Dougherty Valley High School (commonly Dougherty, Dougherty Valley, Dougherty Valley High, DVHS, or DV High) is a public high school located in the Windemere development of San Ramon, California, United States. The valley name comes from James Witt Dougherty, a 19th-century landowner and local politician.
It is one of four high schools in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District (SRVUSD), along with California High School, San Ramon Valley High School, and Monte Vista High School. Constructed by Shapell Industries of California and Windemere Ranch Partners BLC, Dougherty was the first developer-built school in the SRVUSD. The school opened its doors in 2007.
Dougherty's nickname is the Wildcats, and its school colors are navy, Columbia blue, and silver. It is known for its state-of-the-art campus, which features a performing arts center and aquatics center in a joint-use agreement with the city. Dougherty is the top school in the district based on Academic Performance Index. The school is also home to over 200 clubs and many afterschool activities.
History
Conception (1988–2006)
Dougherty Valley High School was built by Shapell Industries of California and Windemere Ranch Partners BLC, which were also the two main developers of the Dougherty Valley area in general. Shapell was obligated through a December 1988 agreement with the SRVUSD to "contribute its fair share of the cost of additional high school space needed to serve students generated by the project," with the project mentioned being the construction of 11,000 houses in the area. Dougherty is the first developer-built high school in the SRVUSD, in contrast with the typical method of a developer and the state funding the school district for construction of any necessary schools. The district and developers began further negotiations regarding the school's construction in 2001.
The school's name was chosen from more than 150 suggestions submitted to an online survey, although the name, school colors, and mascot had to be approved by the Board of Education. The school logo was designed in 2006 by Jennifer Wong, at the time a senior at Monte Vista High School, after winning a student logo design contest with 12 other entries.
Wong received $500 for her design and was honored alongside the contest's runners-up at a school board meeting. Denise Hibbard, who had been an assistant principal at California High School for six years, was chosen as Dougherty's first principal.
Construction (2005–2007) An official groundbreaking at the school was held on September 23, 2005, with school board members Nancy Petsuch, Greg Marvel, and San Ramon Mayor H. Abram Wilson in attendance. The construction of the school was divided into two phases. The first phase, which involved site grading, utilities, and paving, commenced in May 2005 and was completed by January 2006; the second phase, which involved constructing buildings, landscaping and creation of ball fields, commenced in February 2006 and was completed by August 2007. In a December 2006 meeting, the San Ramon city council approved the construction of a performing arts center and aquatics center for joint-use between the city and the SRVUSD. Total construction took 16 months, five months less than predicted.
The construction of the school cost approximately $128 million, and the total cost, including inspections and management, was about $150 million. The costs of the performing arts center, to which the city contributed $4 million, and the aquatics center, to which the city contributed $9.2 million, were expected to exceed revenues by $400,000 each.
According to city council member Scott Perkins, "Other cities have stand-alone [aquatic] facilities that cost $35 million. Were getting 90 percent of that use for a quarter of the price." In addition, the city approved the $4 million construction of an independent study school on Dougherty's campus, to replace the area's older independent study school built in the 1970s. The expenses of construction were shared between Windemere BLC, Shapell, the school district, and the city of San Ramon.