is a Master’s.
8:43 PM on April 26th, 2010
This is really funny and just shows how ignorant you really are. This is the same logic as saying DHS is the best high school in Tri-Valley if we exclude those better than DHS. Your ranking only compares Cal Poly to those with highest degree being only Master’s Degree. All the UC schools have doctorate degrees and they have a lot of research programs. As I said, Cal Poly and UC schools are not even in the same category. To be more precise, Cal Poly is in the lower category.
11:47 AM on June 1st, 2010
My son chose CalPoly SLO because of it’s business school that is rated #3 in the State after Cal and Santa Clara. He turned down UC Riverside because it’s program was ranked lower even though it was a UC. He also turned down UC Irvine because it’s business school is a joke and ranked lower than UC Riverside.
People who say the UC’s are by default superior to the CSU’s are missing the point of getting an education. The point is which school will provide you with the best education for the major you are seeking.
The Cal business school is better than the Cal Poly business school. But going to Cal Poly for a BS in business is better than going to UC Riverside or UC Irvine that have inferior programs, or any of the other UC’s that don’t offer a business major.
My son most likely could have gotten into Cal if he wanted to major in Ethnic Studies but he made his decision based on his major instead of the prestige of the school.
2:01 PM on June 1st, 2010
Whoever is your counselor, you should fire him. The information you got from whoever is incorrect. Here is the link of B-school ranking in US News and World Report:
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/rankings/page+2
As you can see, UCI ranked #36 in the nation and UCD ranked #42 in 2009-2010 (both in Top 50). UCB and UCLA ranked in Top 25. I did not find any CSU school in Top 50.
3:43 PM on June 1st, 2010
She’s probably taking about undergrad.
2:18 AM on June 2nd, 2010
IF YOU READ my post you can see that I am talking about a BS degree, NOT the MBA program.
Are you a UC grad? You sure are defensive about the UCs. And if you are a UC grad, I’m surprised you missed such a key detail in my post.
Here are the rankings that my son who is graduating from high school used that was available Feb 25, 2010 for undergrad Business Schools: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/?chan=magazine+channel_special+report
The Top California undergrad programs are: Cal #6, USC #24, Santa Clara #39, and Cal Poly SLO #64. I stand corrected from my last posting, CalPoly is #4 in the State.
As you can see from that ranking, NONE of the other UC undergrad schools in California made it to the top 100.
I am amazed at how touchy some UC fans are. I guess this explains why some are so insecure:
http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/top-us-colleges-graduate-salary-statistics.asp
LOL… CalPoly SLO ranked higher than all the UCs except for Cal for new undergrads. Is this why you are so adamant about the superiority of the UCs?
Sorry, but I know mutiple Cal grads who 10 years after graduation still make less than
$50,000 a year…sad. And they are the guys who proudly wear their Cal logo clothing all the time.
I am not knocking UCs or other top schools by the way, my dad got his MBA from Cal and my brother got his MBA from Northwestern. My son is hoping to be able to follow thier footsteps and get his MBA someday from a top 10 program too in the future (not from Cal Poly)
11:29 AM on June 2nd, 2010
“…He also turned down UC Irvine because it’s business school is a joke and ranked lower than UC Riverside…”
This is exactly what you said. You said as if you are talking about the whole B-school. The B-school of UCI is not bad at all. It is just that its undergraduate business program isn’t that good. You need to be more careful when you say it.
2:04 PM on June 1st, 2010
One more comment: In the same ranking report, Santa Clara ranked #82.
3:42 PM on June 1st, 2010
Like many has said, Cal Poly is better than the lower tier UCs. I have to disagree about getting into Cal Berkeley. No one gets admitted to Berkeley as a business major. You would have to apply to Haas after you complete your prerequisites. Students get admitted into a college – college of engineering, letters and science, etc. Ethnic Studies would be in the college of letters and science as would undeclared business majors. So your kid would not have gotten in regardless if he state Business or Ethnic Studies in his application. However, Cal Poly is a great school.
2:37 AM on June 2nd, 2010
Your arrogance about assuming that my son would not be able to get into Cal is amazing.
Don’t tell me you’re a Cal grad who assumes things without first getting all the facts.
While I agree that there is no guarantee that my son would have gotten into the Cal Business program even if he were admitted into Cal, his grades and test scores were high enough to have a chance to get in to one of the less popular departments. Since so many 4.0 students are turned down by Cal, and there was no guarantee of him getting into the business school (even if he was admitted) he chose CalPoly because he was guaranteed admission in their highly ranked business program.
I know multiple people who have “gamed” the admission process just to get into Cal regardless of their major. My son chose not to do that and went with
what he thought was his best option (plus he got a scholarship).
Unfortunately USC and Santa Clara were not considered because of the cost factor.
As we all know, its what we do with what we have that determines how successful we become regardless of the school we graduated from.
11:06 AM on June 2nd, 2010
Cal is not that easy to get in. Average GPA is 4.35. Your son’s less than 4.0 GPA won’t make the cut.
9:17 PM on December 5th, 2010
Annonymous wrote:
<>
According to the official 2009 admitted students numbers published by UC Berkeley, only 51.7% had a GPA of 4.0 or higher. Go to their website and check the facts first before mouthing off such garbage.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
10:51 PM on April 26th, 2010
Arguably Cal Poly SLO is the best CSU. Admission wise, Cal Poly more selective than the lower tier UCs.
7:08 AM on April 27th, 2010
Regarding admission rate, that is because too many students are qualified to apply for CSUs, but not many for UCs.
2:50 AM on June 2nd, 2010
If you would do your home work and check the facts, it is FAR EASIER to get into UC Riverside or UC Merced than it is to get into Cal Poly SLO.
I know multiple high school seniors who were accepted at UC Merced and UC Riverside but were not accepted at Cal Poly.
11:15 AM on June 2nd, 2010
Why do we keep talking about those lower UCs? Why don’t we talk about those higher UCs (UCB, UCLA, UCSD, etc)? I thought that is what we should aim for our children, right? You are talking about one program as if that stands for the quality of the whole school. I agree that in terms of undergraduate business program, Cal Poly SLO may be a better choice for your son because some UCs do not even have those programs and others like Cal are too competitive. But what about other programs? Don’t you think there are more better programs in UCs overall?
9:22 PM on December 5th, 2010
But what about other programs? Don’t you think there are more better programs in UCs overall?
Response: I agree with you that overall there are better programs in UCs. The point is what is best for each individual student? For many it is clearly a top UC (if they can get in) and for many it would be at another school.
6:57 PM on April 26th, 2010
With funding cuts, UC Admission standards have actually gone up for residents:
http://www.kcbs.com/bayareanews/UC-Admission-Standards-Increasingly-Competitive/6805793
My prediction is that without Tassajara Prep, there will be no incentive for DHS to improve. The line from OneDublin and DUSD is that DHS has been improving by leaps and bounds. Thanks for exposing another lie.
9:59 PM on April 26th, 2010
Someone needs to tell these schools that Dublin has a really cool Eternal Ribbon…
10:17 PM on April 26th, 2010
This dialogue borders on elitest and racist. Why all the arguments about which UC/CSU is better than another?? Plenty of Harvard graduates end up with wasted degrees, working in fields other than the one their parents paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for due to the the downturn in the economy or other factors not easily reported or tracked.
Comments made about one part of Dublin being more educated than another only shows that the elitest snobs seem to enjoy each others company. I wonder how many are unemployed, or working in a field other than one they studied for.
Around Dublin continues to print this garbage, hiding behind the open forum format. Shame on you JZ, and shame on your cronies. You certainly do not represent the voice of the city of Dublin. People laugh at you behind your back, with your comments and attempts to sound educated. Perhaps you’d feel more comfortable in another city.
10:37 PM on April 26th, 2010
Hi Anonymous – thank you for the vote of confidence. That must have felt good to let out your frustrations by casting aspertions on a significant part of our community. I think that I’ve made it pretty clear that Around Dublin stands for what Dublin can aspire to become. Our goal is to be a resource for Dublin’s residents and businesses as we grow into a premier Bay Area city. Admittedly, there are those that don’t appreciate our efforts; however, we accommodate their opinions by providing a platform on Around Dublin to encourage open dialogue.
Thx, John Z.
11:15 PM on April 26th, 2010
H to the izz O, V to the izz A
Fa sheezy my neezy keep my arm so greasy
Can’t leave rap alone the game needs me
Haters want me clapped they chrome it ain’t easy
Don’t trip JZ!
11:41 PM on April 26th, 2010
It is not a significant part of the community I was referring to, but the few individuals who continue to post negative comments regarding “a significant part of the community” living in the west. Many, many fine individuals living in Dublin’s new housing developments in the east also find the comments made in Around Dublin offensive. I happen to be one of them.
1:34 AM on April 27th, 2010
If you are truly offended and disgusted, stop reading. No one is forcing you read the blog the way they are forcing the low-performing DHS on all of Dublin. Whether or not John Z and his team choose to moderate is completely independent of the hard data that PROVE DHS is not improving in the areas that count. If the best counter DUSD/OneDublin can muster is that kids in Dublin are best served by community colleges and trade schools, that’s pretty sad.
What I find irresponsible is the fact that you have a DUSD principal and commenters who are obviously DUSD teachers say that kids perform well because their families are rich and kids do poorly because their families are poor. Stop and think about that statement. Statements like that not only “denigrate” the families but also the educators themselves. In many ways, the problem with DUSD is not simply that they have low expectations of our students. They also have low expectations of the teachers. When combined you have the decade of devastation we’ve seen. So sad.
6:52 AM on April 27th, 2010
“What I find irresponsible is the fact that you have a DUSD principal and commenters who are obviously DUSD teachers say that kids perform well because their families are rich and kids do poorly because their families are poor.”
“It’s nice to see that when the lazy teachers of DUSD and OneDublin are confronted by data of how they’ve failed our students, they resort to calling parents racists, elitists, and whatever name their puny union brains can think of to distract people from the real issue.”
Prove this. I dare you.
6:32 AM on April 28th, 2010
Well said. It’s very obvious that the only people who would be offended by the data are the DUSD administrators, DHS teachers, and their shills. Of course there are some good teachers at DHS, but the point of this article is not to single anyone one, it is to look at the trends and the behavior of the population. If the DHS teachers can spend less time posting anonymous comments on this blog and worrying about the charter school, they’d have the time to prepare better lesson plans and motivate the kids that are underperforming. Of course there will always be a handful of kids that are simply slackers, and for those, I agree that it’s not the fault of the teachers, but as shown in the series of articles John Z.’s put together, the number of ‘slacker’ students is way above what you’d expect to see, given what we’ve been told about DHS.
10:52 PM on April 26th, 2010
It is really interesting to see people crying for racist no matter what the circumstance is. Essentially, what they mean is that as long as you do not agree with me, you are a racist. And what is even more ridiculous is that they feel they have the right to decide who should live where. Who the heck do you think you are? You are just no more than an ignorant bigot who cannot even think with any logic.
11:06 PM on April 26th, 2010
Exactly! Who gave DUSD/OneDublin the right to decide who gets to live here and who does not?
11:00 PM on April 26th, 2010
It’s nice to see that when the lazy teachers of DUSD and OneDublin are confronted by data of how they’ve failed our students, they resort to calling parents racists, elitists, and whatever name their puny union brains can think of to distract people from the real issue.
I also particularly enjoy how DUSD and OneDublin are now basically saying that getting into the UC’s or the Ivy’s is really not desirable. With that kind of attitude, it’s no wonder DHS lags far behind the rest of the Tri-Valley. I feel another call for boycott coming.
9:30 AM on April 27th, 2010
I am not a teacher nor from OneDublin affiliate. I am just a regular Fallon mom. While it would be really desirable to have a East side High school, unfortunately, our elected officials have decided otherwise. I was a proponent of the charter school but after reading much about charter schools, it seems it would be very hard to take off without good level of corporate funding. Dublin high will be a brand new school in 4 years, I think we should focus on improving school staff and programs at the high school, since we do not have a choice but to be part of that school. Posting these data and statistics about Dublin high is really not doing much but actually alienating folks who were supporters of Tassajara Prep. I have spoken to many East side parents who have kids in Dublin High, kids are thriving and happy there. Yes, some have said there could be more homework and assignments but overall they are quite pleased with the environment. I think if parents get involved more, they can demand more from the high school teachers/principals.
8:45 PM on April 27th, 2010
Oh “Regular Fallon Mom”, I am sure you remember James Morehead asked this question on the blog:
“What problem is Tassajara Prep really solving?”
With nearly half of DHS students going to community colleges and less than 20% of our graduates from the PAST DECADE – let me repeat in case you can’t get it through your thick skull — PAST DECADE — going to the UCs, that is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of problems. Alienating supporters? I think not. Please.
First OneDublin/DUSD said that DHS already offers a world-class, college-prep curriculum. Now that the truth has come out, all they can say is that John Z. is hurting people’s feelings. Aww… Really? Are we still in Kindergarten? No wonder our students are not fulfilling their potentials. With educators like those at DUSD, who can blame them…except those same educators who failed to do their J-O-B.
I don’t know if Tassajara Prep is the answer. Even though I believe in John Z., he won’t be teaching tbe kids or operating the school. Tassajara Prep will have to earn my trust. Sure, we will be able to see how things will work out first with LVCP, but I am still actively looking in Danville just in case. I’d recommend all Tassajara Prep supporters to do the same.
10:19 AM on April 27th, 2010
Are you suggesting we have to accept it because the elected officials have decided so? The elected officials are supposed to work for you, not the other way around. Yes, you can make your choice and you will have choice. In terms of funding for the charter school, there are many savvy business people working on it now and they will come up with some kind of solutions.
I do not see getting educated about the status quo of DHS is a bad thing. How would you improve if you do not even know what you are not doing well?
10:54 AM on April 27th, 2010
If the location of charter school is in one of the older elementary school campus of west dublin, I do not think you will have too much support for charter school. Most parents want high school on the East side of dublin. I am all for choice, yes, if the funding can be worked out (without affecting current Dublin High school) then more choice the better. All I am saying is this can be done without posting a bunch of ultra-negative comments about current high school, when parents and kids who are currently in the High school are saying more positive things than negative. yes, we know Dublin high may never get to monte vista or mission san jose high. Talk to MSJ high parents. Ask how many are really pleased with management and teachers there. It REALLY is upto the students there..Of course that doesn’t mean DUSD should sit put. Parents need to get more involved and ask for them to step up. Last I heard Dublin high is offering computer programming, principles of engineering, biology with research options. For them to continue to offer the classes and increase the variety is a step up. The tri-valley ROP program is very good there. DECA is good. Maybe some teachers need to step up, offer more challenging environment, AP prep classes. I believe in time, that will come.
2:26 PM on April 27th, 2010
I do not have the latest information from the founders. But I can assure you that “one of the older elementary school campus of west dublin” is absolutely off the table.
1:20 PM on April 27th, 2010
Looking at the bigger picture here, this post on AD is only enabling extremely negative comments about Dublin to continue. It’s a disgrace and should be taken down, regardless of what people think of DHS vs a chartered high school. We all get it AD, DHS doesn’t compare statistically to some of the other tri-valley schools. But we also all have to realize that if the only thing you’re hoping for to ensure the success of your child’s future is the stats of their high school, that’s not going to get them very far. I know plenty of kids at Foothill that have graduated and never attended college – junior, state, or UC. I also know plenty of kids at lower rated schools such as Livermore who have been accepted directly into UC’s. So all these graphs and statistics that AD continues to post are nonsense. What matters is the motivation and drive your child possesses, not the high school they go to. Your child’s success in life is not just a reflection of the high school they went to, the teachers they had, etc. It is a reflection of the values, responsibilities, and accountability you taught them in the household which can be leveraged at any high school anywhere and is ultimately what is going to get them to excel in life. AD, please do us all a favor and stop posting these ridiculously negative spins on Dublin teenagers.
1:52 PM on April 27th, 2010
You seem not to understand the meaning of statistics. I am sure you can always find some specific examples to show otherwise. But that is not what statistics is about. Statistics is about the overall picture. Maybe you can take some math class in DHS.
2:15 PM on April 27th, 2010
Totally agree, such negative articles are undermining current students at Dublin High. If you are trying to promote charter school by posting negative statistics about Dublin high, you are not succeeding. How many folks are actually talking to dublin teachers, dublin students, how many who are posting negative things about Dublin high actually have students who go there? About the below comment on statistics, the person who is posting that is extremely insulting. We all know what statistics are doing to the people’s minds. It is portraying a more negative picture of the high school, than it really is. Yes, so what 17% got accepted to UC. Maybe the other 83% chose to go somewhere else. It is really the truth that kids motivations drive them to perform. High school is offering all the classes, students can perform well if they have high performing peers. Better than statistics, would be good to portray some of the real life examples from the high school and the programs offered.
9:40 PM on April 27th, 2010
“…students can perform well if they have high performing peers…”
Cannot agree more. But that is exactly the problem with DHS. It appears that other better Tri-Valley high schools have much more high performing peers.
6:50 AM on April 28th, 2010
Given these numbers, I highly doubt most of the DHS students care one way or another about the data. Certainly the counselors and the teachers are not motivating them to achieve. Since the smart kids are surrounded by their dumber counterparts, it’s no wonder even our brightest are underperforming.
Articles like this one help confirm what most of us already know — DHS is a below-average high school. If people don’t like to know, stop reading this blog. If the students don’t like the hear about it, do better.
7:58 PM on April 27th, 2010
I absolutely agree. There is always room for improvement, but much come from the kids and parents. I am for a charter if there is no funds taken from the existing public schools. We don’t need a charter that is truly a subsidized private school. If you disagree that strongly with the quality of DHS, then you are already have a choice – private school.
I have had a postiive experience with DHS and their administrators for my child. Everything is what you make of it.
8:15 PM on April 27th, 2010
Dublin Parent,
Glad you are on board then with the charter school movement, because charter schools do NOT take money from existing schools. If I don’t want my kids taught by the mediocre teachers at Dublin High, why should MY tax dollars stay with a subpar school? Also, people without kids should be able to direct their property tax dollars to the charter school if they choose.
2:35 PM on April 27th, 2010
i for one appreciate these articles. the facts and figures apply to our city and they will not go away just because we turn a blind eye to them. we like to hear that our property values are going up and that new businesses are coming to dublin, but we dont like to hear that our high school is not well ranked or is not competitive with our neighbors. we cannot just draw attention to the positive news. i appreciate this blog and the article.
4:35 PM on April 27th, 2010
You know in what country you only hear/read good news on TV/newspaper? In communist countries with state-controlled media. I do not believe we want to be in the same rank.
8:02 PM on April 27th, 2010
Cannot agree with you more! Around Dublin is providing our growing community a service by keeping all of us informed. We have no local newspaper, and my family is very grateful John Z. and his team have generously donated as much time as they have. They make Dublin look good, even when they present data that’s not so flattering.
5:13 PM on April 27th, 2010
It’s not about how successful the students will be. No one argues that DHS students can’t be successful. It’s about Dublin Pride. It’s prestige by association. Your kid can be dumbest at DHS, but there’s a sense of pride in going to a school with a high API, just like there pride in colleges winning the Rose Bowl or NCAA Tournament.
10:23 PM on April 27th, 2010
I am disappointed with the negativity towards Dublin High shown in many postings here. Like it or not, Dublin High is a huge part of the Dublin community, and it should be appreciated as such. Yes, everyone has their own opinion, and that is fine. However, a site advertising itself as “Your Guide To Dublin 2.0″ should be a little less biased in its articles. Looking through the posts in schools, I see very few to no articles pointing out the good things about Dublin High or recent events there. I do see a great deal of articles about how awesome the new charter school will be. I do understand that John Zukoski is involved in the charter school petition, but it is unfair to bring that into Around Dublin, which should be an unbiased guide to Dublin as the blog claims to be.
Meanwhile, Dublin High’s reputation is being put in question. Dublin High may not have the best admissions to UCs and other top colleges, but that is okay. I know that 98% of DHS graduates go to college, whether or not it is very competitive. Going to college in the first place is the most important thing, as going to college gives you a chance in the working world even if you don’t become a millionaire. Besides that, its not as if no DHS grads go to UCs. If somebody really wants to go to Berkeley, then they just have to set their mind to it and do it. DHS students can be as successful as other students if they want to. I think the reason that these statistics are so disappointing is that many students at DHS do not care about going to a competitive college. I personally know students who do not try at all, but I also know students who try their best and are excelling.
And by making a charter school in Dublin these students who try will be at an even greater disadvantage. The charter school will take precious money away from Dublin High and divide it between two schools. Unlike what is being portrayed, this means less choice for students; not more. For example, take an AP class which is taught one period a day, with 30 students in the class. Then, the AP class is split between two school, now there are 15 students in the class at each school. 15 students is not a supportable class size, which results in the class being dropped at both school. Now no one can take the AP, instead of the 30 kids who could take it at Dublin high. As of right now, a charter school is not the right option for Dublin. I’m not saying it never could be, but the 1500 students at Dublin high can’t be split into two schools with a supportable number of students.
So, before you go making another school and posting only the bad things about Dublin high, go talk to the students there, I’m sure you’ll find that most are happy.
10:47 PM on April 27th, 2010
One thing that I can say is you are brainwashed too much by DUSD and its affiliate – OneDublin.org. You are just taking a bunch of talking points from OneDublin.org about the charter school. What about independent and logic thinking? What about fact checking? What happened to our education these days? So sad…
8:16 PM on April 30th, 2010
I’ve looked at the facts and they all seem reasonable. I wrote that myself with my own logic, and maybe if it is similar to OneDublin’s arguments, its because they are TRUE. The truth tends to be repeated because everybody can find it using their own methods. Lies are often different, because they can be made up on the spot.
And you can NOT go around saying I’m brainwashed. I agree with OneDublin’s points, but I’m also a student at Dublin High. I watched the videos of the charter hearing, and you can’t tell me we are all brainwashed. Hey, I’ll be gone by the time Tassajara Prep opens (if it opens) but I’m still going to fight it because others won’t be, and they will be the ones who loose out on options.
And did you just call me stupid? “What happened to our education these days? So sad…” You can’t go calling me stupid. First of all, it is really low to stoop to personal insults, although I know that has happened before. Second of all, I am in several classes that are challenging. And I’m not failing, so please don’t say that I’m stupid. Education has been great for me, there has never been one teacher that I’ve felt doesn’t care about me. Even the teachers I dislike have been there to help if I needed.
To the poster below me:
I have no problem with the other section of this blog. I think the articles are important, fair and interesting. On other subjects, Around Dublin is a wonderful news source. I do respect John Z. and his team for what they do. Its not an easy job to have. However, on schools, nothing has been done to hype up Dublin High, only to put us down, which is unfair and biased.
Many students don’t care because, and this sounds unfair to shift blame but, of the way they were raised. I was raised to care about school and to get good grades, so I do. I know kids who were raised that school didn’t matter, and they are the ones failing. My school has always told kids to challenge themselves, but they have been realistic. At AP/Honors night, we were allowed to see each teacher and look through what the course would be like, and we were given accurate details on the benefits and the difficulty of AP classes. Overall, the message I got was “If you think you can, go for it”
The truth is that Tassajara Prep WILL take funds from Dublin High. DUSD is currently struggling financially, as are most districts in Califonia. How on earth could the impact be minimal? Lets see, take half our students, (as is the goal of the charter school, have 216 students at each grade level, which is one half or more than Dublin High’s populations) half our teachers, half our janitorial staff, half our administration. Thats pretty clearly, half of what Dublin High gets. DHS may compete with the charter school, but neither can compete with other schools in the area if they are only half the size. Parents have always had the choice to transfer if they are really unhappy, and otherwise, get involved! Talk to the school board, tell them your concerns and things you would like done with Dublin High. It’s not that hard. Last year, I was in 8th grade, yet I still got involved, and I got what I wanted. Just try to fix what you are concerned about, rather than letting a charter school with more problems than solutions, “fix” it for you.
9:58 PM on April 30th, 2010
If I am not mistaken, only a handful of people on this blog usually write such a long comment. This writing sounds like James’ to me, especially with such details as number of students used for the financial analysis. I do not believe any high school student would have the patience reading the long TP petition.
10:51 PM on April 30th, 2010
Excuse me? No, I’m honestly a 9th grade student at Dublin High. I did read through the charter petition, as I am very passionate about this. I like debating and this whole argument is very personal it me. I’m not James.
11:38 PM on April 30th, 2010
aha, a high school student hanging around AD blog for the whole night waiting for someone’s comments? You must be a very special one.
7:09 AM on May 1st, 2010
Haven’t really been hanging around, but whatever. Its pretty important to me to defend my points (and myself now) against what others have said. I guess I should be flattered that you think I write well enough to be James. Why would James lie about who he is?
And if I hadn’t checked the exact number of students in the petition, you guys would have said I didn’t check facts. Besides, its not that hard to look up the petition, I just searched Tassajara Prep charter school petition.
12:17 AM on April 28th, 2010
Hey DHS Student,
I think the site deserves to be called “Your Guide to Dublin 2.0″ precisely because it is challenging readers like me to think about retail development, residential development, and public education in a way I never had to before. Once you buy a home and have kids of your own, you will understand why we care and why we’re amazed by John Z. and his team for what they’ve been able to do.
The latest data from DUSD is that 95% of DHS graduates go to college, but what’s a few percentage points among friends really? We know close 50% of your peers will end up in community college, and about 17% will end up in the UCs. Perhaps the Around Dublin folks can help pinpoint where the remaining lost generation of DHS graduates ended up going for college. Perhaps you can do us all a favor by asking your school officials to publish data more detailed than “95% of DHS graduates go on to college” on that OneDublin websiite. Come on, we are waiting.
You said, “I think the reason that these statistics are so disappointing is that many students at DHS do not care about going to a competitive college.” Okay, so can you tell us why MANY STUDENTS at DHS don’t care about going to a competitive college? Did your teachers or counselors tell them it’s a BAD idea to challenge themselves, because the moment they do, they’d all be committing mass suicides? Kids commit suicides unfortunately for many reasons, and as we have seen recently, being bullied by other kids is one of the many reasons that can push kids to do the unthinkable. Thankfully, I have not seen any data that suggest the rate of teen suicide at a school is directly correlated with how many students from that school are getting into the UCs. Have you?
Finally, this lie about charter school taking funding away from DHS is so tired. If you move to another city, the tax dollars your parents pay should be sent to another district instead of staying at DHS, because the tax dollars follow the students. Will the charter high school take a lot of students away from DHS? If DHS is as good as OneDublin/DUSD say it is, the effect will be minimal. Better yet, if DHS can compete with the charter school on eveery level, we will have two great high schools, which will help draw even more families to Dublin. But the point is parents should have a choice in deciding whether or not DHS is right for their kids in Dublin. People should not have to move away to make the point that their kids can do better than DHS.
8:35 AM on April 28th, 2010
The prior year’s senior class information (where students decided to go after high school) is on the DHS website. Dublin didn’t set up the state school funding guidelines, the choice to move here meant Dublin High.
9:35 AM on April 28th, 2010
Please provide us with a link, Dublin Parent. Thanks.
2:34 PM on April 28th, 2010
Here is the infomration on the 2009 graduating class:
http://dhs.dublin.k12.ca.us/pages/uploaded_files/DHS%20Class%20of%202009.pdf
39% students of the students who completed the survery were planning on attending a 4 year.
DHS has a strong AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) 4 year program to help guide (generally) first generation college kids to prep and get ready to go directly to a four year school. I don’t have the stats, but they have a great track record. The college application process and various requirements is complicated, and for many Dublin parents it is a new experience. The AVID teachers and counselors help the kids plan for college, take the right classes, and gets them through the application process. I know DHS 4 year university attendance rates would be even lower if they did not offer this program. These types of programs are needed to broaden the child’s awareness and keep them on track.
3:41 PM on April 28th, 2010
Thanks, Dublin Parent. It is important for data like these to made available to the general public, so parents can make up the final decisions on their own about where to send their children. I know James and others have cried about how much money DHS stands to lose, but again, whose money is it really? The money is earmarked for the kids and should be given to the school that can better serve the students. If that mass migration someone brought up is true, Dublin has already been losing students to neighboring cities systematically. If it hasn’t been a problem all this time, why is it all of a sudden a problem now? I don’t get it. James and company have touted how much they love DHS precisely because it is small. Well, if that’s the case, I think Tassajara Prep is doing them a favor by keeping it small.
Okay, all kiddings aside, with the arrival of Tassajara Prep, DHS can no longer rely on inertia to hold onto students. It will have to prove to parents that it can do a better job than Tassajara Prep. Just as our children will be challenged in a good way, so will the DUSD administrators and the teachers. Again, Tassajara Prep will have to prove to me before I will agree to send my child there, but I am thankful it’s here to spur some much needed competition in our city.
10:12 AM on April 28th, 2010
the facts are the facts and whether it’s dublin hs or a new charter school, if the metrics don’t improve by the time all of these new young families moving into dublin have high school aged children, they will be moving.
11:16 AM on April 28th, 2010
I cannot agree more. Someone already said this, but I think it’s worth repeating. I appreciate the the vision presented by Tassajara Prep. I visit this site frequently, and John Z. has earned my trust in the way he analyzes the issues that affect all of us. What he does with the schools is really just a fraction of the value he brings to the community. Still, now that he and his team have raised the stakes and reminded all of us the tried-and-true metrics are just as reliable as ever before, they will be on the hook to deliver the goods once they get approved.
Talking to individual students and teachers will not do a thing to help with reform at DHS. Anecdotal feedback are useful, but they are only part of the story. Also, don’t forget that the teachers and students are biased. Since neither the teachers nor the students have any choice in terms of where they work or where they can attend school, of course they will say DHS is the best school ever. The word biased is not necessarily negative. It is just something third party evaluators need to take into account.
11:38 AM on April 28th, 2010
It is just kind of sad to watch how OneDublin.org is becoming a little minion of DUSD. They published a few articles to denigrate the “Race-to-the-top” program initiated by current administration. I do not see how any parents who want their kids to get the best education would not like this program. Only those working for or affiliated with teachers’ union would be opposed to this. For those who support OneDublin.org, you need to ask them whether they are really representing parents’ best interest or DUSD’s best interests.
1:08 PM on April 28th, 2010
I think by publishing more statistics about the high school, is the TP folks going to get some more funding to enhance their case when they go to the county. We all know DHS has a ways to go, they have improved but East dublin folks are still reluctant to go to that part of the city for an under-construction school. So long as East Dublin folks keep moving to other East bay cities, DHS will never see an increase in student from Fallon. Does anyone know what happened to the funds for high school that came from the east development? While I agree that DHS may have some ways to go, part of it is due to student demographics. i remember when 10 years ago, Amador was a very ordinary school and so was the Irvington High. Bunch of professional families moved into those areas, and those schools took off. Unfortunately, that is the Reality. Why do you think Dougherty valley is having high scores? Did the teachers have other training than the DUSD teachers? Yes, teachers have to challenge but students have to be up for it. Maybe principal leadership needs to take off. And yes, if there is a way for a new high school in the East side, without impacting current funding for DHS, I am all for it. But again, I am not sure, printing these data (which may or may not be relevant to the current school year) is not doing much for TP cause unless alameda county officials are going to look at it. Instead, it will cause more exodus of people from east dublin, which is kind of sad, as the school is not as bad as it is being made out to be.
3:16 PM on April 28th, 2010
So far none of our elected officials and school administrators have recognized the mass migration to other Tri-Valley cities as a problem. Even if these well produced graphs are discouraging people to move to Dublin, whose fault is it really?
Again, how exactly will Tassajara Prep draw funding away from DHS? Explain that part clearly. Remember, the money comes from the State and follows the kid. Neither DHS nor TPHS is really entitled to that money. Most people understand that simple rule. The only people who would continue to spew such lies are the school administrators and teachers who are in fear of losing their jobs.
I agree with Kudos. Keep up the good work and stay on the high road guys. Thank you for doing everything that you do.
4:31 PM on April 28th, 2010
We shouldn’t be as concerned about how much State money will transfer between schools in DUSD (i.e., DHS to TP) based on where the students attend high school. The money stays in the district as long as the student is in the district. Yes, this can impact program funding at the site, but it is certainly better than the district losing the money altogether if people move to Pleasanton or San Ramon.
Even worse, the more people move to San Ramon for school, there’s probably a greater chance that they will spend more money outside of Dublin and the tax dollars from property and sales tax will be lost altogether.
3:02 PM on April 28th, 2010
Keep up the good work JZ!
9:15 PM on April 28th, 2010
The data is still class of 2008/2009. I think in the next few years, you will find better performance of DHS and more kids going to the best schools. I am pretty confident as I know for a fact, that some really high performing kids from Fallon (and I am sure Wells too) have decided to stick with Dublin high, rather than go across town. So you will see DHS scores continue to improve, the colleges they go to continue to improve. You can be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond. You can go to Monte vista or foothill and be lost in their 2500+ students and struggle to get honors/AP. Or you can go to DHS where you can make the most of the opportunity and you will get to top schools. If you have a high GPA with all the AP classes that DHS offers and you combine that with a high SAT score, you can go anywhere. If I recall, DHS has had merit scholars too who have gone on to UCLA. Only thing needed is for them to finish the construction so that kids can enjoy the new facilities soon. For folks who do not want to commute, you are welcome to move to Danville, Foothill. I have spoken to those parents too and the grass is not necessarily green on that side.
9:30 PM on April 28th, 2010
We have been told by DUSD for the past decade that DHS keeps improving. But if you really look at the data, the admission rate to UCs in 2008-2009 is essentially the same as that in the past decade. So where is the improvement you are talking about or hoping for? Fool me once, shame on DUSD; fool me twice, shame on myself; fool me for a decade, I do not know what to say.
10:21 PM on April 28th, 2010
I don’t know about past decade, East Dublin itself wasn’t there until 10 years ago. All I can say is in the last 3 years, the student demographics there is changing. Right now and in the incoming 9th graders, a lot of the kids choosing to go there are very high performing kids. Score/college improvement is bound to come. They have increased course offerings, college counseling and I have confidence things will improve. Yes, being in East Dublin, I would have liked to see high school this side of town. But at same time, I think once the construction is completed and more results start coming in the next few years, there will be bound to be improvements. Yes, unfortunately the story gets back to student demographics. I see a lot of high performing kids going there now..Last year and this year. Things are bound to improve. To be honest, everyone is going to AP/SAT prep classes, even in foothill, amador, san ramon. You combine that with a good GPA, you have more chances of getting to UC than other overly-competitive high schools.
7:26 AM on April 29th, 2010
Are you saying 2008-2009 data does not include students from east Dublin? I think there were already many Fallon students. That is actually why DHS’ API score increased a lot. It would be even more interesting to see the 2009-2010 data. If it is still the same, what excuses can DUSD and its little minion OD find this time? Stay tuned and do not be duped.
8:42 AM on April 29th, 2010
Fallon School came into existence in 2005, I believe. Data of 2008 graduating DHS seniors is from high schoolers who were freshman in 2004. Most East Dublin folks had younger kids when they moved in to the area. So 2011/2012 onwards is actually when you will see more of the school going kids from the East Dublin side attending DHS. I do agree that DUSD should not just wait for student demographics to change. Would be good to have more pro-active teacher recruitments and introduce innovative programs to keep challenging students. With budget cuts, it probably will affect some of those programs. I am just saying all we hear is two extemes – OneDublin saying DHS is the greatest thing, AD is proving it is really bad by posting statistics that may mislead people. I am saying truth is somewhere in the middle. AD should focus its efforts on TP by bringing out the benefits of a charter school and not by all this negativity to DHS. High school needs lots of resources like ROP, athletics, electives, performing arts, AP, honors programs. And I would be interested to see how much TP can offer for a comprehensive high school experience.
1:35 PM on April 29th, 2010
This year’s senior class has the first kids who attended Fallon, and they only attended for one year. Even then, it was only some kids, since French was not offered at Fallon.
In terms of college admission and stuff, a comprehensive high school and its opportunities for participating in extracurricular activities are very important in admission. You need to be involved in your child’s life and engaged in their school. If you have been around DHS at all, you would see that the administrators put in alot of time and know most kids by name. They actively participate in the extracurricular activities. DHS is definitely not Monte Vista, but you can achieve great success if you attend it.
3:21 PM on April 29th, 2010
Okay, so basically the OD/DUSD are afraid of Tassajara Prep, because they fear Tassajara Prep will get all the Fallon kids. Once they do, DHS will be dropped down to pre-Fallon performance level and rank even lower than Livermore and Granada? We’ve seen so many iterations of their ever shifting message that it’s hard to keep track. Perhaps John Z. can summarize all their arguments for them, so we can all get a kick out of how ridiculous they are. In spite of their best efforts, OD/DUSD have not been able to get Tassajara Prep to back down. The fact that Tassajara Prep is persistent tells me they have a good chance at succeeding. Bottom line is this: Do you want your kids going to a failing school just so your kids can subsidize the lower performing kids and be dragged down by them? If you don’t want that, choose Tassajara Prep if you want to stay in Dublin or move to a city other than Livermore.
9:20 AM on April 29th, 2010
For months now we’ve had to endure calls for “fact-based arguments” from OneDublin and DUSD. They’ve said that DHS is the best high school in the Tri-Valley, and there is no need for any alternative in Dublin. Now that the facts have come out, they are all of a sudden crying foul. I think it’s wishful thinking on that obvious OD supporter the truth is somewhere in the middle. Based on everything I’ve seen from John Z., I will bet he’s pulled some punches. The truth is probably far worse than what John has presented.
Tassajara Prep has raised the bar for everyone in Dublin. Of course, folks who’ve been OD’ed will argue they have no track record. While I agree that Tassajara Prep has lots to prove, DUSD’s history of lies and deception, in addition to their refusal to acknowledge their own failings, have convinced me that we need a second option in Dublin. How can DUSD fix the problem if they don’t acknowledge it? Oh, and passively relying on the kids from Fallon to raise the scores is not going to work. It’s like a bad relationship. The person with the problems (drugs or what not) always ends up dragging the other one down…it is never the other way around. Do we really want our kids getting dragged down by not just underperforming peers, but uninspired teachers and administrators?
The only track record DUSD can really speak to is that they continually ask taxpayers for bail outs:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/teens/ci_14976601
I guess they have gone through all that money from Measure L either through misappropriation, reckless spending, or bad investments. In any case, they will join the City in asking for more money. You know, if only they could have saved that money from that hunk of metal on the corner of Dougherty and Dublin and put it to better use…
9:37 AM on May 2nd, 2010
I am surprised no one has challenged this utterly ridiculous notion that people should not support Tassajara Prep, because we are just beginning to see the impact the Fallon kids are having on DHS’s overall performance.
Families with children of all ages have been moving into East Dublin for the past 10 years. We have two elementary schools that are BURSTING at the seams, because they are high performing. For those who don’t believe my statement, just walk down to Dougherty and check out their permanent portables and talk to the folks whose kids have been diverted to Fallon. We have had a steady flow of good students into our elementary schools.
The logical question is this:
Why are we just BEGINNING to see improvements, when we should have been seeing improvements for the last 10 years? Those of us who’s been here since 2001 can tell you. Many of the families with high performing kids have moved to San Ramon, Danville, and Pleasanton. Think about it.
12:08 PM on May 2nd, 2010
Stop saying that “we are just starting to see the impact of Fallon kids on DHS.” This has been said many times, and to someone like me from West Dublin, it is insulting. I’m happy over here, and I’m certainly not stupid. I’ve always done just as well as Fallon kids on my STAR tests, and it is unfair to me to say that I’m dumber than Fallon kids because I’m from the other side of town. There are Fallon kids I’m smarter than, and Fallon kids I’m not as smart as. There are other Wells kids that are smarter than Fallon kids. I’m the one actually going to the school, and you’ll find that even now, almost through my freshman year, the differences between a Fallon student and a Wells student are not apparent.
And isn’t it possible to you people that we haven’t been seeing significant improvement to DHS because Fallon kids are not that much smarter? You all say that the only reason for any improvement is Fallon kids, yet you also say you haven’t seen enough improvement. Think about it- once we get to DHS, we are all given the same education, so a Fallon kid isn’t going to make or break all of DHS. Frankly, to say that Fallon kids are better is elitist and snobby, not to mention insulting.
12:35 PM on May 2nd, 2010
Or many smart Fallon kids moved out of Dublin to Pleasanton or San Ramon or Danville or higher performing school districts?
8:09 AM on May 3rd, 2010
Hi DHS student, We are not saying everyone in Wells is underperforming. I am sure there are high achieving students like yourself. But in general, if you compare Wells with Fallon, Wells is not having making 800 in their API scores. Fallon was at 900+. I have seen lot of underperforming kids also at Fallon and some very high achieving kids as well. I know for a fact that though a lot of the kids are sticking with DHS, a fair number of families have bought houses in the nearby cities especially a big chunk going to San Ramon. We have at least 3 houses in the street where I live, all rented their house and two of them renting in pleasanton, one renting in san ramon. Unfortunately that is the reality.
11:22 PM on April 28th, 2010
At first DUSD and OneDublin tell people that there is no shame in being the smallest high school in the Tri-Valley, because that means all the students are part of this tight-knit community, so there is no need for a second high school But then they say that Dublin High has the capacity to take on 2500 or even 3000 students, so there is no need for a second high school. Now they are ignoring the hard data and arguing that the other high schools in the Tri-Valley are really inferior, because they are too large. John Kerry can learn a thing or two about flipflopping from DUSD and OneDublin.
James likes to ask the question “What problem is Tassajara Prep trying to solve?” Well, I think those of us who are supportive of choice should ask DUSD the question “What is DUSD really afraid of?” If all these improvements are really just over the horizon (mind you they have been saying the same thing for the past decade), DUSD will be able to maintain and possibly increase its current enrollment. The students Tassajara Prep will likely get are those it never had the chance of getting in the first place, so what is the problem really?
This whole “improvements are just around the corner” line is really not working, especially given the fact that people have been waiting all this time. As the data show, there have been no improvements in the areas that count. Also, people in Dublin have heard so many promises like the Promenade is just two years away. I think by now all of us are pretty good at telling when people are just leading us along.
P.S. AD folks, something is screwy with your recent comments widget. Sometimes I will see a comment in the recent comments section, but I won’t see the comment when I click on the actual article. Please look into what’s wrong.
9:19 AM on April 29th, 2010
Around Dublin once again proves that you can make statistics say anything you want. When is the Blog going to change its name to the Tassajara Prep Charter School Blog? Luckily only a small percentage of small minded people believe the lies being spread but John Z. and company about Dublin High, its teachers and its students.
12:30 PM on April 29th, 2010
Can you say anything fact-based except this kind of baseless accusation? At least AD has the real statistical data to present and support their arguments. Finding some teachers or students to testify won’t cut it, because anybody with a brain knows they are biased. What do you have? What does your DUSD boss have? Who is more small-minded by not allowing another choice for parents?
12:54 PM on April 29th, 2010
Admission rates are not a good statistic to use as a lot of us in Dublin cannot afford sending our kids to UC or a school like Duke. Those other areas are more affluent. Period. Hopefully Dublin High prepares my kids so I can send them to Boise State (quite serious). Never quite understood the blue turf, but I can live with it. It’s a very wholesome college, unlike most of the California schools.
1:29 PM on April 29th, 2010
Hi Anonymous – Boise State’s “smurf turf” provides a huge home field advantage because Boise’s uniforms blend in to the color of the turf. Boise State’s only lost at home a handful of times over the past decade.
Go Broncos, John Z.
5:07 PM on April 29th, 2010
Percent of UC undergrads getting financial aid.
http://www.ucop.edu/newsroom/newswire/img/39/3985791144b9007c3f3525.pdf
There a lots of financial resources available from CA and Fed institutions. Walk around Stanford you’d be surprised how many students are also getting financial aid.
My questions and observations:
-Why are there not ONE Asian in the DUSD board? Look at the kids’ ethnicities in east Dublin. Think about that the next time you vote.
-What are the qualifications of our DUSD trustees’?
-Who made and approved the original decision to use the money rebuilding DHS rather than building a new high school in east Dublin? Was it put up on a ballot, or was it decided by the DUSD board?
-Who is responsible for mowing the grass at Dougherty?
5:17 PM on April 29th, 2010
Excellent points!!!
I think we had an Asian candidate running last time, but you know how the people in the West are. As John reported, they had that “Asian Invasion” graffiti right next to the current high school and everyone was just falling over themselves to say that it’s just some high school kid blowing off steam. The City also killed two Korean men with a single bullet while they were in their home. That news was big deal in South Korea back in 2005. Oh, let’s not forget John Ledahl and the Asian Kids are Robots comments.
I remember hearing one of the current councilpeople was responsible for the one high school decision. All you need to do is to support the one high school and you’ll get elected in this town it seems.
8:24 PM on April 29th, 2010
Can someone tell me what is the next step of TP? Rather than posting all the statistics, I would like to know the reality of opening a high school this side of Dublin. DHS may get to higher scores, better building but commute from dublin ranch to DHS is 20-30 minutes by car. Parents may still move unless there is some form of extension in East dublin via TP or otherwise.
10:21 PM on April 29th, 2010
Hi Anonymous – the next step is for Tassajara Prep to get an approved charter petition. The County will evaluate the petition in May and make their decision in June. If the County doesn’t approve the petition, then the State will have a chance to review/approve the petition. The goal is to have the petition approved by the end of 2010. One of the key priorities for 2011 will be to identify temporary and permanent facilities for Tassajara Prep.
Thx, John Z.
2:50 PM on April 30th, 2010
Guys, do this search in Google:
“james mary morehead dublin ca”
I don’t know whether to give you my congratulations or my condolences. I mean, on the one hand, James and Mary can’t even use their names to pull up their own website. On the other hand, they are now part of your blog whether you like it or not.
Oh, I also pulled up this woman’s website with the same search:
http://dublinranchexpert.com/
I guess Manel Sousou and Joe Frazzano are part of the OneDublin group. Perhaps they have put their professional reputation on the line by saying that Tassajara Prep will absolutely lead Dublin to self-destruct and therefore cause housing values to plummet. Perhaps they can back up their claim with all the deals they failed to close thanks to the evil Tassajara Prep folks. Maybe they can provide supporting documents to show that thousands of families have fled Dublin after learning there will be two and not just one high school.
Manel Sousou and Joe Frazzano, remember their names.
3:48 PM on April 30th, 2010
you are such a lowlife. i would be embarass if you were my parent.
4:39 PM on April 30th, 2010
Thanks for sharing. Those two realtors always look kind of sleazy to me, compared to Mia & Beverly Team. This finding just confirms my view. I would ask all my friends not to use them for any real estate related services. So despicable! They do not contribute much to the local community anyway (no sales tax, minimum income tax by exploiting all those tax loopholes, etc).
12:27 AM on May 1st, 2010
Manel Sousou and Joe Frazzano = used car sales tactics
6:53 AM on May 2nd, 2010
Recent research on charter schools conducted by Stanford researchers. Enough said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/education/02charters.html?hp
“But for all their support and cultural cachet, the majority of the 5,000 or so charter schools nationwide appear to be no better, and in many cases worse, than local public schools when measured by achievement on standardized tests, according to experts citing years of research. Last year one of the most comprehensive studies, by researchers from Stanford University, found that fewer than one-fifth of charter schools nationally offered a better education than comparable local schools, almost half offered an equivalent education and more than a third, 37 percent, were “significantly worse.”
7:39 AM on May 2nd, 2010
Let me try to put this delicately without hurting anyone’s feelings.
Don’t be stupid and quote research you don’t fully understand.
Before you made your assessments that all charter schools are bad, did you to talk to their students and see how happy they are? Did you talk to the teachers there and see how dedicated they are? Did you bother to find out whether their principals are male or female?
Somehow OD is all about data when it comes to charter schools, but when people apply the same rigor to evaluate DHS, they start crying foul.
I think the best way to interpret the research is this:
Given DHS’s performance these past nine or ten years has been so atrocious, any charter school will do significantly better because the bar has been set so low.
8:19 AM on May 2nd, 2010
Our school has not performed atrociously. And 842 API score is not awful, its decent. If you look here:
http://api.cde.ca.gov/AcntRpt2009/2009GrowthSch.aspx?allcds=01750930132704
you’ll find that our API grew 44 points last year, while similar schools’ API grew 10 points and is only at 815. So we are doing better than school with similar demographics.
And before you make assessments on Dublin High, did you to talk to their students and see how happy they are? Did you talk to the teachers there and see how dedicated they are? Did you bother to find out whether their principals are male or female? (Though I really hope you know who our principal is)
12:29 PM on May 2nd, 2010
I do not think you are really a DHS student because you are hanging around here too much. But anyway, here are my questions to you in case you can think independently:
(i) You do not need to look very far for API improvement for other schools. Granada High in Livermore has more than 50 points increase in API. Granada High is about on the same level as DHS in a lot of aspects (AP pass rate, SAT scores, UC admission rate, etc). Why does it have more increase than DHS? You just cannot compare DHS with an average school because we do not want to be just average.
(ii) Dougherty Valley in San Ramon just opened a few years ago. Now it has got more students than DHS, with more on the waiting list. Why is that? Why isn’t the student population in DHS grow as fast as that? Why doesn’t the student population in DHS keep up with the overall city population growth? Does that have any relationship with the quality of DHS?
(iii) US Education Secretary Arne Duncan proposed “Race-to-the-top” programs to encourage schools to have more accountability for teachers and encourage teachers to perform with merit-pay. Why does OD not publish anything positive about it but only denigrates it? Does that really represent the best interests of parents and students?
2:05 PM on May 2nd, 2010
First of all, I am really a DHS student. I’d prefer to remain somewhat anyonymous, but none of you can argue with that, since you are all anonymous too.
(I) And their API is an 830 compared to DHS at 842. Granted, its not a huge margin, but as you get better and better it gets harder to gain points because you are already doing well and there is less room for improvement. Increase is nice, but it isn’t everything. Not to mention test scores aren’t everything to a school. Maybe students at Granada were taught more to the testing standards than students a Dublin High were. Its quite possible that DHS students were actually taught more in depth things but less about the basic concepts on the tests.
(II) Dougherty Valley High is in the middle of a rapidly growing community. Dublin on the other hand is not in the middle of the rapidly growing part of Dublin. Also, my neighborhood is mostly made up of older families with grown up kids. Around Dublin I see a lot of apartment complexes being built, which tend to attract families with no kids. Dublin High’s lack of growth could be due to many factors, and I have not seen any solid evidence that DHS is not growing due to students leaving to other cities.
(III) As the daughter of a teacher I must disagree with merit-pay. A teacher with a class of students who are not as smart as another class would be payed less, even though the teacher with a struggling class is probably working harder to get her students up to standards. People think merit-pay is encouraging teachers, but really it is just hurting teachers who are trying their best. As for One Dublin opposing Race-to-the-top, I don’t actually go on the One Dublin site very often, so can you point me to an article opposing Race-to-the-top?
6:34 PM on May 2nd, 2010
Dougherty valley high is attracting high school going kids from dublin, south bay, fremont and cupertino areas. A lot of my Dublin neighbors are renting their house and moved to San ramon. Fact of the matter is – San ramon school infrastructure is great. I was at cal high the other day. It is only a few blocks away from Dublin high. The outward appearance is world apart. I wish DUSD would hurry up with the renovations. I applaud current DHS students putting up with all the construction mess. I know students at DHS seem happy but again I have lost faith in the dublin city council members for stalling the school development. And no, I am not paying any more parcel tax. I dont know if charter school is the answer but if I owned a house in silvera ranch of dublin, I would be asking for an intra-district transfer. Folks will continue to move unless some alternate is provided. I am not debating scores here..it is all student demographics to some extent. Lot of families with older kids are moving. Like someone said, unless you put high end housing near DHS and just renovate that whole part of dublin, DHS scores will never improve.
11:57 AM on May 3rd, 2010
The DHS students indeed have been incredibly patient with all the renovation, but they really don’t have any choice do they?
Daughter of a DHS teacher, I respect you for doing what you can to help promote Dublin High and am impressed by your persistence. Before you continue reading, you should know that there will always be people in life who will disagree with you, and you should not take that disagreement personally.
To most people, how API scores are calculated is anything but straightforward. That is why we responded to John Z.’s articles on the SAT score and UC admission rate trending. DUSD and its “grassroots” supporters have been heavily promoting DHS as a college-prep school. The conventional definition of college-prep in California is that most of the kids should be at least getting into the UC system, not community college. Almost 50% of your cohorts are ending up in community colleges, and that number, when taken together with the low UC admission rate, is alarming to say the least.
You brought up an interesting idea about teaching to the test. I don’t know to what extent that is happening at DHS, but if you look at how the UC admission rate from 2008-2009 has stayed unchanged compared to the UC admission rate averaged from 2000 up to 2009, that tells me the jump in API to 842 may be due to the fact that the teachers are teaching to the STAR tests and not really doing what matters in boosting DHS’s UC admission rate.
Whether or not DHS is in the middle of a rapidly growing part of Dublin should not have an impact on DHS’s enrollment, because families do NOT have a choice in where they can send their high-school-aged students. Dublin is building more high density housing than neighboring cities, but plenty of families with high-school-aged students live in apartments. Cities with good school districts will have families that rent apartments simply to get their kids into the more desirable school system. The fact you have not seen any solid evidence that DHS is not growing due to families leaving for other cities is not surprising, because it is hard, especially for someone in high school, to see such a trending. You are simply parroting what the school officials and what your parent — the one who’s the teacher — are telling you. The fact is you do not have the background to assess whether or not those official party lines are true or not. I would say I don’t either. There is only one person on this blog who does, and that person is John Z. As an aside, I will say probably the smartest move the charter school folks made is acquiring John Z. I will be the first to tell you that I don’t always agree with him, and I don’t always find what he and his team cover all that interesting. Still, I have bookmarked his blog, because it is the only thing I can find online that consistently produces content about the city I call home on a regular basis. As I have stated many times before, I trust the blog, but the blog will not be operating Tassajara Prep. Whether or not Tassajara Prep will meet the high bar its set for itself remains to be seen. I am still spending every weekend in Danville looking for a home, but the fact that they DARE to propose such aspirational goals is reassuring.
Thanks for disclosing your own bias on the issue of merit pay. The fact that one of your parents is a district-employed teacher explains exactly why you would be opposed to merit pay. You know what, as you go on to college, you will meet many people who may not be “as smart” as you, but they will do significantly better than average not because of their smarts but because they work damn hard. Being smart is only a small percentage of the equation. For some reason, we have a HUGE population of students at DHS who are disengaged and not motivated. Teachers like your parent will shift the blame to the families, but I find that terribly irresponsible. I agree there will always be those students who hate school with a passion, but that percentage is way too high in Dublin, and parents like me are concerned precisely because we don’t see the same sense of alarm and urgency from our school administrators, teachers, and elected officials. In this country, people don’t get paid simply for trying their best. Imagine what a terrible world that would be if people get paid simply for effort without producing results. You hire a contractor, and he works super hard at building your home, but he ended up building a home that is not compliant and you cannot move in. Will you pay, simply because you saw him work around the clock? The reason that Obama’s Race to the Top resonates with me is precisely because that program focuses on motivating the TEACHERS to do their part. I find OneDublin’s silence on the subject of Race to the Top deafening.
I am sure you know the story of Helen Keller. Helen Keller could not have become the woman and the scholar she was without a fine teacher like Anne Sullivan. Based on multiple sources, people know Helen Keller was not the most receptive student, yet Anne Sullivan was able to get through to Helen by being persistent and not giving up. You know, you parent who teaches at DHS can probably learn a thing or two from the persistence you’ve shown in defending DHS. If our DHS teachers can be more persistent like Anne Sullivan when they encounter an underperforming student in their classes, no one would care about Tassajara Prep. Sadly for all of us, that’s not what we have today.
2:30 PM on May 3rd, 2010
This is on OD’s facebook page about “Race-to-the-top” program:
“OneDublin.org The acclaimed documentary “Race to Nowhere” has a Pleasanton screening coming up Tuesday May 18th at 7PM. OneDublin.org is speaking with the organizers about organizing a screening in Dublin, likely this Fall.
http://rtnpleasanton.eventbrite.com/
Race to Nowhere, Pleasanton – Eventbrite
rtnpleasanton.eventbrite.com
Reel Link Films presents Race to Nowhere, Pleasanton — Tuesday, May 18, 2010 — Pleasanton, CA
April 27 at 8:05am”
So it is not just silence about this program, but strong opposition that OD is willing to put into action. Do you still have any doubt that OD is a little servant to DUSD?
7:43 PM on May 4th, 2010
Alright…. So I’ve been following this little blog for quite a while now, and most people would agree that it sounds like a bunch of haters terrorizing a high school student. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion here. Friendly debate is what is being promoted here, not one-ended statements with no intent of open-mindedness.
So here’s my view;
Dublin High– yes I have seen students move out of district rather than attend the school– but take to the fact that the school is under construction. You can imagine rebirth of new facilities as a new school and image in Dublin meant to unite the whole community. What you are doing here with this charter school is reversing the progress and splitting us in half. You are bending us backwards rather than helping us succeed and move forward. This is not what Dublin needs and I urge you to support rather than hinder our progress; to not ruin the high school experiences for everyone.
If you have a child in high school, argue with me. I dare you to let me know what they don’t like about Dublin High School. Please know that you are destroying what our community has worked so hard to rebuild.
Comment and criticize as much as you please, but know that I do not stand alone in my opinion and I stand against you for as long as it takes.
WAKE UP.
7:46 PM on May 4th, 2010
I agree completely.
9:23 PM on May 4th, 2010
Well, it is very pathetic that this is all the argument you can come up with: DHS is not so good in quality because it is under construction. How laughable that is!
4:28 PM on May 5th, 2010
why will having a second high school divide the city? i don’t get that argument at all.
10:44 AM on May 6th, 2010
whats wrong with dividing the city? the two side of the city are quite different to begin with.
11:49 AM on May 6th, 2010
I would also like to know how exactly is forcing every family into one high school a good thing. Yes, people are welcome to leave the city, and many have already, but people should also have options within the city. I really don’t care if the School Board or people who moved in before me made the decision for one high school. What I love about Tassajara Prep is the fact that they know they will have to earn parents’ trust. I think the Stossel piece made it very clear why competition for enrollment is a good thing — it keeps the schools and the teachers on their toes. There are two reasons for our flatlining UC admission rate for the past 10 years:
1. The take-it-or-leave-it attitude on the part of the DHS teachers and the administrators.
2. The flight of families who want more for their kids.
To the question “whats wrong with dividing the city?” I will say that forced confinement is worse. Sometimes a legal separation and a clean divorce are what’s best for the kids.
2:07 PM on May 14th, 2010
Just saw new college admissions posted in the one dublin site (Note: I am NOT affliated with oneDublin). It is just encouraging to see this in case, TP is not an option. Partial list of colleges accepted by DHS include Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Columbia, Harward, Brown, Carnegie Mellon !
5:25 PM on May 14th, 2010
I think one question you need to ask OD is whether these admissions are multiple counted, i.e., whether one person got admitted into multiple universities. It is very possible that the student who got early admission to MIT would also get admissions from other Ivy’s. Do not get me wrong. I am happy if DHS is really that good, but we need to get the data straight.
4:16 PM on May 25th, 2010
Dublin charter school organizers get cold reception at county education board meeting
http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_15159633
5:01 PM on May 25th, 2010
Something to note: UC schools are in the dumps. More Dublin High, and more students among the tri-valley are choosing private schools and out of states because of the horrendous budget crisis and the effect this has on our state universities.
1:30 AM on May 26th, 2010
Don’t be stupid Melissa. Clearly you never learned to read graphs and charts. Based on the charts, all the Tri-Valley schools have gotten more students into the UC system except for Dublin and Livermore.
8:39 PM on May 26th, 2010
My name is actually Melyssa. I certainly know how to read charts and graphs as well as actually talk and get to know students that go to my school. Take a look at the data, and note how many students chose UC’s this year. It’s pretty slim, especially compared to previous years. This is not in anyway because Dublin students are inadequate, or don’t meet the UC criteria; this is because UC’s are not necessarily the smartest route to take anymore because of the rising costs of tuition and the difficulty to get the classes needed to graduate in four years. Private schools and most out of state schools understand the struggle students have to confront with choosing a state school and are providing much more financial assistance than ever before. UC’s are great schools, everyone knows this. Instead on bashing my high school on their CHOICE to apply or attend a UC, take some time to maybe ask why students aren’t choosing California public universities. There are plenty of other excellent schools outside of the UC system.
10:07 PM on May 26th, 2010
You are confused about UC admission rate and UC enrollment rate. Go research yourself to find out the difference. UC admission rate is closely correlated to percentage of students qualified to be admitted to UC; and UC enrollment rate is the percentage of students who actually enroll in UC. UC admission rate is always bigger than UC enrollment rate. As you said, many of the students qualified (admitted) choose not to attend UC due to financial reasons. All in all, UC admission rate is a much better indicator of a high school’s academic performance.
Nobody wants to denigrate DHS. But we all should have the courage to face the hard facts so we can improve from here.
10:16 PM on May 26th, 2010
But if students are choosing to go to private schools instead of UC, do you really think they’d take the time and money to apply to a UC if they never plan to go the public route in the first place? I know of a few kids that don’t even plan to apply to the UC system because they would rather not complete their degree in 6 years because of inadequate funding from the state.
10:21 PM on May 26th, 2010
Other Tri-valley high schools will have such students as well, don’t you think? I am not saying UC admission rate is a perfect indicator. No statistical number is. But it definitely captures the overall trend and relative difference.
9:01 PM on May 26th, 2010
I think one thing you all fail to notice is that starting a charter school in Dublin high will in no way help the students at Dublin high with UC aspirations. Could someone please explain to me how taking money from Dublin High School and using it to start a charter will fix this problem. If anything it will make it worse. The only thing a new school will accomplis is it willthrow students under the bus who decide to stick with Dublin High because they refuse to pay tuition at tassajar prep, because Dublin HIgh’s budget will be shrunk be quite a large margin. Furthermore, a substantial percentage of Dublin High students are choosing go the community college route, which is a brilliant educational decision. After two years of paying minimal tuition they can choose from any of the UC’s. This guarantees that in 4 years they will graduate with the same degree as those who attended all four years at say UCSB except for one thing, that Dublin students will not have a tremendously large debt that needs to be paid off.
10:17 PM on May 26th, 2010
I suggest you search one of the old posts in the forum. I remember someone published a data that show only less than 1% of community college students are qualified to transfer to UC. So the chance for transferring to UC after getting into community college is not that high at all. You need to be in the top 1% or better in community colleges.
11:04 PM on May 26th, 2010
I suggest that before you go around telling others to research you should do some of your own. Here’s an article from a few years ago. This is the first sentence:
“This state, which boasts the nation’s largest two-year college system and one of the best community college student transfer rates, thinks it can do even better.”
UC’s are increasing their acceptance rates for Community college students. If I were you i would think twice before saying something on here with no proof again. I’d hate for you to embarass yourself a second time.
http://diverseeducation.com/article/8418/1.php
11:32 PM on May 26th, 2010
Check out this link:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/05/local/me-transfer5
This is a 2009 article. You can take numbers from this article and calculate yourself:
14,000 transferred to UC out of 2.7M community college students, that gives you about 0.5%.
So I am very generous when I say 1%. You are the one that should be embarrassed by yourself because you are spewing out all the nonsense here. What I really feel disgusted is that you are attacking a young lady who attended DHS before.
9:10 PM on May 26th, 2010
For everyone that is bashing Dublin High School, I really think you should stop wasting your time. OneDublin is just a site that sums up all the support the community has for DHS. So what if we don’t have the highest scores or the most admissions into UCs? Of course Monte Vista is going to be top-ranked–they have the funds to make a better-rounded school! I doubt any of you have children attending Dublin High, or you wouldn’t be coming on here to leave your anonymous comments. And if you do, I suggest you go somewhere else that better suits your lifestyle. Frankly, if you aren’t apart of the Dublin community at all, keep to your own business.
9:11 PM on May 26th, 2010
Ok. First of all, it is true that DHS has less students. BUT don’t pretend like that school is really all that great at motivating everyone. I know that when I went there I tried to get into AP history classes and AP English classes. I was considering a career in linguistics or journalism. The school did not allow me to excell in the areas if History and English (which is my second language) because I had a D in math. Mind you, the rest of my grades were well earned A’s.
This was definitely demoralizing for me as well as the fact that they only teach Spanish and French. I would have been more than happy to get together a large group of students who’d like to take German.
Look, all I’m saying is that a school not allowing obviously brilliant students, such as myself in regards to English and History, should really seek administrative revision. The students are very segregated from what I had experienced, the History program is pathetic and repetative, and overall the administrative staff is extremely demotivating.
Oh, and not to mention the dress code rules. Seriously? Nothing above the knees? Not even leggings? That is absolutely ridiculous. Sex is important for teenage development. Let the kids realize their sexuality, not hide in the bushes fir four years because the only place they’ve seen girls knees was on the cheer squad. Ugh. This school was such a waste of my time and so educationally unsupportive that I have now left and am Pershing a career in the arts. See you on the Red Carpet, bitchess!
9:24 PM on May 26th, 2010
How can you call yourself obviously brilliant when you got a D in math? Obviously you should be studying math instead of writing hate comments on this site. Also sorry we dont meet your need to see scantly clad girls. I believe there are sites you can go to where you can look at all the skimpy dressed girls you like.
10:07 PM on May 26th, 2010
David, I believe you need to see a speech by Sir Ken Robinson on education reform. Everyone is brilliant in different ways, and some never receive the opportunity to allow their gifts to flourish.
http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html
9:29 PM on May 26th, 2010
too many spelling ang grammar error for an “obviously brilliant student”
9:42 PM on May 26th, 2010
Marina- your not making a solid case for yourself. Of course they’re not going to allow students with a D in an AP course.
10:36 PM on May 26th, 2010
I think she said she got D in Math but she wanted to take AP classed in English and History. What is wrong with that? Seems pretty reasonable to me. If DHS did not allow her to do that, I would think DHS had not been reasonable.
10:46 PM on May 26th, 2010
There are a couple things that could’ve happened. There could’ve been a lot of kids that signed up for the class, but only so many spots were open, so you have to narrow the field down somehow.
Second, AP classes are not easy. For these types of classes, you need students that are willing to put the time and effort into taking a college level class. A ‘D’ in any class is somewhat of a red flag that this student may not be up to the task. Does the teacher know that for sure? No. But the last thing that anyone wants to happen is that kids sign up for a class, get in way over their heads, and now there’s stress on everyone involved because the kid is failing, schedules need to be rearranged, etc.
11:15 PM on May 26th, 2010
Didn’t she say she got A’s in other non-AP courses, including English and History? Why would DHS use math score to determine whether she could take AP classes in English and History?
10:03 PM on May 26th, 2010
There is a mentality that exists among students and their parents (specifically in the soccer-mom saturated suburbs) that one will face life-long ostracization if one doesn’t get into an Ivy League, UC, or in some instances if one makes the choice to take on a career that doesn’t require a college education. Educational elitism is a problem that people don’t like to talk about and just like a sport, school is becoming a competitive and pretentious place. As somebody who spent my first year at a 4-year public university (SFSU), and as someone who had no idea what they wanted to do with their life, I wasted wayyy too much of my parent’s money trying to figure it out at SFSU when I could’ve done the same exact thing at a community college, which is what I’m doing now (CCSF!). My parents were never the types to push me into anything, but I wanted to get out of the house and experience the college life. Granted, I had a lot of fun during my first year, but I took advantage of my parent’s generosity, never went to class because I didn’t want to go, and in the end learned that community college was the way to go. I’ve finally figured out what I want to do (political science), and I’m taking my required courses and then some because tuition at CCSF is so much less expensive than tuition at SFSU. I’m all for people going wherever they desire to go, but just remember that you can go to community college in an awesome city (San Francisco!) and go to a UC later on (Santa Cruz!!!).
10:31 PM on May 26th, 2010
I am a Dublin High graduate. I graduated class of 2009. This article is absolutely ridiculous. I chose to attend Las Positas College, not because I couldn’t attend a UC or CSU, but because I did not have the funds to attend a four year university straight out of high school. I know many of my peers went to out of state schools and in state private schools, including Southern Oregon University, Mizzou, Azusa Pacific University, and California Baptist University. Saying that 17% of Dublin High graduates in the past couple years go to UC’s does not show that Dublin High graduates are unintelligent. For many of the graduates, a UC does not fit the needs that they have for their futures. There are trade schools, vocational schools, out of state schools, and private schools that better fit the needs of the students for their futures. Please take this into account before making erroneous claims about Dublin High School.
11:09 PM on May 26th, 2010
Scott, I think you misunderstood. Nobody is saying DHS students are not intelligent. In fact, charter school founders believe every student is intelligent in different aspects and every one can succeed if there is a more effective and efficient education system and teachers, administrators, and counselors guide him/her well. The relative lower academic performance of DHS is more due to the ineffective and inefficient education system in DHS. That is why we need education reform to improve this situation. But you know it is not easy because of the strong opposition of politically entrenched teachers’ union.
7:17 PM on May 27th, 2010
The teachers and counselors at Dublin High are excellent. There is no argument about that. Teachers are the reason the students become intelligent. The counselors are great and do very well helping the students going to Dublin High.
7:56 PM on May 27th, 2010
Scott,
While I respect your opinion, it is hard for me to agree with you. What metrics are you using to help you assess the effectiveness of DHS counselors? What’s great about John Z.’s article is that he simply presented the data and let readers draw their own conclusions. Based on the data here and the fact that over 50% of DHS graduates end up in community colleges, the people are underwhelmed to say the least. Yes, higher education is expensive, but if the counselors are any good, they should have been able to help most of your peers get scholarships and grants. I don’t know how much help Tassajara Prep will be giving their students on scholarship application, but you can bet that will be one of the questions I will ask them before I agree to send my child there.
3:28 PM on May 28th, 2010
You talk about more than 50% of my peers going to community colleges like it is a bad thing. Fact of the matter is there are 3.5 million college students in California. California Community Colleges serve 2.9 million of them with 112 Community Colleges. The majority of the students from Dublin High who went to Community College chose Las Positas, including myself. Great School.
Regarding counselors being in charge of making sure the students get scholarships, that is not their job. Students going into college are responsible for themselves to get scholarships…not the counselors. The counselors are supposed to get the students ready for college, and that they do.
In regards to that “mindset” that will doom me in life, think about it. IF a teacher does a good job, their students will learn the material and will become intelligent in the subject. For me personally, Mr. Rubio taught history very well and because of his teaching, I learned a lot about history and am now very intelligent in the subject of history.
4:00 PM on May 28th, 2010
For your example, that is only the history taught by your teacher. You need to have your own independent and critical thinking. That is more important than what has been actually taught by your teacher.
12:43 AM on May 31st, 2010
Based on comments like this from a DHS student, I suggest OD change its slogan to “United for Dublin High – Your Gateway to Community Colleges”. Good luck to those parents who have higher aspirations for their children.
10:49 PM on May 27th, 2010
“Teachers are the reason the students become intelligent.”
With this kind of mindset, I must say you are doomed to fail in your life.
11:29 AM on May 27th, 2010
I think it is extremely unfair to compare schools like Monte Vista and Foothill to a school that is much smaller, especially since the public school system mainly rely on income tax from surrounding houses. Pleasanton and Danville are surrounded by houses worth close to or more than 2 million dollars. In addition, UC’s are accepting fewer and fewer people. Let’s also be honest; a person’s ability to get into these schools depends on how much money one has. To those whose children go to Foothill or Monte Vista; how much money do you spend on SAT prep classes, club sports, travel and even basic things like money to make video projects or even art supplies? There’s no point in wasting tax payers money to try and allow those with more money to continue to excel. Also, going to community college is a great way to get a top-notch education at any UC and save money. Not everyone has money to go to a UC anyways. There are tons of people at Dublin High who go to out of state schools that get a great education, even if they didn’t get into a UC, who end up saving money due to scholarships and get awesome opportunities. Getting into “prestigious” schools like UC’s or Ivy Leagues is not everything.
4:44 PM on May 27th, 2010
unless you get a full ride. out of state schools are NOT cheaper than the UCs.
6:39 PM on May 27th, 2010
Have you heard of the WUE or the Western Undergraduate Exchange? It’s a program where western colleges in states such as Washington, Montana and Colorado give in state tuition for students who get a gpa of sometimes 3.0-3.5 UC’s are raising tuition so it’s about 30,00 a year. In Western Washington University, it’s about the same to go there for the first year. Housing in those other states are cheaper as well; I know some one who will pay as little as 300 a month for a house, while people in Santa Barabara and San Diego who pay upwards of 600 dollars. So you’re just misinformed. How did I find this out? Dublin High.
10:31 PM on May 27th, 2010
What the heck is Western Washington University? Just like everything else, you get what you have paid for. Cheap tuition also means cheap education. I would sacrifice a little bit more to get my children a better education. No doubt in my mind, UCs are much more superior than some never-heard-of, in-the-middle-of-nowhere universities.
10:39 PM on May 27th, 2010
From your comment, I can see through the philosophy of DHS. I am deeply concerned about that. They seem to be overly concerned about saving parents a few hundred dollars a month so they are discouraging parents to send their children to much better UCs but rather encouraging parents to send their children to an unknown university to get inferior education.
7:10 PM on May 27th, 2010
Have you heard of the WUE or the Western Undergraduate Exchange? It’s a program where western colleges in states such as Washington, Montana and Colorado give in state tuition for students who get a gpa of sometimes 3.0-3.5 UC’s are raising tuition so it’s about 30,00 a year. In Western Washington University, it’s about the same to go there for the first year. Housing in those other states are cheaper as well; I know some one who will pay as little as 300 a month for a house, while people in Santa Barabara and San Diego who pay upwards of 600 dollars. So you’re just misinformed. How did I find this out? Dublin High.
10:44 AM on June 1st, 2010
“In Western Washington University, it’s about the same to go there for the first year.”
What about the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th year?
If you’re seriously going to go to BFE, I think you’re better off going to Community College.
1:57 PM on June 2nd, 2010
FYI, UC tuition is under 10k/year.
Compared to 30k at Western Washington University, you can definitely see what at value UCs are.