Former principal of Diamond Bar High School, Denis R. Paul has returned as interim principal, to temporarily fill in while the district searches for a permanent replacement for former principal Catherine Real.

Prior to his retirement in 2010, Paul worked in many positions here at DBHS.

He first served as part of the Planning Committee in 1981, a year before the school officially opened. After DBHS opened, he took on various roles including athletics director, instructional dean, an AP History teacher, varsity baseball coach, GLC, and assistant principal. He was finally named principal in 1998.

After returning as interim principal this school year, Paul was surprised to see so many new faces on the DBHS staff–over a third of the staff has changed since he was principal.

He also admits that the evolution of technology used on campus sometimes leaves him in awe. Nonetheless, Paul has the people around him to thank.

“I honestly feel so out of it, in some respects, but I have good people around me that help me navigate what I need to navigate,” Paul said.

Now, five years into retirement, Paul appreciates the opportunity to play golf and doing things that he wasn’t able to do while he was working.

He has also been working part time at a charter school for the last year and a half, just to try something different.

“I’ve never had a loss of things to do. There’s always a thousand things to do, [and] not enough time to do it. However, one thing you lack are day-to-day intellectual challenges,” he said.

Although many aspects of DBHS has changed, Paul believes that the overall commitment of the staff has remained the same. Paul reveals that the only reason he came back as Interim Principal is because he loves DBHS and still cares a lot about the well-being of the school.

After over more than 30 years of starting his journey here at DBHS, Paul has witnessed many students and faculty members walk through these halls.

“If DBHS students learn nothing else, we learn to compete. Witnessing students spread their wings is my favorite part of being at DBHS. I believe that if you don’t get involved with things, it’s your fault,” Paul said.