The idea of a barrio high school started as a dream of a lowly son of a farmer in Bactad, Urdaneta, Pangasinan. As a student, he endured the heat of the sun and on rainy days, undauntedly hiked with only a large gabi leaf as umbrella to the nearest secondary school which is two kilometers away. That boy was PEDRO TAMESIS ORATA – The Father of Barangay High School. He set out to fulfill his dream upon his retirement from the Bureau Of Public School in 1964. Enriched by his experience as a curriculum writer and from his job in UNESCO, he formulated the Barrio High School Charter. This paved the way to the establishment of barrio high schools throughout the country and opened new doors to lowly barrio pupils whose ambition to finish the secondary education remained just a dream.
When the order came for the implementation of this charter, the City Council of Davao filed and approved Council Resolution No. 571 dated June 30, 1967 creating three barrio high schools namely: Piedad Barrio High School for Toril District, Calinan Barrio High School and Matina Barrio High School. The council appropriated Php. 74,000.00 under City Ordinance No. 253 for school year 1967-1968.
The opening of Piedad Barrio High School attracted students from the nearby private schools. Hence, a second year curriculum was immediately opened in its first year of establishment. Five full time teachers were appointed for PBHS, namely Betty Vinzon (English); Aurora Orig (Filipino); Yolanda Serapio (Home Economics); Flordeliza Legazpi (Science); and Edito Tan ( Industrial Arts). The Elementary School teachers nearby who applied on a part time basis were hired. To name a few, they were: Mrs. Dolores de Guzman, Mrs. Amalia Hinojales, Mrs. Lydia Cerdiña, Ms. Fortunata Kintanar and Mr. Jose Tambagan.
A tuition fee of Php. 10.00 per examination for six gradings and Php. 2.00 as matriculation fee is required upon enrolment. The teachers, on the other hand received Php. 250.00 per month while the part time teachers received Php. 50.00 as honoraria. At that time, the three barrio high schools were under the supervision of Davao City High School and the incumbent principal where the barangay school was located was deputized as assistant principal. Mr. Juanito Tayao was the first assistant principal of PBHS.
PBHS produced its first batch of graduates in school year 1969-1970. Teresa Oroc was the class valedictorian of the forty students who graduated that school year. The first commencement exercise was held in the school ground with then Mayor Elias Lopez as the guest speaker. From 1967-1987, PBHS occupied the site near the Piedad Central Elementary School.
Aware of the steady growth of the school’s population, Mrs. Florentina Guillen, then the district supervisor, together with Deputy Mayor Ricardo Reyes, Mr. Bayani Claudio and Mr. Severo Asilo, the incumbent school head initiated the move to scout a school site for PBHS. A series of meetings with the influential people in the community were organized. It was on December 23, 1981 in a meeting held in the residence of Deputy Mayor Reyes conducted by then Mayor Elias Lopez that finally, they found a site. The meeting lasted up to the wee hours with the late Don Luis Denia in attendance. Don Luis Denia formally donated his land and buil;dings on February 13, 1983 situated at the Poblacion as a gift to the people of Toril District. The site has a land area of twenty-two thousand two hundred ninety (22,290) square meters. The City Government of Davao under Resolution No. 523, Series of 1982 dated March 5, 1982 accepted the properties for PBHS. As a grateful acknowledgement, PBHS was officially changed to Doña Carmen Denia City High Scool in memory of the donor’s mother on November 11, 1987 under City Council Resolution No. 601 Series of 1987. The newly elected congressman Elias B. Lopez was responsible for all the legal works in the acquisition of the site.
The new site was formerly occupied on November 19, 1985 by the Fourth Year Curriculum followed by the second year students. All through the Eighties, there was a steady increase in the nerolment. The need for more teachers and classrooms became more acute in spite of the establishment of legislated high school in the neighboring barangay and the separation of the annex school, Crossing Bayabas High school now known as Crossing Bayabas National High School. Even though there was a slight dip in the enrolment in the late nineties but before the decade ended, the enrolment steadily climbed and slowly regained its highest peak registered in school year 1994-1995.
Presently, Doña Carmen Denia National High School is administered and supervised by one principal, an acting administrative officer, four curriculum coordinators and five department heads and has a 148 strong teaching force in which 21 of its members are alumni of this school. It has its own full time bookkeeper, a disbursing officer, seven office clerks and two maintenance workers. Being one of the biggest schools in this city it has two resident auditors to provide check and balance in school finances. The security force which is a necessity nowadays is composed of two government-paid security guards and ably reinforced by four security guards paid by the school PTA.
Last school year 2008-2009 a total of 1,137 students graduated. DCDNHS has gone a long, long way now – from its first batch of 40 graduates, it has grown to a hundredfold. It is indeed a fruitful 41 years of its foundation. Pie Saludares, THE JOURNEY