Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH) is a magnet secondary school in the heart of the Design District in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked DASH as the 15th best public high school in the nation in 2009 and 16th best in 2012. Stacey Mancuso led DASH as Principal for 17 years from 1999 to 2016. The current principal is Dr. Maggie Rodriguez, who joined the school in 2022. DASH is a part of the

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is a public school district serving Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida and the Southeastern United States, and, , the fourth la ...

district.

Awards

DASH was founded in 1990 by former principal Jacqueline Hinchey-Sipes, who coined the motto "Education by Design". Over the past 15 years DASH has earned the reputation of being one of Florida's strongest public high schools, often making Miami-Dade county's highest marks on the FCAT (

Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or the FCAT/FCAT 2.0, was the standardized test used in the primary and secondary public schools of Florida. First administered statewide in 1998, it replaced the State Student Assessment Test (SSAT) a ...

) exam and consistently receiving an assessment grade of A by the state. DASH has been featured in '' Dwell'', ''

Teen People ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the l ...

'' magazine (Cool School of the Month, May 2000), and the '' Miami Herald''. ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' ranked DASH as the 5th best public high school in the US for 2010. Over 95% of DASH graduates continue on to college, with most students receiving scholarships from many of the nation's top art and design programs. It was named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, in 1994-96, 2007 and 2016. U.S. News World & Report 2020, DASH was ranked #3 High School in Miami-Dade County, #6 High School in Florida, #25 Magnet High School in the Nation, #72 High School in the Nation.

Curriculum

The school features programs in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordi ...

entertainment technology Entertainment technology is the discipline of using manufactured or created components to enhance or make possible any sort of entertainment experience. Because entertainment categories are so broad, and because entertainment models the world in m ...

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer creates ...

, industrial design, and visual communications/

web design Web design encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; user interface design (UI design); authoring, including standardised code a ...

. The curriculum includes a strong four-year foundation in the fine arts, internships with local design firms, and dual-enrollment college-level design courses, such as

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, taught by professors from local colleges as well as field professionals. Students take 8 courses a year (4 core classes, 2-3 art classes, and 1-2 electives) as opposed to the regular 6-course curriculum in most other Florida high schools.

Demographics

DASH is 54% Hispanic (of any race), 28% White non-Hispanic, 14% Black, and 4% Asian.

Fashion show

DASH holds an annual student-run fashion show in which the junior and senior fashion students show their collections to the community. In 2004, the school was invited to include its show as part of Miami's Fashion Week of the Americas, the US's largest Latin American fashion event.

Notable alumni

Denzel Curry Denzel Rae Don Curry (born February 16, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Carol City, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape in 2011. Influenced by underground Flo ...

, musician, rapper (was expelled/exited, then graduated from Carol City High School, class of 2013) * Cesar Santos, artist *

Esteban Cortazar Esteban () is a Spanish male given name, derived from Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos) and related to the English names Steven and Stephen. Although in its original pronunciation the accent is on the penultimate syllable, English-speakers tend t ...

(MH Esteban), fashion designer *

Anslem Richardson Anslem Richardson is an American film, television and theater actor, filmmaker, and visual artist of Trinidadian descent. He is best known for his role as Mike in ''The Locksmith'' and Governor Khaled on '' NCIS: Los Angeles''. Early life and edu ...

, actor, writer *

Daniel Arsham Daniel Arsham (born 1980) is an American artist. He lives and works in New York City. Early life and education Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Miami, Florida, Arsham was 12 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed his childhood home. This trau ...

, multidisciplinary artist * Fabiola Arias, fashion designer *

Charity Daw Charity Daw is a Cuban-American Singer and Songwriter based in Los Angeles, CA. She has written RIAA certified songs for Disney's chart-topping Descendants Franchise that includes a No. 1 on Billboard 200, as well as Dove Cameron, Jordin Sparks ...

, songwriter, recording artist

References

External links

DASH websiteDASH Alumni AssociationDASH PTSA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Design And Architecture High School Magnet schools in Florida High schools in Miami-Dade County, Florida Public high schools in Florida Miami-Dade County Public Schools 1990 establishments in Florida Educational institutions established in 1990