By Theresa Cisneros

The Capistrano Unified School District broke ground on a multi-million-dollar classroom construction project at Dana Hills High School that will provide a high-tech training ground for tomorrow’s professionals, beautify the neighborhood, and spur the local economy.

Members of the CUSD Board of Trustees joined students, parents, staff, district leadership, elected officials and community members for a groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 13 at the school.

Donning white hard hats and gripping gold-tipped ceremonial shovels, participants excitedly turned the soil in the same spot where a nearly 33,000-square-foot classroom building is estimated to open in June 2025.

“This building represents the potential that each student brings to campus every day and will inspire them to dream big, work hard, and achieve their goals,” Clark Hampton, deputy superintendent of business and support services, told the crowd. “It’s something the entire Dana Hills community can take pride in, and is a sign of great things to come.”

The groundbreaking is a significant milestone, as it’s taken several years of hard work and dedication to bring the project to fruition, dignitaries said in their remarks from the podium.

The DHHS campus is more than 50 years old. Many of its aging facilities are filled with 50-year-old equipment and struggle with HVAC, ventilation, and ADA compliance issues, and more.

To make way for the new construction, 17 portable classrooms have been removed from the school grounds near Golden Lantern and Stonehill Drive.

Gone are the boxy temporary classrooms that served students for 20 plus years. In their place will rise a dynamic, two-story building housing seven classrooms on the first floor, seven classrooms on the second floor, workrooms and an elevator for added accessibility.

Inside, cutting-edge technology will be woven into all classrooms, with short throw projectors and smart teaching stations installed in the rooms. The new space will also feature flexible seating, ample work space, and picturesque views from large windows facing the ocean.

The building is expected to be sleek and modern on the outside as well, featuring flattened corrugated metal panels and a pitched roof resembling a dolphin’s tale done in “Dana blue.” There will also be open rail walkways on the second floor overlooking the campus, and new paving will connect the building to the rest of the campus.

Katie Andersen, president of The Dolphin Foundation, Inc., which aims to support and enhance the educational experience for DHHS students and staff, said enhanced learning environments can inspire students to do well in school.

“When kids go to school in classrooms that are well-lit and have fresh air and are loaded with all the latest equipment, it creates a better learning environment and they feel motivated to be there,” she said.

“This just represents such an awesome opportunity for them to actually go to school in classrooms where the physical building matches the education that’s being delivered by our teachers and our administrators,” Andersen said.

Groundbreaking ceremony participants said the new building is important for residents of all life stages, whether their children currently attend CUSD schools or whether they or their children graduated years ago and are now counted among the school’s many proud alumni.

Trustee Amy Hanacek, who represents portions of San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, and Dana Point, said the new space will be a boon for the entire Dana Hills community in that it will inspire pride in those who drive past the campus daily, and that the building will be used to train and educate tomorrow’s professionals.

“At Dana Hills High school every day is a cause for celebration from top tier classroom instruction, dynamic sports & extracurriculars grounded in excellence and a school climate rooted in physical, emotional, intellectual, cultural and social well-being,” Hanacek said. “It is a marvel that the Dolphins can accomplish all of this in spaces that were built for a past world and jobs that weren’t even on the horizon. This is an opportunity to celebrate a 21^st century classroom space that will help them reach new heights.”

Funding for the project is coming from state Prop. 51 matching funds leveraged from construction projects in other areas of the school district.

Dr. Brad Baker, principal of DHHS, said this project is the first domino to fall in what he hopes is a series of much-needed upgrades for the school. A master site plan to eventually rebuild the rest of the school grounds includes a new performing arts center, auxiliary gym, aquatic center with a 50-meter pool, and more.

“My hope is that as the community sees the investment that the district has made with this matching grant, that they will see this new facility is what our students need,” he said, “and that at some point will get behind some type of investment to totally rebuild Dana Hills High School and modernize it to where our students and our staff deserve.”

For now, Baker said, the coming classroom improvements are much appreciated and go a long way in boosting student and staff morale.

“It ups the climate of the school,” he said. “It’s saying that we’re important. As students we’re important, as teachers we’re important, and we care about your education.”

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new classroom building at Dana Hills High School on Dec 13, 2023.
(Photos by Michael Goulding)

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